Imelda Marcus had it great.
But her lifestyle…to be honest was up to debate.
It seems she had a wardrobe full of shoes,
hundreds of pairs from which to choose.
I, on the other hand cannot say the same…
my own shoe collection will not attract fame,
as my feet I admit are rather large…
and to my regret I’m not in charge -
of those who buy the shoes to sell on the highstreet,
as they completely ignore us girls with big feet.
Not only do they have the power to dictate,
what is old-fashioned and what is up to date…
But they deny us girls over a size forty-two,
the chance to wear a pretty shoe.
There are a few now that go up to size nine.
And there’s so much more available online.
There are still enough stores that we must chastise,
who ignore any chance to increase their size.
Most retailers it seems do not give a hoot,
if you are out to buy a fashionable boot
Something that is funky, young and with a bit of flair.
Sensible and comfortable is not what we want to wear.
Specialist shoes for feet that are too wide,
covering up a problem that many would hide.
I make sure I always look after my feet,
and they really deserve a special treat.
I don't want to always have my feet in a trainer…
A need for a bit of glamour is a no-brainer
For me it's not necessary to totter on heels,
but someone up there must know how it feels…
Not to be able to find what we all desire,
to have something to which we can aspire -
gorgeous shoes right up to forty-four,
and onwards from there so don’t be a bore…
The shoes you stock are all far too small.
Time to buy something to help us walk tall.
So watch out all you fashionable shoe designers…
Here are a few important…reminders –
We are now demanding bigger shoes!
In lots of shades, colours and hues…
Plastic, patent, suede and leather,
Fun footwear to suit any type of weather.
High heels, straps, zips and bows…
All types of sandals to show off our toes.
we’ve got plenty of money in all of our purses,
So to help you avoid all of our curses.
Start to increase your sizing selections…
And stop leaving us out of you collections.
Big feet I promise are here to stay,
So why not let us girls have our way!
Big Shoes!
Big Shoes!
Big Shoes!

Unbeknownst to most fashion manufacturers us big girls actually have waists!

Granted it might take an ordinance survey map to find most - but waists do exist even on the biggest girls. Recent fashions have dictated a nipped-in waist, belted coats and higher waistbands but were these neater styles available to the curvier girls?

A conundrum, why in this day and age is it still presumed by most that plus-size clothing is only wanted and needed by the middle aged and supposedly frumpy ?

There is only one British designer Anna Scholz who shows a fearless approach to her designs and has celebrated the larger figure by only producing fitted styles emphasising boobs, waists, hips and bums – it is a pity that other designers shy away from fit.

Italian designers only dictate classic tailoring for the larger figure; you find very little flexibility or innovation in their styling, but at the same time at least they do think of shape. Collections like Elena Miro show great endeavour to produce femininity and style in their designs – fitted jackets, straight skirts and well constructed trousers – with waistbands! Why can we not see that here?

The US has developed plus-sizes much more than we have. There is still a certain advantage in shopping trips to the US for a season’s wardrobe but the Internet has enabled us to have easier access to what is on offer – but there is a question of quality over quantity – the US still looks to Europe for fashion, fit and style.

Germany is a core manufacturing base for plus-size clothing but you sometimes find that German designers over-compensate for the larger figure either producing matronly collections or avoid any shape at all in their garments. Up-to-the-minute trend fashion is sorely missing and they are rarely designed for the younger woman.

Easy-dressing styles from varied European manufacturers – including Germany show the only modern and sometimes technical interest to their designs for all sizes - taking influence from Asia and North Africa to construct collections but this kind of dressing is only for a limited market – not all women want to wear unstructured clothes and why should they?

Only a couple of years ago belts covering all sizes were almost impossible to find, now you can get them from specialists like Evans – why not anywhere else – why is it so difficult to size belts in highstreet stores? Or is it the same as many other things and it is the buyer who does not bother or have the budget to vary the sizes on offer?

Recent increased size ranges on the highstreet has been a great victory for embattled campaigners who for years have been trying to persuade buyers and manufacturers that their sizing structures were completely wrong for today’s modern woman.

