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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To be annoyed at shops that sell clothes for Plus Size women but use thin models to show them off?

55 replies

Alambil · 03/02/2009 12:57

I mean REALLY annoyed.

Part of me thinks if they do it because it means their stuff really doesn't fit / suit fat people well......

Why not use the size models that reflect your target audience?

FAT PEOPLE CAN BE ATTRACTIVE TOO, you know!! So it can't be because they're ugly....

OP posts:
singyswife · 03/02/2009 13:00

Here here, I saw an ad on the tv this morning for sometyhing that was in sizes 12-32 and they were using the curviest size 12's to advertise clothes that were 'made to flatter your figure'. Maybe we should start a campaign and write to the companies about this.

Coldtits · 03/02/2009 13:01

I think a shop tried that but the clothes stopped selling. So it seems that despite people saying they want to see bigger models in bigger clothes, they don't. They want to see bigger clothes on smallest model who can hold them up!

mamadiva · 03/02/2009 13:02

Is this about Evans? Our local store is the sme and everyone who works in there is a size 8/10 by the looks of it, now I dont havea problem with that at all but it makes you quit uncomfortable. A well known high street store wont take on staff who are above their size range as they don't promote the look of the clothes

Why should it be different in Evans, I for one feel uncomfortable going in to a store where the staff take the piss out of the size of the large sizes.

ANamesANameForAThatsTaken · 03/02/2009 13:04

"FAT PEOPLE CAN BE ATTRACTIVE TOO, you know!!"

I know, the reason I know is because I am fat and attractive.

Yes it's annoying, even more annoying are pregnancy clothes displayed on non-pregnant women

LackaDAISYcal · 03/02/2009 13:04

It is annoying LF, but I'm sure I read somewhere that they do use plus size models.......plus being a size 14

It just reinforces the obsession we have in this country with weight issues.

ANamesANameForAThatsTaken · 03/02/2009 13:06

clothes look better on thin people - that's why catwalk models are so thin. If clothes looked better on fat people, then the designers would use fat people to model them.

Alambil · 03/02/2009 13:09

I mean size 18 / 20 / 22 women - why not??? They design / sell clothes for this size so why not model them on this size?

Anamesaname do you REALISE how offensive you've just been?

OP posts:
mayorquimby · 03/02/2009 13:11

isn't the age old argument that the clothes look better on thinner models, hence the use of catwalk models who are extra skinny ahead of sex-bomb type celebs who are curvier.
so while it might not be practical it probably does generate more business as people will see the clothes and think "oh that top/dress/skirt looks brilliant i must buy it".
it's all based on capitalist economics.in general businesses employ whatever works to shift product, not what is most practical for the consumer.hence the reason 99% of adult targetted advertisements are based around sex even when the product has nothing to do with it. (chocolate,cars,alcohol)
if it didn't work the businesses wouldn't do it.
not that i am saying this is morally right, but then again i don't think businesses have any moral obligation to people as long as they don't break laws.

ANamesANameForAThatsTaken · 03/02/2009 13:12

no I do not realise how offensive I've been and if you've taken offence at my comments perhaps you're feeling a little over sensitive about your weight.

I'll say it again

Clothes look better on thin people.

I am a size 20 by the way.

Clattered · 03/02/2009 13:14

I agree LewisFan.

I don't buy clothes modelled by someone size 8 because it gives me no idea what they'll look like on me, a curvy size 14. And I mean, really curvy.

In fact, I curve all the way up to about a 24.

bigTillyMint · 03/02/2009 13:15

I don't agree aname.

I know may larger women who look FAR more attractive than slim women because they are confident, dress to flatter their shape and look sexy, not drab.

ANamesANameForAThatsTaken · 03/02/2009 13:15

mayorquimby made the point more tactfully than I did

MrsTittleMouse · 03/02/2009 13:15

Their argument would be that they do. They use size 16 models that they call "fat", but the models are 6 feet tall, so they are proportioned like a slim normal-height person. Whereas regular models are proportioned like sticks (apologies to those who naturally have this body type, but it is so incredibly rare to be "not normal").

bigTillyMint · 03/02/2009 13:15

many

wotulookinat · 03/02/2009 13:17

I hate the fact that Evans are staffed by skinnie ladies! It makes me feel bad when they hold up my massive new jeans to fold them and could easily get lost in them!!!

ANamesANameForAThatsTaken · 03/02/2009 13:18

bigTillyMint - it's not about whether thin or fat women are more attractive, it's about shops and businesses selling as much as possible in order to make as much money as possible.

Why do you think Karl Lagerfeld doesn't use fat models?

CarryOnUpTheLiffey · 03/02/2009 13:18

I hate when they describe a size 16 model who is nearly six foot as being 'larger' or even fat.

fgs! nobody would call a five foot 2 person who is size twelve 'large' or 'fat'. But it's the same thing really.

IMO.

PurpleKate · 03/02/2009 13:19

Not sure I agree with the statement 'clothes look better on thin people'.

I think that clothes designed for thin people look better on thin people.

I also think that clothes designed for curvy people look better on curvy people.

What does annoy me is that most clothes seem to be designed for thin people

cornflakegirl · 03/02/2009 13:19

Yes, fat women can look fabulous when they dress to flatter their shape. But when they pick clothes models, they want women who can wear all the clothes designs, not just the ones that flatter their shape. Hence skinny models. (I'm fat, btw.)

wotulookinat · 03/02/2009 13:20

I'd like to see how the clothes look on a larger lady, so larger models would be better for me.

CarryOnUpTheLiffey · 03/02/2009 13:22

Mayorquimby, you make an important point, but sometimes I think that if you transported a model from the catwalk straight to real life she wouldn't look admirably slim, she would look eye-catchingly tall and thin and dressed to look fragile and ludicrous. NOT a look that women want to pull off in real life.

I don't think I'm alone here, but I look at the cat walk collections in magazines and the only outfits that catch my eye for more than a split second are the things that I could envisage wearing myself!!

bigTillyMint · 03/02/2009 13:22

I am pretty slim, but I know some clothes only look good on stick insects.

I want to see clothes on women who are a normal size.

Jux · 03/02/2009 13:22

I don't think clothes are designed for thin people. I think clothes are designed and then they only look OK on thin people.

Totally agree, how can I tell if a piece of clothing is flattering to my curves when I see it on a stick insect (even if that insect is size 12, but 6ft tall). I want to see those clothes flattering curves like mine, then I'll know if it will flatter me. Marisota are a case in point.

BalloonSlayer · 03/02/2009 13:23

Aren't the super-thin models used because they have to be able to fit into anything at a moments notice?

At a fashion show the designers need to know that what they have created will fit the models. It is therefore easier to make clothes to fit what are essentially skeletons, than to get them to fit a range of women who may be size 16, but one may be this size because of a large tummy, one may have big tits and one larger hips.

Didn't Evans use a larger model on their TV adverts recently? I thought she looked lovely.

Personally I think a larger figure in well fitting clothes will always look a million times nicer than a bony chest and lollipop head.

bigTillyMint · 03/02/2009 13:23

Yes Liffey, you speak sense