Plus Size Pet Peeve
Wait just a second while I drag out my soapbox.... Ok, here it is.
I won't bother tapping the microphone.
Based on someGoogling informal internet research, I have learned that, like myself, somewhere between %50 and %55 of American women wear a size 14 or larger. That's a lot of us. I grant you, I'd love to work my way down out of this demographic, but that's another post. Even when I was at an ideal weight and in fighting shape, I was still between a 12 and a 16 depending on where I shopped, so even if I drop all my excess weight, I might still need a plus size from time to time.
Nevertheless, here I am a plus size shopper, and I am looking for clothes. I buy a lot of clothes at Old Navy - fits my budget, carries cute plus size clothes; how can I go wrong? I can't, but they did.
They used to carry a selection of plus sized clothes in the retail stores, which are plentiful in my densely populated corner of the world. Yay! Then, suddenly, no more. According to one painfully rude employee, not enough people need those sizes, so corporate yanked them. Okay, so I'll shop online... And, lo! Free shipping deals abound, and in-store returns. Next best thing, I guess... Until they stopped allowing in-store returns. Ugh. But wait! Free return shipping on items that can't be returned to a store. I can live with that. As of this past summer, that policy has gone out the window, too. Now, not only does Old Navy not carry plus sizes in the stores, they don't allow in-store returns on internet only sales, and charge me for the return shipping. Basically, I'm being penalized for not being a certain weight/shape. It's discrimination, and it pisses me off. Mind you, they're not the only ones. I'm just citing them as an example.
Never mind the sneaky practice that many retailers use, where they charge $2-$10 more for clothes larger than a size 16. Their argument is that it requires more fabric to create these clothes, so they have to upcharge. I counter with this: why do you not offer tiny women a discount? There is a far larger discrepancy in fabric between a size 2 and a size 14, than between a size 14 and a size. 18, and yet, when you make that jump, there's the bigger price tag. So, if my plus size jeans cost $5 more than the regular sizes, then charge the size 2, 4 and 6 girls $5 less for theirs.
Just a thought while I search for better retail practices elsewhere...
I won't bother tapping the microphone.
Based on some
Nevertheless, here I am a plus size shopper, and I am looking for clothes. I buy a lot of clothes at Old Navy - fits my budget, carries cute plus size clothes; how can I go wrong? I can't, but they did.
They used to carry a selection of plus sized clothes in the retail stores, which are plentiful in my densely populated corner of the world. Yay! Then, suddenly, no more. According to one painfully rude employee, not enough people need those sizes, so corporate yanked them. Okay, so I'll shop online... And, lo! Free shipping deals abound, and in-store returns. Next best thing, I guess... Until they stopped allowing in-store returns. Ugh. But wait! Free return shipping on items that can't be returned to a store. I can live with that. As of this past summer, that policy has gone out the window, too. Now, not only does Old Navy not carry plus sizes in the stores, they don't allow in-store returns on internet only sales, and charge me for the return shipping. Basically, I'm being penalized for not being a certain weight/shape. It's discrimination, and it pisses me off. Mind you, they're not the only ones. I'm just citing them as an example.
Never mind the sneaky practice that many retailers use, where they charge $2-$10 more for clothes larger than a size 16. Their argument is that it requires more fabric to create these clothes, so they have to upcharge. I counter with this: why do you not offer tiny women a discount? There is a far larger discrepancy in fabric between a size 2 and a size 14, than between a size 14 and a size. 18, and yet, when you make that jump, there's the bigger price tag. So, if my plus size jeans cost $5 more than the regular sizes, then charge the size 2, 4 and 6 girls $5 less for theirs.
Just a thought while I search for better retail practices elsewhere...
Labels: Ramblings
posted by Cameron | 1:35 PM
2 Comments:
Well said!!! I wear a fourteen in cheap clothing, not sure if expensive things are sized differently. I'm not huge, but I'n not tiny either. I have quite a few things from Old Navy! Guess i'd best hang onto them. I agree that if things are to be more expensive for larger sizes, small sizes should cost less. You wrote it so well!
samm
Anonymous - Expensive things are totally sized differently. On the "breastfeeding diet" I have finally dropped down to a size 12, but if the label is "designer", I wear a size 14-16, when they even bother to make designer clothes that large.
Cam - do you ever shop Frugal Fannies, out in Westwood? I've found some killer bargains there, and their range of sizes is great - size 0-24.
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