Here we have a problem – the proper upgrading of sizes, how to do this properly so that the larger figure is flattered as much as the smaller in exactly the same outfit? It is not just a matter of adding inches to a block pattern but adjusting it as well – making allowances for the differences in figure between a woman that is a size 10 and a woman who is a size 20. One of the best highstreet retailers to do this is Dorothy Perkins whose feminine designs are successful at either end of the size scale – maybe this is because it’s sister company within Arcadia is Evans the plus-size retailer and that experience has fed through.

The question is – now that we have traversed one sizing quandary and have successfully opened the eyes of some fashion retailers and manufacturers into examining their sizing structures and go onto increase their size ranges, can we start to make our needs known and insist that these very same people take another huge step to improve the availability of well designed, structured and fashionable ‘plus-size’ collections that have as much marketing value put on them as their standard ranges.

Marketing in fact is the crux of the matter – marketing and advertising shows what value a company puts on an item – so far there is very little evidence that general retailers put much value on their curvier customers.

Which is a shame.

UGH

It was very rare for me during my teenage years to confidently go out shopping with my friends – the usual trip on a Saturday every girl makes to buy a top and some make-up ready for an evening out was always an anathema to me. Firstly, the thought of any of my friends actually seeing the size I wore completely mortified me and also the thought that whilst everyone was trying something on I would still be trying desperately to find something that actually fitted me – it was the same with shoes – whereas my friends all had dainty size five feet and were trying on the trendiest platforms – I would be offered by a now bored assistant the last or only size nine they have which turns out to be an easy-fit sandal only suitable for my gran.

This all sounds very dramatic, but only twenty years ago this is how it was – now at least you have a chance of enjoying a shopping trip – or so it seems.

The high-trend market is being feverishly seized on by highstreet chains and department stores that think their future relies on catering to the young and affluent – never mind anyone else – we could go on about that assumption forever but what I am surprised about is why haven’t more retailers done more for the youthful plus-size market? So far all this age group have is ‘Seven’ from Evans and ‘Inspire’ from New Look and a few bits and pieces from other chains but nothing enough to challenge either of them.
Confidence is hard to find in young person anyway – pressure from every medium leaves the average teenager low in self esteem, frustrated and vulnerable, it is their lot to be the outsider until the day comes when they are able to take a role in society – for that to happen successfully a huge dose of self-belief is necessary.
There is a terrible need in these formative years to fit in and if a teenager is larger there is an added dimension to their inexorable isolation as they are now also being blasted from all sides with the idea that their ‘fatness’ is completely unacceptable. Until an anti-fat bomb is dropped over the UK eradicating all that is portly we will still have tubby-teens and I think they warrant careful attention on the highstreet.

By the time you get older the need to be more inventive has become imperative. More and more collections are being taken out of department stores to make room for high fashion and that unfortunately also includes some plus collections making choice much harder for us.
There is still an assumption that all people of size and who have ventured past the current age of acceptance for retailers have all given up hope of wearing beautiful clothes – this includes men as well as women. The average woman past the age of thirty-five and over a size sixteen need simple and deservedly fashionable outfits, of good design, fit and particularly fabrication that together flatter and emphasise all her good points – quality tailoring that goes over a size 14 that is eye-catching rather than matronly is almost impossible to find nowadays.
Another bug-bare of mine is eveningwear. Finding smart casual eveningwear for dinner parties as well as more formal black-tie outfits has become a nightmare. In plus-size departments you will nearly always find collections more suitable for mother of the bride rather than a cocktail party. Where are the well structured little black dresses, beautifully cut evening pants and tops that are not the usual tunic or tunic- over-camisole or even the ‘decorative’ over-shirt-over camisole combination? Mind you not even these are easy to find nowadays!

A step upwards on to a designer level for plus-sizes is sorely missing from the highstreet. Department stores were presumably the place to find these better collections – but this is not something you can easily rely upon at the present time. Frustratingly sparse ranges with little variety can be found that seem completely unsuitable for an everyday modern woman needs.

