One of these pamphlets was for a men's store and I noticed on one page they were advertising clothing for LARGE men in sizes 3XL-7XL and the man modelling these clothes was a BIG man but a pleasant looking chap with a great smile:
Now, seeing these pics of the larger man modelling these clothes would give a large man wanting new clothes the idea of whether he would look OK in the goods offered.
In the mail yesterday I received my monthly catalogue from a well known ladies store that caters for sizes 14-26. There are several garments I like the look of but the complaint I have is this; I am a larger lady but all the models in the catalogue are tall and slim and quite young:
If men can be catered for with pictures of large men wearing large men's clothing why on earth can't women's catalogues (store and otherwise) do the same. How about some nice larger, middle-aged attractive women modelling larger size clothing? Is this really asking too much? Do they think women are that stupid they will see a garment on a slim model and think it will like that on them as well? There must be some firms that have larger women modelling clothes (I have actually just found one) but they are few and far between.
This has been something I've griped about for years and I wonder if other women feel the same way I do...the larger women that is. Is this sexual discrimination at its worst? Large men are OK in this world but large women are not!! Pictures of large guys are no problem but large ladies? Surely not...shock horror!! Do you have a view on this subject?
P.S. I noticed today that in the Target catalogue they now cater for ladies' sizes up to 20 whereas previously it was up to size 18 and before that size 16 if I remember correctly. It is a sure sign that people are definitely not as slim as they once were, me included.
No, you are not alone. It gets me more than a little antsy. It is truly offensive. My nephew's wife (in California) told me of something which was even worse. She received a clothing catalogue. It had some nice charcoal grey suits - or at least they were charcoal grey up to and including size 16. Anything larger was called manatee grey. Subtle weren't they. Over size 16 you are a whale...
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you understand what my gripe was about EC and that story about the charcoal vs manatee grey suits is quite revolting. Surely a woman wouldn't come up with a name like that or would she if she was quite young and slim? I often think women are women's worst enemies.
ReplyDeleteWe have a store here called Penningtons and their flyers models are all big girls...young but big....I wish they had a few white haired models with canes and walkers lol...it would be a help for sure.
ReplyDeleteAt least they do use larger models which is good and yes, a few with white hair and at least perhaps a walking cane for good measure.
DeleteHari OM
ReplyDeleteYup, am in on this vote too!! - I have seen what you are mentioning - but usually only in catalogues designed for the nursing home crowd! That itself is insulting. I agree with your thought that it is quite likely a young perty girl who thought up the 'manatee' label also!
It was quite some years ago established that the average size in Australia for women between 25 and 55 yrs was 16... not the average 10-12 that is modeled!!! It sounds like Target may be getting the message, but really it's a ridiculous situation.
In my own case I have found a circumvention - now wearing sari and salwaar kameez which fit all sizes and shapes and always look elegant! Not for everyone of course...&*> YAM xx
Our average sizes are definitely on the way up and there are many people that should look at themselves while they are still young and try and put halt to increasing in size, particularly for their own health's sake.
DeleteYour dress style now sounds wonderful. Perhaps that is what I need. xxxx
I most certainly do have views on this subject. Years ago, one of our Adelaide stores, Harris Scarfe, used to have different sections for clothing advertising, there was young athletic/sports wear modelled by young women who couldn't be bigger than size 10 by the look of them, the next section would be older women, young mums maybe, wearing very nice clothes, but they weren't large women. Then there was a section with older, plumper women, wearing clothes suitable for their age and size. Now that I have reached that older, plumper, age and size the catalogues only show the young, tall and slim models. Even looking in the store it is hard to find decent clothing for older women. Target now has a larger woman section with clothes ranging from size 20 to 26.
ReplyDeleteWe had a Harris Scarfe here in Perth but I don't remember it selling clothing. I then became Harris Scarfe and Sandovers. I think so many things these days are targeted at the young that we older folk are left out. Perhaps it is that the young have the money to spend. I have splashed out this year past year and bought several items on line. They are a tad dearer but the fit is perfect and I go out so little that I don't need a lot of clothes. In fact, it is time I went through everything and helped the op shop out again. lol
DeleteAlthough to be fair to the company their clothes range from size 14 to size 24, so there will be clients who will not relate to a size 24 any more than you relate to a size 14. A good blend of both would be perfect (in both size and age as well). In the other catalogue the clothes started a lot larger, eg 3X is way bigger than a woman's size 14. Great to see a larger sized male model.
ReplyDeleteYou of course are right Kakka but it's also difficult for we larger folk to imagine ourselves in some of the clothing. Perhaps a few bigger girls modelling clothes that would really suit larger people. Don't get me wrong their models are gorgeous and model everything really well. It always amazes me the amount of BIG MEN'S clothes!!!
ReplyDeleteYou struck a nerve here. In the US it's the same...I can think of only ONE store that uses large size models, and those are the smaller end of large size. The other large women catalogs use skinny models too. Very frustrating when you are a large woman!
ReplyDeleteIt strikes a raw nerve with me every time Bev. There is an online store (Dale & Waters) that sells large sizes and uses lovely larger women as models which is good. It's easy to imagine what would look good on a slim person but not always the case with clothes when you are a tad larger (or even more than a tad perhaps).
ReplyDelete