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Missing the Market: Why Brands Refuse to Cash in On the Potential of Plus Sized Fashion

Extended sizing is almost always an afterthought, but why are sizes 0–10 still the baseline when they cover less than 30% of the US consumer base?

Rachael Hope
Fattitude
12 min readAug 2, 2022

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Photo by Artificial Photography on Unsplash

I see ads constantly in my social media feeds for clothing. Most of the time I just scroll by, because while the clothes often look cool, the chances they’ll have them in my size are slim to none. It’s frustrating to see something gorgeous that very much fits my aesthetic and to know I can’t have it.

The truth is, I’m tired of shopping at Torrid. I’m tired of having a choice between Disney and skulls and floral prints, and nothing else.

It was especially disappointing and frustrating with bras before I gave them up. I’d click the link to see they only carried sizes up to 36 or 38, a full 10 inches below the band size I needed. In the comments, people ask about inclusive sizing, and the answer is always the same:

We’re a new and growing brand

Thanks for your suggestions

We’ll keep it in mind when designing new styles

WHY is it the norm to produce smaller sizes, then tell hundreds of thousands of people that…

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Rachael Hope
Rachael Hope

Written by Rachael Hope

Polyamorous, loud laughing unapologetic feminist, rad fatty, and epic sweet tooth.

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