'Plus size' clothing....bugbears and wishes?

[stumblymonkey]

I'm a regular on MN and thinking (very early stages) of starting a business selling 'plus sized' clothing because I'm a size 18 and have a number of bug bears about finding clothes.

I guess I'm doing a little bit of market research as to whether I'm the only one that feels this way because that would make my market pretty limited!

My personal bugbears are:

• A lot of the chains I like don't go above a size 16, I haven't suddenly wanted to wear different clothes because I've put one more stone on

• A lot of the clothes are either (a) frumpy and unattractive or (b) just bigger versions of clothes that were really made for slim people, which does not do much for my body shape

• I'm not sure I actually like the term 'plus size' even though I've used it in this post, is there a better term that's more relatable and gets around being the 'other' IYSWIM

• I feel like a lot of the current online retailers that cater for size 16+ happen to use quite cheap materials, they're not very luxury

I'd be aiming for the sort of higher end high street target market...people who would normally shop at Monsoon, Coast, Jigsaw, Mint Velvet, Hobbs, etc.

What are your bug bears if you have any? What do you wish you could find?

I'm a regular MN btw not a corporate trying to do free market research(!)

Not all big girls have big boobs
Some of us are short and length can be a real issue - especially if you are also short waisted
Tights that go over chubby thighs and don't look like Nora Batty after 5 minutes
No sequins, animals, animal print, ruffles, unnecessary fripperies
Smart work wear that isn't made of polyester (yes Evans and Yours, I'm glaring at you)
Pretty knickers - not thongs necessarily but equally not cotton full pant monstrosities that even my nan wouldn't wear
Practical, stylish and comfy coats that don't cost the earth
Comfy wide fit shoes that aren't granny shoes or with ridiculous pointy toes

Dresses with sleeves. Bracelet length is flattering.
Dresses that are NOT body con or maxi.

I have no idea why so few clothing companies listen to this. Good for you OP. I'll be your customer!

More stuff like this:

shop.mango.com/GB/plussize/clothing?&mkwid=sxnP9cD0c_dm&pcrid=56656686117&pkw=mango%20plus%20size&pmt=e&utm_term=&gclid=CjwKEAiA9s_BBRCL3ZKWsfblgS8SJACbST7Dixe55tVZ-SaYBcx1vfk3rNp_9UEhBE3ebkogsRE9CRoC-VXw_wcB

I want good classic shapes in good material. High waists, longer tops, good quality basics like thicker jersey tops etc.

I'm not into fun patterns, or disposable fashion.

I only carry weight round my middle at the moment so adjustable waists would be good.

Big patterns, garish colours and cheap fabrics!

I'm size 10 now but I have been every size and shape and pregnant so I know a little bit about this . Im only 5 foot but have worn a size 22 before and shops presume because you are overweight that you are also tall with a big skeleton . This isn't the case as a lot of my friends who are overweight are actually fairly small people . I also agree that the materials are terrible .. Evans is full of polyester !!! Good luck !

Sleeves! Actual elbow length sleeves. In everything. Including summer clothes!

And yy to not everyone who is plus size is tall. I'm 4ft10 and a 14, which I think is the equivalent of someone who is say 5ft6 being an 18.

Also different waist sizes. Some people put weight on their middles, some on bum/hips/thighs. On some people it goes on evenly. So maybe something like an apple range and an hourglass/pear range and a straight up and down range

Great thread. I just want exactly what you originally mentioned - i.e. clothes such as I could find in Hobbs, LK Bennett, Mint Velvet, Jaeger, White Company in my size.

I try to avoid specialised Plus sized retailers which I loathe. Currently shop at Boden, Poetry,Wrap, NYDJ for jeans and Marina Rinaldi (Max Mara) when I can afford it. Did get stuff from M and S Autograph but less so now.
Otherwise agree with nearly all of what has been said above, though not a Box 2 fan - too tenty and out of mainstream fashion.
It would probably be worth you having a look at the thread 'If you're old and fat', which shows how hard it is to find stylish things in plus sizes and has some ideas for where to do so at present.

Having assumed ASOS was only for stick-thin teenage girls, I was pleasantly surprised by the Curve range: www.asos.com/women/curve-plus-size/cat/?cid=9577

Not the usual big baggy cheap tops and leggings. I look so much better in fitted clothes. I like white stuff, just need a size or two bigger than they stock. I like v necks, fitted under bust around waste, not cap sleeves either sleeveless or jut below elbow, more flattering.

Oh, and I buy maternity jeans, the kind with the thin elasticatef waste for earlier pregnancy not big over bump elastic, they fit me better, better silhouette and so much more comfortable

Good materials, things that create a shape. No shapeless, oversized stuff. Stuff that is long enough. I hate it when stuff rides up to show your belly if you lift your arms up.

