Greetings again to all the beautiful bodacious ladies who reside in Canada. Here we go again. I went out shopping this past week, checking out what the latest trends were.. I am always curious to see what new additions are available for a plus size girl like myself. The same old story. I walk into a store, and WOW, all kinds of options. Glitzy tops, sexy skirts, glamorous dresses and.......BUBKES (pronounced bubkiss) for the plus size lady. (which means nothing in yiddish)... Oy Vey. So I keep walking .......waaaaaay to the back of the store....., down three flights of stairs and right in the very last dark corner, I find the plus size section. Okay, I realize that is a little dramatic, but you get the point. Ladies, you know what I am talking about, right? Do you ever wonder WHY that is? Do the store owners perhaps think that since we are NOT petite, we need more exercise? Is this why they make us walk further into the dungeons of their stores? Do they feel that we are not worth putting some items out in the front of their store? Just some things that make me ponder to myself and say "Hmmmmm". Just once, I would like to walk into a store and see the plus size section right out in the very front. Anyway, enough about that. That thought is just too tantalizing, so I will just stop myself right there.
So at the end of my journey is immense disappointment. There are two or three items that look promising, but when you look at the sizes that they claim to be, you hold them up to yourself and come to the same conclusion that many of us come to....."NOT". The 2X or 3X should really have a label that says X or XL.
I peruse through a few more items and realize my Aunt Mavis would love that top. I really do not have an Aunt named Mavis, but if I did, I am sure she would like some of the clothing items that are offered in many of these so called plus sections. I apologize to anyone with an Aunt by that name. The point is obvious.....I am youthful and wish to dress accordingly. Although I see that retail is making some effort in providing a plus size section; particularily in stores that have never carried those sizes in the past, they are still not meeting the target.
I keep on walking into a few other stores. I see something with bling bling on it. A girl can never have enough items with bling bling in my opinion. So I inspect the item, I nod with approval and then look at the sizes available. I think to myself, okay they are trying. At least this is available in 1X, 2X and 3X. So once again I take the item off the rack and hold it out in front of me. It was the same sh........ameful mistake. Just wow......REALLY PEOPLE. My daughter would just about fit into that and she is neither a plus size nor is she even an adult. Okay a little exaggeration there. Seriously though, I did recently order some leggings from the USA and with much anticipation for it's arrival, I was like a kid on Christmas Eve. I had red eyes from lack of sleep. The package finally arrived and as I salivated whilst opening the box. I started inspecting what I just paid for in addition to over $40.00 in duty. Much to my chagrin I realized I had been "burnt" again. I ended up reluctantly giving my 11 year old daughter a couple of VERY NICE styles of leggings, simply because not only would they fail to fit a plus size woman, but they would not even fit an ADULT. I do not think this should be happening. When I received my order I found that there was no continuity in sizing. So although there were some appropriate for my daughter or someone who is definitely NOT a plus size woman, I was relieved that a number of them were at least a 1X (17/18). Those were fairly vibrant and so I was encouraged with that. Sadly, some of the ones I really liked would be only able to fit a size 11/12 lady.
When you order something in your size, it should be in your size for heavens sake. My goal is to make sure that the most unique leggings and bottoms become available to Canadian woman from XL all the way to 8X. This issue of incorrect sizing is a pattern I am seeing across the board with retail. Although I would admit, going into a strictly plus size store such as Penningtons, Addition Elle and Laura Plus etc, you definitely do not see these type of errors. So thank goodness for strictly plus size retailers. The other small boutiques that carry a small plus size section is where the problem lies. A 2X should not be equivalent to a only a large size. A 2X should be a 2X. We will see what changes are made in the nearby future. In the meantime, I guess my daughter is going to be "Stylin"!
Maribella Plus
