I seriously doubt this would do well, I see their competition(or brand mate maybe) Wetseal(.com, of course) has done the same but their sizes go up to a 24, if memory serves. Im a broke 22 year old college student, I have the absolute HARDEST time finding trendy clothing that doesnt break my bank. (side-eye @ Torrid) Yes, there are stores like Dots and Rainbow, but most of the clothing in there is “clubwear”. What the hell.

Lets just hope more retailers open their eyes and expand their sizing, as well as combine them as well…Im fat remember, why the hell do I have to walk to the back of the store?

I think I ran home in despair immediately afterwards, pretty convinced my frame was just impossible to fit. (I have since gained some more perspective on the whole thing.)

Short story: I am all for making more overlap in sizing, or perhaps more accurately, more variety in shape within the sizes.

“God, me too. I remember going shopping for a prom dress with my mom and having a crying-kicking-and-screaming breakdown in the formal wear department of the 10th store that didn’t have a single dress that would FIT MY BODY, much less anything fashionable or flattering. Oh, the joy of being a short fat teenager. ”

That was my experience exactly. Somehow I managed to go to FOUR high school dress-up dances. I don’t know how my mom lived through it – I remember just dissolving into tears six or seven hours into the process, trying to decide between a spaghetti strap sheath in a size two or a size 22 mother-of-the-bride dress… At the time I was between a 12 and a 14, very conscious of my arms, and 5’3″. It was the most depressing thing…

Because of that experience, I started having mini-panic attacks when I got engaged, anticipating wedding dress shopping as a repeat of prom dress shopping… Luckily I found that there were a lot more options in wedding dresses than prom dresses, but I still had to spend as much in alterations as I did on the dress (the fit model is supposedly 5’9″… ARGH!).

I’m so happy! I’ve been literally wearing sweatpants for years, cause I got so tired of trying to find fitting jeans, and was never able to find them. Well okay I also dislike shopping, it bores me. So I imagine that didn’t help.

I’m a 16-ish on the bottom and a 14-ish on top (narrow shoulders, small arms, but a 36D/DD rack). Add in “short-waisted” and “34″ inseam” and its a recipe for years of tears when clothing shopping.

For a long time I could order pants from Lands End, but in their efforts to Get With Teh Trendy, they’ve changed their fit and I’ve been awfully disappointed with my last few orders. Then this fall I discovered through a friend that LB’s Right Fit stuff fits like I am the fit model it was based on.

Now I tell my mom I can’t lose any weight because I’ll be stuck shopping in those gorram stores where I’m the Fat Chick again. I know LB has its faults, but going into one for the first time in years and finding things that fit me and were flattering and attractive was …. really, really, nice.

And yep, Tropical Chrome, that’s exactly what I meant. Suits are relatively easy to find (though not so much for anyone over a size 18 I think), but where are the clothes that are stylish and dressy but not in a business sense? I mean they exist, but why do they only exist at the really high end designer level? Why do most manufacturers seem to think that “dressing up” means dressing like a teenager going clubbing?

I have recently had good luck finding professional clothing at Lord and Taylor and Carson’s. Jones New York now has a plus line, and Evan Picone has one too, with suiting separates. I’ve been able to find pretty cocktail dresses at Nordstrom online, but on the suit expedition, I used the personal shopper there. Either they didn’t have Jack, or the shopper missed the concept of a Suit suitable for an interview. There were only badly fitting separates in styles that were not at all acceptable.

Maybe it’s time to start a regular letter writing campaign to stores demanding 1) uniform sizing and 2)a greater range of clothing.

XL: 39-40″ bust, 31-32″ waist, 41-42″ hip
1X: 41-42″ bust, 33-34″ waist, 43-44″ hip
2X: 43-44″ bust, 35-36″ waist, 45-46″ hip

Well, it looks like my tall skinny ass* might be able to shop at Forever 21 again. Maybe. If my hips don’t get much bigger. I wear between an 8 and a 12 at places like JCPenney and Fashion Bug, which usually translates to a M or L, depending on the brand. Junior sizes usually put me an an L on the top and an XL on the bottom. At Forever 21 I will be in an XL on the top and a 1X on the bottom. These are not “plus” sizes.

*For some reason a skinny person at 5’8″ is wider than a skinny person at 5’2″. Go figure.

I find the whole plus-size petite to be ridiculously named. I am not “petite” I am short; if being called fat does not offend me then labeling the length of my pants short really is not going to drive me away. Also “petite” length is not nearly short enough for my 24″ inseam. I find myself buying cropped pants just to get away without hemming.

My shopping fantasy is a store with a section labeled SHORT and FAT. Not a single item of clothing would be hung above my head. The racks would be far enough apart for my ample ass and hips. And there would be attractive black slacks made for my short, fat legs. Long sleeves would not come past the tips of my fingers and short sleeve would not be down to my elbow. I could on and on…