Of course I have rambled on so many times that there are stores trying to make a difference. Some, it must be said still produce poor attempts at larger-sized fashion that look awkward and badly thought out but, I admit their efforts at increasing size ranges have been more successful and so shall it continue – mind you, one thing I cannot understand in this case is some stores promoting a larger size range but still making a debatable decision on which styles are suitable for a curvier body and which are not - so collections end up being carefully divided into frumpier styles going up in size and the sexier little pieces that make a collection having their size range limited – who makes that decision?

My question is, do we all want to be reliant on retailers like Evans, Marks and Spencers and Next for the rest of our lives just to get by - simply because it is safe and easy?
Or would we rather start challenging all highstreet shops to act on the known fact that the future of retailing will rely on an older and very astute populace, size ranges that will have to include a larger body dynamic and that affluence is not entirely designated to the spuriously young and trendy?

I’ve just bought a bra! I have to say it’s not just an ordinary bra it is a gorgeous fuchsia underwired bit of outrageousness that glows out of my underwear drawer each time I open it.
I’ve decided that I am going to treat myself once a month to a different colour until they’re pouring out of the drawer like an elasticised multi-coloured waterfall. Gone are the days of the white ‘boulder-holder’ that was our only choice of bra if you were over a 38C just a few years ago. The thing that had straps so wide and reinforced that you shoulders had permanent dents in by the time you’d reached 30 or so – the thing that usually had the quality of lace only suitable for curtain netting and a variety of colours that stretched to skintone and black – if you were lucky.
There was a sudden proclamation and realisation that women’s boobs were getting bigger and all those unfortunate ladies that had convinced themselves that they were a size 38B for most of their lives were suddenly ‘outed’ – the mere vision of Trinny grabbing Susannah’s ‘Tit’s’ on one of their early programmes was enough to encourage women to poke at their greying lingerie and question the lumps that spilled out of every side.
There was a barrage of companies that promised big, beautiful bras for big, beautiful women – cup sizes up to FF and even GG – wow! The only problem was that yes, these bras ranges had bigger cup sizes but they did not have bigger back sizes – you were left looking at pages of lilac, coffee and umpteen gorgeous broderie or guipure bras that went up to a G cup but only a 38 or 40 back – again it was presumed that if companies increased their cup sizes all the woes of the world would be cured and tough luck if you happen to be larger in size as well as larger in cup size.
It took a few more years for manufacturers to take notice and now we are starting to see more and more variety in larger sizes.
All of us women were encouraged to get ourselves professionally measured and I seriously worried about the many poor shop assistants assigned to measure us all – scenes of little shop girls suddenly finding themselves lost together with their tape measures amidst an avalanche of un-tethered bosoms must have been quite terrifying – but nevertheless we all did as we were told and found to our absolute horror that we actually required a bra with dimensions that needed to be masterminded by a technical engineer and tested for robustness with industrial weights!

Now we come to the question of pants – I’m sure a lot of us sighed with relief as Bridget Jones made big pants acceptable and gone were the days of camouflaging the fleshy bits that did not do as they were told in a pair of bikini pants – let alone the horrendous outcome from an evening surviving a pair of G-strings!

Now we have the ‘short’ – which is neither a knicker nor a pant – not a brief or a bikini, it is the acceptable term for bigger pants which I am not going to argue with – as long as women are allowed some comfort together with a bit of froufrou that’s okay with me.

It is interesting however, that the word ‘control’ has come back into mainstream lingerie again. Corsetry has disappeared to be taken over by the softer more reassuring names of ‘compression hosiery’ and ‘shapewear’ - terms that have become very fashionable – promising a fabrication that breaths with you but at the same time controls and almost re-shapes your body. Coming in all sorts of rather bazaar shapes this new foundation-type of underwear supposedly providing a new self-confidence to women and her bodies whilst at the same time tucks and hides away all the unsightly folds of flesh that offend modern society.

Contrived terms like control, minimising, manage, curvy, shapely - amongst others have become acceptable slogans for dealing with larger size but whether they are designed so as not to cause offence to the larger people in question or simply more persuasive terms for marketing larger sizes in an image-driven society is open to interpretation. The importance of how larger sizes are sold is down to the individual customer – most are probably happy to be able to find anything that fits – the question then is - will they eventually be given the strength to start dictating what their needs are from manufacturers and will manufacturers listen and begin to realise that it is not necessary to sell plus-sizes in such a fabricated way.

