The highstreet Biggies

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 10:53:37 > A quick thought

Are the highstreets getting easier to shop on?…

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?