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AIBU to think this is an out of date concept?

What's happening with changing rooms in charity shops these days? (Haven't been in one since Covid, though we're currently clearing out & donating to a big warehousey one.)

Pre-Covid, one shop near me took out its changing room, & said you could bring things back with a receipt, but when I took back the vintage dress I'd loved which turned out to be the wrong size, the woman wasn't happy. She did refund as promised, though.

A new charity shop said it didn't have a changing room at all (odd, since it took over the premises of a former clothes shop), but they could assemble some not very tall screens in the shop & I could change there if I wanted to. I declined & they all looked most offended. Really??

Another vote here for arranging clothes first by type & then by size - not by colour at all. You know why it looks 'boutiquey'? Because real shops have multiples of the same item, so they have lots of the same colour in the same place. Charity shops DON'T have that, & putting things together that happen to be the same colour but are different in every other way doesn't help anyone find anything, so it doesn't make sense to fake it.

I actually think it's a good idea to put all sizes together like a section for size 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 36 38 30 etc etc it makes everything easier to find and most shops do this anyway if they mean a totally separate section for size 18 and upwards no that's a stupid idea.

Some shops allow clothes fitting and some have closed their changing rooms. I won't buy anything that is supposed to fit well like trousers and skirts without trying them on, so the shops that have closed their fitting rooms don't get my business.

Sort by size not colour
Colour puts me off looking

I'm not entirely sure why it winds me up so much.
I think it's the separation part of it.
There's just been too much of that going on over the years.
I know I'm fatter than some people but I don't feel I should be shepherded off to a separate section!

Regarding the colour thing, I think it depends on the size of the shop.
If you've got a lot of space to fill, it makes sense to have lots of rails/gondolas with different colours.
I personally like a good rummage in the colours I prefer and it doesn't bother me at all.
Changing rooms are allowed to be open.
Ours are but I've noticed others are not.
It's difficult for trousers and dresses if you can't try them on. When changing rooms were closed, we noticed the difference in sales of certain types of clothing, even though we've always happily given a refund.

What are jewel winter colours?

TK maxx has a plus size section saves you rummaging in wrong bit. I always used to go to it automatically after losing weight. I think curvy and voluptuous is naff so go factual 8-16 or 18 + or just plus size section.

Plus sized men’s would be popular too - I used to sell DH’s stuff on eBay for more than paid (used to buy in USA) 3xl/4 XL especially branded stuff is in high demand.

It’s a terrible idea. What’s she going to write in the signs? ‘Normal’ and ‘big’?

Getting a larger sized mannequin for the window would work if you want to draw attention to your plus size stock.

I am a size 14 but if I were bigger I would find euphemisms (curvy, voluptuous etc) cringey and patronising. However, I wouldn’t mind a factual “size 18+”sign. It sounds practical to me.

In a charity shop, I'd probably just have it all together, divided by size, but I never thought the separation of larger clothes was meant to insult or "other" anyone. I thought it was more about practicality, convenience, and keeping everything of the same design together. A lot of the time, the same top, skirt, or dress wouldn't be made in a full range of sizes from the smallest to the largest. A lot of labels specialised in larger sizes, so maybe it made sense to just give them their own section. In a charity shop, of course, it doesn't apply in the same way, since you don't have lots of the same item to keep together.

Tbh, I haven't shopped for clothes in a normal brick-and-mortar in a while, so maybe that's trending out of existence.

And it's true that even if you make a separate section, you don't have to call the section "curvy", "voluptuous", etc.

I had a big argument with friend when I called myself curvy once.
She insisted it obviously means fat.
I said it means curvy. Sofia Loren was curvy and not fat.
So don't use that one, I implore you. "Plus-size" makes sense to me.

As an avid charity shop shopper, I don't know why OP's shop would do this. Just sort items first by type 2nd by size?

@Dixiechickonhols TK Maxx is one of the shops who have stopped doing a plus size section and have moved to size inclusive.
I suppose gradually retailers have realised that it's singling out certain people.
They just have all clothes in size order now.

Agree with pps - I am not a fan of 'curvy' 'voluptuous' etc. I think they sound worse than saying someone is 'overweight' because it's patronising, an obvious attempt to be tactful, as if the person themselves is in denial about their size.

If people want to call themselves 'curvy' or whatever, that's great - I know some people embrace having a larger body - but others should just be factual - 'size 18 +' or 'Plus Size'.

plumpy I didn’t realise. I thought was a good thing. I’ve lost 5 stone so I’m looking for different sizes now. Tend to find it faff in TK maxx as so much stuff to trawl through / the one rail of plus sized stuff suited me.

I find that all the places that have gone 'size inclusive' only go up to an 18 with the fat clothes available online only. I hate that I can't go shopping in person anymore as nothing will fit. This is one of the many reasons I have paid for a gastric bypass, I'm sick of shops not wanting us fatties in them.

OP if you had an 18+ range I would absolutely shop there. I don't think it's dated, I think the absence of these sections has just limited shopping for larger women. There is nothing inclusive about it.

@Muddydoor

What are jewel winter colours?

The antithesis of beiges, pastels, whites and creams. So magenta, turquoise, emerald/bottle green. Maybe navy to offset the brighter colours. Possibly deep reds. I think that the phrase comes from the idea of “getting your colours done” which was all the rage in the eighties and 90s, with “consultants” who would tell you what colours to wear.

I personally like a good rummage in the colours I prefer and it doesn't bother me at all.

@plumpylumpydumpy don’t you find it a bit of a waste of time to be rummaging through clothes that are the wrong size for you, even if you are just scanning along the rail to find where the bigger sizes start? In a charity shop where there is only one of everything I find it really disappointing to have my eye caught by a beautiful dress then realise it’s three sizes too small. In a normal shop it’s fine because you might see the small size but find one in your size at the back.

Not an issue at all. I'm a larger lady and I hate sifting through rails and rails of 8,10,12,14s or whatever. Give me a large/extra large section to save time!

I’d be so happy with a section for non-standard sizing. It’s so disappointing when you’ve found the perfect thing in your size and it’s more like two sizes smaller.

I'm quite small in size and torso length and I must admit, if I see a specific petite section, it will.often draw me in more so than just going to the smaller end of the sizing rack, mainly just because I know things will be more likely to fit me/be of a better cut for my frame. Especially as sizes more towards either end of the spectrum can often be less commonly donated than all the size 10s and 12s, I can understand maybe advertising that you have a lot fo a certain size might help draw in people looking for that...but I also do appreciate that being small carries less social stigma and so the feeling of being 'singled out' might feel different for plus size vs petite. I would say if she wanted to single out, then she should do the same at the other end of the scale for anything under a size 8

I would love this. It would save so much time and depression. I don’t want to be tempted by all the pretty things I can’t have.