UGH

I remember whilst watching my favourite music program years ago the glorious appearance of Chaka Khan who was celebrating resurgence in her career with the success of ‘I feel for you’ in the British charts. I had never seen the curvy diva before and waited in anticipation for her introduction and suddenly, there she was – a vision of mammoth hair, thigh boots and engineered corsetry that was just about managing to keep a bosom of such huge dimension from escaping into the audience! But you know – she looked and was fabulous. I saw her again quite recently and she was still proudly sporting an extraordinary concoction of boned frivolousness and everyone loved every minute of it – now why can that not be for all of us women?

The highstreet has begun to offer the larger woman more access to younger fashionable clothing from Evans ‘Seven’ range, New Look’s ‘Inspire’ collection, fun fashion pieces from Dorothy Perkins. For me it is a mixed blessing – yes, it allows young women of every size to go on a shopping trip together and all come home with a bag full of goodies, and yes, if you want a pair of skinny jeans – you can have them but, does it necessarily mean that you look good in them? It’s a bit of a quandary – a woman should be allowed to wear whatever she wants and ‘trendy’ clothing should be available to all – but, can we be assured that the retailer also cares about what we look like? Skinny jeans and glittery boob tubes modelled by girls for a plus-sized range who maybe just about a size 14 will look great but will they look good on girls of size 20? A percentage will – absolutely, on others – maybe not, so where is the balance?

Poor quality, and skimpy cutting has always been the curse of throwaway fashion but is emphasised in larger sizes. Everything is judged by the cut of the cloth and when it’s done frugally to keep the costs down the larger size is the one to suffer. The same goes when a garment is graded up badly – the result is a poorly fitting garment with no regard to proportion. This can also be said for the other way as well – when a plus sized garment over-compensates for the curves of a larger women, resulting in a frumpy shapeless piece of clothing.

It does come down to confidence in the woman herself. Advice is on offer from a lot of retailers – sometimes a little questionable when it’s coming from people who have no idea at all of what it is to be larger in size.

Some time ago I went into a larger, very well known plus-size retailer to find out about their personal shopping service – I was immediately and sternly informed that what they actually have is a personal ‘stylist’ service and was confronted by a young girl who was no bigger than a size 8 ready to tell me how to wear the latest plus-size collections – to be honest I felt insulted. I told her that I was a private personal shopper and wanted to know about the current seasons highlights and was treated to a monotone description of the latest deliveries – on questioning the proportions and sizing she had no answers and worst of all - no interest.

What retailers do not care to take into consideration is that advice on this level is a very sensitive subject, an advisor needs to have a thorough knowledge of the larger figure and the kind of attention it needs. A lot of larger women carry themselves magnificently but a lot more do not as they are battling with self-esteem problems and these are the women who should not be stuck in a pair of skinny jeans just because it’s trendy.

I have to add at this point that the other essential element of this is the buyer – the person responsible for buying these collections - again, my experience is of buyers who either think that they have some kind of remit to solve all problems plus-sized and make a complete shambles of it - or there is the buyer who has been reluctantly assigned to plus-sizes to await their next step-up into designer fashion and so doesn’t have a clue about what they buying and who they’re buying for. This sounds harsh but it can be the only explanation for the badly selected and poorly stocked collections in a lot of stores – I even came across a plus-size buyer that had never been to or had even sought to go to any European trade shows to see what everyone else is doing – amazing!

I’m a fan of Gok Wan and his ‘How to look good naked’ programs, even Trinny and Susannah have a few interesting things to say – even if their styling sense is poor, both have started to bring up points about the female figure that will make women think about what they wear and how they carry themselves and that’s all very good. Together with the Dove ‘Campaign for real women’ that is attempting to deal with confidence in women and young girls which is to be encouraged and should be developed even more.

I think what I am trying to say to retailers and manufacturers is please do not give skinny girls - or boys for that matter the job of solving a big girls needs thinking that they can be fobbed off with poor imitations of current fashion trends rather than developing a selection that highlights the best of what is popular but at the same time takes into consideration how well it is made and how well it is sold.

