Where are people buying affordable plus-size clothes now ranges are shrinking?

[FFSToEverythingSince2020]

H&M used to go all the way up to 4XL; now they’re slowly phasing it all out and the biggest size is now 16 or XL. Same with at least two other sites I’ve seen (Gap, Mint Velvet). I gained a ton of weight whilst on steroids and it’s going to take a while to lose it now that I’m actually able to. I used to feel I didn’t deserve any clothes until I lost the weight, due to some bullying from my ex and his second wife, and I’m trying to work on that feeling. I’m just barely starting a phased return to work, WFH in a field with very few online calls, mostly live in loungewear, but would like to look a little less like I just got out of hospital (mostly because I spent the last year constantly just getting out of hospital), so I can afford at most £50 per piece (in a perfect world, I’d love to do £30), and it needs to not fall apart in five washes.

Is that possible? Would I do best on Vinted? I have good luck with cotton, cotton blends, linen, linen blends, jersey, bamboo, viscose - polyester might be fine in shirts or dresses, but not trousers. Can you share where you shop, if it carries sizes over XL or 16 and you don’t have a shitload of money AND you don’t want SHEIN shite? Also… is it going to go back to being hard to find plus-size clothes now that weight loss jabs are so popular? Seems like?

Vinted. Buying new or new without tags is a great way to get good stuff without paying for it.

There's a huge amount of plus-size clothing on Vinted because of all the people on WLI. The trick is to set up very specific searches with key terms, filtered by your preferred brands and fabrics, and save them.

Agree totally. Especially on Vinted, it's easy to go a bit bonkers buying things (says the woman who has just received a cashmere jumper shrunk to a size 10 ... 😶). Not always the economical way of buying that it seems, especially with those of us with somewhat excitable shopaholic tendencies ...!!!

I try to find pieces online/in the shops, then save a search for them on eBay & Vinted. Found both my pairs of Jigsaw Portland trainers (green, & red, both unworn/barely worn, both under £50 not £145 full price) within a month. Waited six years for my Zadig & Voltaire Joe boots to turn up at a reasonable price (usually £400+ new)!!! But it was worth it ...

Yours. I only wore them when I was size 24. Things were actually cut for bigger bodies and okay quality for the cheap-ish prices.

Honestly, if you get one of the Christy ones for him, you will end up nicking it! I avoided this possibility by asking for one for me & (a coordinating but different coloured) one for my partner as Christmas presents from my mum.

We ended up not taking them off til about March ... (slight exaggeration, but they are sooooo lovely!!).

Laundry B is very similar to Kit & Kaboodal and do a lot of “made in Italy” clothes that cover a vast range of sizes. I love their vibe but the one or two bits I’ve ordered have been enormous on me. I’m an average 12/14. All natural fabrics though and lovely patterns, also light on your wallet. Definitely worth a look.

My local ones are great for all sizes. I realise that they can on sell whatever they get donated though. I still think it’s worth a look.

I'm annoyed by H&M reducing their size range as I love their clothes, luckily often an XXL fits me. I buy from ASOS as well, Tu on occasion. Yours and Evans are dire.

I’ve never had any problems with clothes from shein and neither has my daughters
primary is good in fact lately I’ve found the clothes from there very generous in size

Next do lots of their own range in up to a 26, online only but returns are free to store. Vinted is a good place to look. I've gone from a 26 to a 14/16 thanks to WLIs and all of my old clothes have gone onto Vinted.

There are tons of Joanie dresses on Vinted. Generally good quality but need careful washing so they don't shrink.

Seasalt (avoiding the stuff that makes you look like a Sunday School teacher)
White Stuff
Live Unlimited
M & S
Next
Simply Be
Gudrun Sjoden

Primark go up to 2XL that looked to be about size 22-24.

What do Sunday school teachers dress like?!!! I'm curious ... 😁

Yours is good but expensive. Most of my stuff is from Shein Curve.

Yours is overpriced i agree

Vinted! Never buy in shops now - on limited budget - I am a size 20 and have found some bargains on there! Very pleased people selling their larger clothes due to their weightloss on GLP’s! I am too much of a chicken to take the injection and the cost is unaffordable for me.

https://www.ullapopken.co.uk/en/ was my go to shop for years. I love that they go all the way up to size 42. Their smallest size is 16 which is a bit annoying now that I'm down to normal BMI.

Try searching for Popsy, or Topsy Curvy on Vinted.

May I dare to suggest at least trying Shein - can be cheap as chips & mostly fairly good quality & some original styles & so much choice.
I dare you to pursue their website!!
May not last as long as M & S or Next, but at their prices that doesn't matter. Also, good choice of style, sizes & price. Eg - several tops / dresses for the price of one item from other outlets.Lots of discounts available . 'Yours' are also nice, but can be pricey.

(peruse, not persue!) x

Your lucky I can only afford shein shite

What puts me off from Shein, putting aside all the ethical issues, is that you have no idea of the sizing and I imagine its never going to be worth returning things that aren't suitable to China so surely you're going to waste money if something doesn't fit?

So wouldn't it be more successful and cheaper overall to buy things from places like supermarkets or Primark where you can try it on or Vinted for UK brands if you're familiar with the sizing?

You can though. That's why I like them. If you tap the size you want, all the measurements come up underneath.

If you scroll a little further and open the info section it will also tell you the material and whether it is stretch or non stretch.