Also I'd like to see stuff modelled on a variety of curvaceous women, not just the smallest size in your range. Boden may do upto a size 22 but you sure as hell don't see any of the clothes being modelled by a woman bigger than a size 10.

I think that part of the issue is that the difference between body shapes and weight distributions becomes more obvious in bigger sizes - two size 16 women can be such incredibly different shapes. Even in the abdomen; I'm an hourglassy pear (pear shaped hips but also big boobs) and so I carry most of my stomach weight below the waist plus I have a big ass. I haven't had a shop bought pencil or straight skirt in years and just sizing up isn't a solution. I assumed this was a style I just couldn't wear...Until I made myself one.

You know how bravissimo/pepperberry does different degrees of curve for the bust in their clothes? I'd like to see an expanded version of that for bottom halves too.

Yes, I think that not only do body shapes very greatly, but also some of us are tall, like me, and some short. So I find it annoying when things that I otherwise like are just too short - above the knee in the case of dresses or exposing dreaded camel's top in tops.
Yet there are also plenty of short plus size women. Difficult when you're designing a range.
Studio Eight (which I find quite frumpy anyway - why cant they just go up to bigger sizes in some of their main line Phase Eight items?) have dresses which are nearly all too short for me. Also, talking of bugbears, many of them are sleeveless. Of course it's perfectly possible to be plus size and have great toned upper arms but many of us don't and want sleeves.

That just because I'm a size 18 doesn't mean I don't have a waist. In fact it's one of my best features and I want to be able to show it off. Why do people assume that I want to wear a tent?

Really well cut tops in quality heavy fabrics. Allowances for big boobs so that the top doesn't become a crop top. Tailored high waisted trousers.

Also those of us with big boobs don't always want tops and dresses that are up to the neck - they make me look much bigger up top. Would prefer interesting lowish cut necklines.

Work dresses that have sleeves and lower necklines (not OTT just not up to the neck).

Underwear that falls between Rigby and Peller and cheap feeling tat.

Sleeves! Sleeves, sleeves, sleeves! Sick of buying something lovely and then having to shove a cardigan over it to cover my fat arms so no one can then see it
V necks, I don't want to be strangled by fabric thank you
Longer length - god yes! I don't want to flash my flab to world every time I move and especially in dresses, no point making it 'curve' and then short enough to show my fat arse if I dare walk
Nice colours and designs, no sequins anywhere ever
Structured clothing, not tents

I think worse than sleeveless is tiny cap sleeves. If it's properly sleeveless I'll often layer a long sleeved plain top or shirt under. All good. But piddly mini sleeves mean that looks stupid but they also provide no arm cover at all. Why!

Yy! Plus size women do not want to wear tents, we have good boobs and want to show them.off!!

Well made bras that arent frumpy or tarty actually ive noticed a lot of big boob accomodating tops are tart or frump not much inbetween

I've got to admit I am OK with bras - I'm about a j cup and mainly wear cleo, the odd panache or bravissimo own brand, and Ewa michalak.

Decent materials - I do not want to dress in polyester.

Don't assume I'm tall - offer a range of lengths.

One personal hate is shirts/tops designed to be worn not tucked in that have faffy back ties - if I want to accentuate my waist I'd rather do it in something that has darts to fit and shape, not by making my back view look like a sack of spuds.

Good materials, things that create a shape. No shapeless, oversized stuff.

I want good classic shapes in good material. High waists, longer tops, good quality basics like thicker jersey tops etc.

Cutting and pasting from others..... and adding NO fucking polyseter patterns .

Natural fabrics!
I'm strictly speaking not a plus size but I sometimes have to in order to accommodate my thunder thighs and my apparently humongous shoulders and arms.
And clothes with some degree of tailoring and shape - do not assume that all plus sized people are mound of flab or indeed want to hide away.

Arms as well - I sometimes have to go up two sizes in shirts to accommodate my back and arms otherwise I end up doing the Incredible Hulk should I lift my arms above my head or even to the side. Women's shirts are often so niggardly in having room at the armscye that they are skin-tight at the armpit and despite my scanty chest I still have the Keyhole of Doom.

Fabrics with a decent weight to them that are natural and are also opaque. I don't want to wear layers of transparent polyester in summer when a single medium opaque cotton (hemp or bamboo) layer would be nicer.

Trousers with room in the crotch - those with a hidden 'diamond' or similar at the fork would make squatting or bending less hazardous and avoid the Wrinkles of Doom at the crotch near the fly.

V necks and wrap dresses too. Also I cannot think of anyone other than a sylph-like figure that has ever looked good in cap sleeves. Proper sleeves or none at all!

Yes yes to longer sleeves and a classic cut. Short plus fat plus huge bust equals Bet bloody Lynch. And even though I'm only 5' 2 why the bloody hell does every top, unless it's specifically a tunic, stop in the middle of my gargantuan pregnant-looking belly?