Us big girls know exactly what we want and it’s your job to listen not the other way around!

UGH

There has been a revolution!

Fashion companies got together a few years ago and agreed that the sizing of their clothing was all wrong! They could not understand why women were complaining that they were unable to fit into their clothes ranges anymore.
These retailers began to notice women were not falling into what they saw as standardised sizing ranges – they were not taking into the fact that the sizing tables they were using right up to the present day were based on the measurements of 1950’s women.
A big public hoohah ensued and a sizing survey was instigated. Sizeuk collaborated
With a number a major fashion companies to devise a way of recording the measurements of the average woman today – they discovered that women were bigger and getting bigger and it was not as simple as putting it down to a major growth in chocolate-eating – it was due to many differing lifestyle changes.
The idea behind this was to standardise sizing here in the UK, eventually Europe and the rest of the world – as nearly everything is manufactured worldwide this idea is extremely valid.

Taking all this into account – the money and time having been spent – why is everything still so disproportionate? A woman with curves whether she is size 14 or 20 should be served equally by fashion retailers and in certain circumstances they are - by the highstreet in particular but going a step further from the highstreet into design-based manufacturers - let alone designer labels it’s sad to say that a shopping trip can still be very frustrating.
Buyers are admitting larger sizes sell much more quickly but they’re still not buying larger sizes evenly throughout their ranges – especially in department stores. There is still such a stigma on stocking larger sizes particularly in higher-priced or designer ranges that we have been left with - if it’s over a size 14 stick it on the 3rd floor syndrome.
Now, I do not have a gripe with the efforts being made by some major fashion retailers in trying to stock a larger size range especially stores like Debenhams who are one of the few trying to include a larger size assortment throughout their assortment as well as stocking specialist plus-size ranges like their own ‘Gorgeous’ collection.
M&S too have made that extra effort in including a larger size range into their better collections – although I am not impressed by their plus-size collection which is still very boring.

My gripe is with the incorrect presumption that if you are a size 14 or just over you have no wish to wear higher-priced fashionable clothing and that you are happy to be forced into taking that extra escalator ride up to the next floor get what you want.

This problem strangely enough intensifies when a woman’s size is in-between standard sizing of 8-14 and plus sizing 16-18 upwards.

The question is – What is standard and what is plus these days?

I would have thought this would have been worked out but from experience as a working personal shopper it has not.
The most popular size is size 14 so you would think that this is still under the ‘standard size’ heading – well maybe not. Some plus-size companies – especially Italian ones start at a size 14 but are generally not bought by buyers who prefer to start their buy at size 16 – sometimes 18 because it is a plus-size company meant for a plus size department.

The problem arises with a standard size 14 from a normal fashion label – as it is a popular size you would think buyers would buy more – but no! As it is looked at as a larger size from a fashion company a buyer will select the least amount of it – so you would end up with an average buy of – two of sizes 8,10,12 and only one of 14.

There we have the problem.

It gets even worse with size 16 – almost looked at these days as a plus size and bought in such small quantities if you do not buy right at the beginning of the season you will definitely not get enough choice.
Size 18 is the most difficult size overall. Regarded as a plus-size it is extremely difficult to get any at all in standard fashion labels stocked by retailers even though most of the labels go up to size 18! The problem is proportions, if bought as a plus-size it can be too big for an average woman.

Hobbs have just announced that they will be increasing their size range to size 18 which is great as their clothing would suit a more curvier figure – let’s hope they might see fit to go further and stock a size 20 one day.

So here is the dilemma – if you are a size 14, 16 or 18 do you fall into standard sizing or are you categorized these days as a plus size? As you are by far treated the in the worst way by stores especially if you want to go off the highstreet and invest in better labels – it is a very strange conundrum and something that should have been sorted out when the sizeuk conclusions were released.

