To wonder why clothes aren't more expensive in bigger sizes

[mrsfoof]

If you buy children's clothes, you'll have probably noticed that you have to pay a good few quid more for a T-shirt in age 12 than you would for the exact same T-shirt in age 5. Fair enough, the bigger size uses a lot more fabric.

Why then, is a size 24 ladies' T-shirt the same price as the same T-shirt in a size 6, despite it using a lot more - maybe even twice as much - fabric?

Would people be more motivated to stay a healthy weight if they had to pay more for bigger clothes? Why don't we charge more for bigger clothes? Are the prices based on the average amount of fabric used - so skinny people pay more and very large people pay less than they should do based on the resources used to make their clothes?

FWIW I'm marginally overweight and wouldn't have a problem paying more for my size 14 than a 6. I think it would motivate me to lose some weight if the size 10 was cheaper though!

What's to say that the tailors don't cost the items on the average mid-size?
So on a size M they make £X amount, on a size S they make a little more due to less fabric used, and then on a size L they make a little less due to more fabric used.
As others have said, the actual fabric is a negligible amount. It still costs the same amount to manufacture the garment, whatever the size.

Same reason men's clothes don't cost more than women's despite being bigger on average- because the price of most clothes is governed more by demand side factors than supply side factors.

Why should us taller folks pay more because you need motivation to lose weight, OP

It’s the same with shoes, the most common shoe size will also be the most profitable.

Exactly the shops make more of what size will sell.

That's exactly what this is. It's a very poorly veiled attempt to whip up the fat bashers.

I've got bigger feet as well...

Why? Because no one feels “shamed” or discriminated against because their child is now 14 not 4. As an adult, it’s hardly going to make you feel good about a brand if you feel they disapprove of you - look how many campaigns are about loving yourself, different kinds of beauty, accepting everyone is beautiful yada yada. Can you imagine the awful publicity and brand image if eg M&S or Next was in all the papers for charging more for bigger sizes - a vast number of their customers are above average/overweight. So unless you’re suggesting only pricing up at the very very large sizes, they’d lose an awful lot of custom and goodwill.

Shops are generally not stupid, if it made commercial sense to do it they would.

The administrative burden of having different prices for each different garment would massively outweigh any potential profit. Say you stock 8 sizes - that multiplies your admin 8 fold for accounts and when warehouse doesn’t match because a tag has fallen off…

Look what happened to Abercrombie & Fitch when they declared they were only for the young, thin and non-disabled? Not good, was it?

People are so determined to spot 'fat shaming' that they are wilfully missing the point here, which is that we accept differing pricing in children's clothes why? Is the overweight 6 year old who needs an age 9 dress being fat shamed by being charged an extra £2? Why don't people see this negatively?? Thats the question OP is asking - yet as ever people are getting defensive and assuming this is one big dig against fat people....

Children grow. All children will eventually require an age 9 garment (well, almost all). Adults come in many shapes and sizes, and often remain there.

Some shops do this already. But op your points are crap and as others have pointed out the overhead costs are the same whatever the size.

A better question would be, why are petite and tall ranges so expensive and why are men's clothes often better quality but cheaper?

The same top in a size 6 is charged as the 22 because the material that made ALL the shirts whatever size, was mass purchased, mass produced and sold en-mass. It's not the size of the individual item it's priced as a collective. Kids clothes being different prices is much more of a supply and demand issue because there is a far bigger variety in size and scope of kids clothes compared to adult sizes. A store would generally carry a few of a certain age, but alot more of a certain adult size per size. I suppose the real question is why on earth do you care? Why do you want bigger/taller people etc to pay more for clothing, why do you care if pricing guilted people into losing weight or outpriced a poorer taller person out of clothes? Very bizarre

A better question would be, why are petite and tall ranges so expensive and why are men's clothes often better quality but cheaper?

tall & petite will be because of different patterns & smaller buys. The more you buy the cheaper it is.

@mrsfoof stop comparing to kids clothes, they price kids clothes the way they do because they know kids grow quicker and therefore you have to buy them more frequently and will end up paying whatever they want you to pay because you have to buy kids new clothing as they grow!

The actual fabric costs pennies compared with the cost of producing the clothes and delivering them to the shop: design, labelling, manufacture, shipping, packing, hanagers, storage, transport, warehousing, shop floor space and labour costs.

So (and this is a genuine question, not to suggest that you're wrong), why do they charge different prices for kids' clothes depending on size? In the example I posted earlier, the top is £9 for age 4 and £14 for age 13+. I always assumed this was because bigger sizes = higher costs to make, but if this isn't the case, why do they do it?

Would people be more motivated to stay a healthy weight if they had to pay more for bigger clothes

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

But lots of plus size clothes ranges insist on on adding a cold shoulder to bloody everything, maybe this is to rebalance the fabric costs.

I honestly don’t get why ‘fat shaming’ is a ‘thing’.

The facts are that it’s unhealthy to be fat and it puts a strain on healthcare.

Unless there is a clear reason, MH issues, metabolic issues, prescribed drug use, being fat IS BAD!

If you feel shame about it, do something about it.

TBH I sometimes wear kids clothes as the sizes have become so large and inccreased now. if there is a 15-16, a 14-15 or even a 13-14, they're not dissimilar to some adult sizes. i think i've worn a 12-13 as well.

I'm tall and I'd be happy to pay extra for longer trousers so they actually fit or have t shirts that are long enough to tuck in.

Because they can. The price something is sold for isn't necessarily directly related to the actual cost to produce the item, it is also based on what the consumers will pay. Consumers accept that children's clothes cost more for the bigger (older) sizes.

Why is this fat shaming?
I don’t see how it is at all.

Lets take something larger that isn’t about a persons size explicitly.

Duvet covers.
Festival tents (1 man v 2 man for example).
Sleeping bags.

The bigger ones all cost more. Substantially more.

So why not for clothes?

It’s a fair question