Brandy Melville- only sells one tiny size. Why is this allowed to happen?

[S0rrel]

So since the first lockdown my dd is one of many teenagers contributing to the huge spike in Anorexia. It’s is deadly and incredibly difficult to beat once it has taken hold.

She needs new clothes and mentioned Brandy Melville. Went on to tell me they only sell one tiny size and her friends tell her she is small enough,barely able to hide her glee. Talk about putting dreadful pressure on already susceptible girls. How are we as parents supposed to battle crap like that. I did the women come in all shapes, how deplorable spiel. Went on complete deaf ears.

Why are they allowed to do this? What messages are we sending out to young girls.

Suspira I think you’ll find they can be and they can certainly be exacerbated and such a concept will make recovery incredibly hard.

@DishedUp

uk.brandymelville.com/catalog/category/view/s/crop-tops/id/1499/#

@Lockheart

It means 14 inches across not all the way round!

The link below said a size 4.

It's a weird business model isn't it, only selling one size? Surely they are losing out on loads of custom?

I guess they get the 'aspirational' side of it, being able to wear BM means you see 'the right size' which is shit for young girls.

Having looked at the jeans though, it does look like skinny jeans are finally going out of fashion, it's only taken 15 years! The clothes look shit quality though.

BM definitely has a negative influence on young people , it's very much BM size = yay! , BM too small? = bad. I've noticed this looking at the comments on a YouTube channel I watch that's owned by an ex model. Lots of people saying "oh I love your shirt , I wish I could wear BM clothes".

Never heard of BM but thought I'd look it up as I have DDs 9 and 7. Anyway, what truly awful bloody clothes. They look cheap and crap. Just proves teenagers will buy into anything.

Most of the S size trousers are a 27 or 28 inch waist, which as their target market is 14 to 18 year old girls, seems ok. They also stock an M in some of their trousers.

Pretty much all of their tops are stretchy or sweatshirt material and quite oversized.

We went in there as a family of five and only the 15 year old could buy anything. To be fair, she was the only one who wanted to!

posting again, sorry, but I think some posters aren’t looking at brandy melville with the context of eating disorders. I was obsessed with getting too small for these clothes to fit, it fuelled me constantly measuring my body and really contributed to the worsening of my ED. no one is saying these sizes shouldnt exist, but the one size option males brandy melville feel much more lucrative. the clothes are a symbol of thinness even though some of the clothes are oversized or more of an average size. it has a reputation of being for thin, pretty girls and i’ve heard SO many stories of larger people being insulted and begrudged in brandy’s stores. It profits off the obsession girls have with being thin enough and THAT’S why I’ve grown to hate it personally.

People seem to be missing the point that they only offer one size. No way comparable to Simply Be.

YANBU at all. Some of the models are very underweight indeed and you can see where their ribs have been airbrushed away and their upper arms sculpted.

I have no answer but hope your DD makes a recovery. There’s a massive difference between slender and starved.

Yes , but imagine all of your mates could buy from there, but you were slightly too big to? If I was a teen I'd have been upset that and may have tried to diet.

@titchy fair enough but a size 6 is still a bust measurement of 32 inches

I have no idea how round that would make the clothes because no one does clothes measurements as a length, bodies are round? But I can't imagine it's more than 32inches if its 14 inches flat?

(Going by the OP, I have never heard of BM clothes)

Yes, a 28 inch waist is definitely not 'small' for a teenage girl.

It's just that theres already so much pressure on young women to be 'perfection' (it's either that or the 'body positive' influences who I don't think send a healthy message either tbh) that only selling in one size ie. 'This is the size you should be' in order to make your crappy clothes aspirational is just a shitty way to run a business aimed at teenage girls.

[quote Lockheart]@Loopyloututu the jeans a poster linked upthread are 31" and 33" waist. By my understanding that's between a 12 (30" waist) and a 16 (34" waist). The Next ones I'm wearing now are a 29" (I'm about a 10 at the moment and very much not a teenager)

So not unrealistic at all and quite normal sizes.[/quote]
The 31” and 33” are length options aren’t they? The waist sizes are 26” and 28”.

@S0rrel

Suspira I think you’ll find they can be and they can certainly be exacerbated and such a concept will make recovery incredibly hard.

Sorry, no. my sister has had anorexia for fifteen years i've met a lot of people with EDs through her/her friends she has met in treatment and also through my own job as a psychology researcher (non-clinical i do studies rather than have patients). Not one of the, hmmm, 50+ adults I've met with severe and enduring anorexia nervosa have cited anything as facile as current fashions as a precipitating factor of their eating disorder. Sadly, for most, sexual abuse, violence and/or childhood trauma is what causes the severest eating disorders with the worst outcomes.

I understand you must be struggling to cope with a daughter suffering with anorexia, but I don't think it helps you (or her) to focus your anger on something like clothes sizes or what's "the fashion". Deeper than that, your daughter is really suffering; she isn't just a dupe of popular culture or something.
The good news, though, is that early intervention and family support is what's most closely linked to good outcomes for anorexia -- with family-based therapy being the a* treatment. So there's a really, really good chance your daughter can make a full recovery.

@Loopyloututu

Why is it okay to call a smaller size not normal?

By normal I mean “average”. Most teenage/young girls are not a size 6.

They don't even only sell a size 6 though. They have jeans in stock right now at 28inch which is about a UK 6, and jeans at 31 and even 33 which is around a UK 10. The stock one or two sizes in most things, but their sizing isn't exactly the same across the board by any means, you just need to read the actual size details.

I just had a look and I can’t believe this type go shop is legal. It’s an awful concept. What kind of person decides to make money running this business?! Horrible!

@luxxlisbon A 28" waist is a size 10. A 30" is a 12 and an 8 is 26".

Suspira you’re talking absolute rubbish. I don’t need lecturing re what would help my dd either.

They really don’t sell 31” and 33” waist jeans. It’s the inseam.
The waist is 26” or 28”.

Happy to be wrong, but I’m really not seeing any jeans in those sizes.

@ThePricklySheep. "They really don’t sell 31” and 33” waist jeans. It’s the inseam.
The waist is 26” or 28”."

us.brandymelville.com/products/addison-jeans-y29-ma1-lw

Size S: 11" (28 cm) rise, 33" (84 cm) inseam, 31" (79 cm) waist
Size M: 11" (28 cm) rise, 33" (84 cm) inseam, 33" (84 cm) waist

This is literally the 3rd pair of jeans on their site. The sizing is individual to the product, not across the brand.

14" chest! That can't be right. My bare ribcage is larger than that!

@SplendidSuns1000

I'm sorry but stopping a business for selling clothes designed for slim people of a range of sizes is just as bad as a business selling plus size clothing in a range of sizes just in case someone gets inspired to put on weight so a t shirt fits them.

Size 2 jeans aren't the issue, eating disorders and poor mental health are the issues.

If you'd ever seen the shite that Evans punts out, you'd know that there is absolutely no danger of that ever happening.

[quote luxxlisbon]@ThePricklySheep. "They really don’t sell 31” and 33” waist jeans. It’s the inseam.
The waist is 26” or 28”."

us.brandymelville.com/products/addison-jeans-y29-ma1-lw

Size S: 11" (28 cm) rise, 33" (84 cm) inseam, 31" (79 cm) waist
Size M: 11" (28 cm) rise, 33" (84 cm) inseam, 33" (84 cm) waist

This is literally the 3rd pair of jeans on their site. The sizing is individual to the product, not across the brand.[/quote]
Oh yes. You are right, but they are meant to be worn really baggily. You wouldn’t choose them if you had an actual size 31” waist