UGH

Having spent the majority of my working life in fashion I can honestly say that I have never felt much part of it. I fell in love with an industry full of neurosis and covert competition walking into it somewhat naively, head held high at a size 24 and just under six feet tall. I’ve worked in a variety of jobs from buying offices to organising visual display on a shopfloor and more recently as part of a personal shopping team in a large department store. Although I have never had direct discrimination because of my size there was always a feeling of not really fitting in. After reading a wonderful piece in 2005 by fashion editor Sarra Manning about being big and in fashion I have to admit that not fitting in has in fact been my greatest advantage. I have been able to gain a great deal more overall experience, even insight into a difficult industry more than my contemporaries have. I almost feel like the child in the story of ‘The Emperors New Clothes’ who had the guts to shout out loud what he really thought. In my role of a fat interloper I am left with no other uncertainties - so I can shout as loud as I want.

I laughed at Sarra’s comments about other fashionistas responses to her - I have had the exasperated huffs at fashion shows when sitting directly in front of a crowd of diminutive trendies. Loudly whispered comments from middle-aged fashion dragons that look at me and wonder why they’re bothering to starve themselves. An innocent remark from someone I got on very well with, which started“Oh Ursula…You never guess?…”I naturally said,“No…What?…”She looked at me earnestly and said,“I dreamt of you last night…You turned up looking just like Naomi Campbell…So slim and lovely…”What could I say but,“Oh right…”

Having grown-up with“Ooh…You’ve got such a lovely smile!…”I got used to these innocuous remarks very quickly and tried to concentrate on finding myself and my own style which I think I have finally achieved – especially, being happy with myself. I’ll never squeeze into Prada or Chloe but I’ve learnt enough to take the elements of fashion that I like and adapting them for myself. I am not saying that I do not wake up sometimes with feelings of inadequacy - wishing that I could just sling on a mini-T and jeans and go out into the world. Being large means that life lacks a bit of what I call ‘outfit spontaneity’ but, I can say that my journey has helped these moments to pass over very quickly and I now own a very efficient wardrobe.

People seem to like me, which is nice. I get on with all types – trying desperately sometimes not to judge them too harshly. Forgiving their deficiencies and overlooking
their insecurities. Being dragged around by friends to help them spend money on themselves – again, ignoring the fact that not one has ever offered to come out with me – but that’s okay, as I would probably end up strangling them anyway.

I still love what I do and I look at all that is fashion objectively and have finally found the strength to sideline it and find a path of my own. Being a personal shopper has taught me a lot about human frailty and it concerns me that women especially now have certainly taken a step backwards when it come to self-esteem no matter what size they are. Satisfaction with age, size and appearance only comes when there is self-acceptance and that is sadly lacking in most. I quickly found that clients came more for a word of kindness rather than objective criticism, which surprised me, I had to go back into ‘shopping with best friends’ mode and listen more as I truly wanted them to leave not only looking good but also feeling a little better about themselves. Maybe I had success because I was not a fashion mannequin looking down at these women – I was real, about as real as you could get - a woman of generous size that treated them fairly and equally, examining their needs rather than throwing something at them that was totally unsuitable.

I am now doing it for myself, concentrating on the area I suffered from most growing up large like thousands of others. Looking directly at plus sizes, here in the UK and abroad and hopefully help to make it more cohesive. I am neither a campaigner nor a shoulder to cry on, I believe that all women have to find their own way - with a little pushing from people and organisations like myself.

We are currently experiencing a second round of media interest in plus sizes, which, will peak for a while and then die a death when everyone concerned get bored. The thing is, this time I believe that we should try to take advantage of this short-term moment of popularity to bring this side of the industry together and help it to become stronger and more accessible.

I will continue to stay optimistic and find encouragement from the great people I have met. The plus size market is full of people trying to make a difference, still finding enjoyment in helping to make someone feel special. I am also in full support for the companies adding size to their ranges – they do not always get it right but at least they are acknowledging that curves are getting curvier and bums are getting bigger.

Gaining self-esteem is an essential life task that has to be done for oneself – not forced on by the fashion or beauty industries. The fickle media must not be given the importance it has when it comes to self-image. Women must be helped to go forward a step and find out for themselves what they actually want – if it is to lose the excess weight to be happy then they should be encouraged to do so but if they are what they are at a size 20 and equally as happy – they must not be shelved as a failure.

UGH.