To say this is such a dated thing to do?

[plumpylumpydumpy]

I work in charity retail.
My colleague wants to create a separate area for larger sizes for women.
I hate the idea.
My reasons:
It will have a sign saying 'curvy and voluptuous' or whatever! I'm overweight myself and wear a size 18 and don't think of myself as curvy or any other term which avoids saying I'm overweight.
It's only for women. There's no section for men. Whatever size they are, all clothes go in together.
We wouldn't separate out the size 6s and 8s and have a section for that so why always larger people?
Also, I can't really think of any high street store which does this now and after reading up a bit, high street retailers seem to go along the lines of size inclusive now, rather than separation, which leads me to think it's dated.
I know being overweight isn't a protected characteristic but people do have different reasons for being overweight and it could relate to illness, disability or mental health.
AIBU to think this is an out of date concept?

I’m overweight. It wouldn’t bother me because my fatness is obvious. I don’t really see the problem.

YANBU
What a pointless and off putting thing to do! Literally why??

YANBU

It’d make sense to separate the vintage sized and modern sized clothing but your colleague’s idea is daft.

I'm size 24/26 and personally I'd love this (so hard to find the bigger sizes in charity shops. But I may not be the norm so definitely get the views of others.

YANBU. I would be embarrassed to be seen shopping in there.

Some stores still have a ‘plus size’ section - off the top of my head I can think of Matalan and New Look - but as a size 16-18 I prefer to just find my size among all the others.

I rarely shop in actual shops any more but whenever I shop online I go straight to the plus size / curve ranges, I don't see how this is any different? I'm a size 22 and there is something very disheartening about going through racks of clothes and finding nothing that will fit, I'd love to see a plus size area where I can go and find something.

It seems pointless. Aren’t the clothes sorted by size, with size cubes on the hangers anyway?

Maybe separate out the vintage stuff. Those sizes are nothing like modern sizing!

I think most charity shops these days organise their rails according to size. In fact, I don't go in the ones that don't, it's too much faff. But putting a "curvy" or whatever label on it seems a bit unnecessary, and I agree that some people might find it off-putting.

My favourite way of clothes being sorted is colour then size. I can then head straight to the blues and greens and see if anything is available in my size. As PP says, surely they are sorted by size anyway?

IME charity shops always separate by type first, then by size. So a rail of dresses all together, but then in size order, often with a divider on the rail so I can see at a glance where I need to look.

Having a different area for larger sizes probably wouldn't make it any faster or easier for me to find things. It would also mean that you'd be relying on having enough stock to fill that section all the time.

For info:

All clothes are already sorted in colour and size order.
Generally, larger sizes are not donated as much as smaller so the chances are, if you can't find them, they don't exist.

It depends on how the clothes are displayed in general. Are they divided by size anyway? If you display by size and it’s easy to navigate, there’s probably no need for a separate plus size section. However, a lot of charity shops just seem to put dresses, tops, trousers etc. together without sorting them by size - and as there is likely to be less plus size stock available, customers might appreciate it being made easier.

However, I don’t think the ‘Curvy and Voluptuous’ sign is a good idea. It’s a bit too try-hard; like a Dove advert made flesh. Be factual - ‘Size 18 and over’.

As for there being no such section for men, I’ve worked in charity shops, and the amount of men’s clothes donated is dwarfed by the amount of women’s. There’s barely enough for a menswear section full stop in most shops.

why don't you already sort by size? surely most charity shops do?

What a stupid waste of time to be sorting through a rail of mixed sizes

A charity shop near us sorts by colour instead of size, I would never bother to waste my time looking there.

Any charity shop I am in, I just go straight to the rail with my size on, also in new shops, like TKMaxx, I go straight to she rail with my size on.

In any other shop, I just check what colour hanger has my size on, and scan the rails for that colour

Not making it quick and easy to find sizes in the layout of a shop is lazy and puts people off using your shop

I think it could be helpful for people to know where to go to find what they need quicker but all the "curvy and voluptuous" flowery nonsense is just patronising. Overweight people aren't "curvy" or "voluptuous" unless they actually are, besides being overweight.

And yes, lots of my clothes are technically mens cloths, and whether from a chairty shop, or a new shop, I would expect my size in mens clothing to be equally clearly laid out, or else I wouldn't bother

However, I don’t think the ‘Curvy and Voluptuous’ sign is a good idea. It’s a bit too try-hard; like a Dove advert made flesh. Be factual - ‘Size 18 and over’.

This, normal and sensible, and you should already be doing ti

I don't see the point in doing this. Every charity shop I've ever been in has stuff arranged by size on the racks anyway, so there's a rack of 10s, 12s, 14s, etc up to the sizes that they have in stock. Don't think it needs labelling as a separate section.

It's a charity shop. The sections you have are decided more than anything by donations. They have to be completely flexible and will oftne only last for a few days/week. If, in a very short space of time, you received a very large donation of plus sized clothing or a number of donations with plus sized clothing, meaning you had a large range of them all at once. Then sure, go for it. Put them as a separate section. But the following week, you could literally have 3 items for the whole section and if you try to make it permanent, you'll end up having to trawl your other clothing sections for the largest sized that you wouldn't have deemed plus-sized.

The same would go for any other type of clothing, like maternity-wear, petite-sizing, even sports wear, evening dress etc. (Or cookbooks, schoolbooks, kitchenwear, whatever you get donated in a sudden glut.) You just can't commit to having permanent separate sections for clothing because you literally have no idea day to day, week to week what you'll be able to stock.

I’m torn because I agree with you OP that it’s a double standard etc. But on the other hand if you don’t get much stock in those sizes it might be nice for some customers to be able to see quickly what’s in. I have large boobs and some branches of M&S have a Big Tit Ghetto where the stock the ranges they actually do in sizes bigger than E (or whatever), I find it annoying to see all the pretty things I can’t have in the other sections but it does save time.

Completely pointless and a waste of time.

If you've got a separate area you want to feature, would a 'new in' rail work? It'll save you a bit of time and keep the regulars (like me) tempted.

If the clothes are already in size order, that's all that's needed.

"I think most charity shops these days organise their rails according to size"

That's stilly since the clothes come from totally different places. It wouldn't tell you the real size at all.
The shops I went to had tops, skirts, etc. and then you could use your eyes to judge the sizes as well as the label on them.

@Taswama

My favourite way of clothes being sorted is colour then size. I can then head straight to the blues and greens and see if anything is available in my size. As PP says, surely they are sorted by size anyway?

I hate clothes being sorted by colour! I’ll walk straight out if I see that.

Who goes in thinking “right I need a green top today” 😂

If you've got a separate area you want to feature, would a 'new in' rail work? It'll save you a bit of time and keep the regulars (like me) tempted.

That's a good idea. Or a 'premium label/designer' area - as long as you genuinely stock it with high-end stuff (I was bemused once to find a New Look blouse on a 'designer' rail).