According to a New York Times online article by Stephanie Clifford last month, "As doctors and public health officials encourage Americans to slim down, the fashion industry is embracing Americans as they are. Both mass-market stores like Forever 21 and Target and expensive designers like Elie Tahari are deciding the fattening of America is a big business opportunity, and are reinvigorating a market that had faltered during the recession."

Well that’s all well and good but they have got a long way to go! The average American woman is a size 14. Most clothing designers cater to what they feel is aspirational and  trendsetting. It’s all about illusion and fantasy and not much about reality at all. Most designers don’t think about what will sell when they put pencil to sketch pad–they are thinking about a collection that will get them great PR and that will put on a great "show". The problem is that the buyers who attend fashion shows "buy into" these sterotypes and the result is a lot of unrealistic fashion trends popping up in stores every season that flatter only a minority of women.

Couple this issue with the fact that plus size clothing is very expensive to manufacture for a variety of reasons so retailers shy away from them completely. With Petites and Talls, even though they are viable markets, there is apparently not enough money in them to make designers and stores take note. Many department stores shut down their petite departments and stand alone stores that used to cater to petites including Petite Sophisticates are out of business. There was a Tall Girls store in Virginia nd that too shut down even though I know many tall women who shopped there. So what are we to do, those among us who are non-standard (and increasingly becoming the majority)?

In my work as an image consultant I see women of all shapes and sizes and I see my role an empowering them to embrace and learn to dress and flatter their size as it is NOW. We can all look great in your clothing if we learn the tricks of figure flattering. Yes their are hard to fit statures/sizes–plus, petites AND talls.  I’m 6′1" and a healthy size 6 and because I am in the business of image, fashion and wardrobe I know what looks great on me and how to wear mass market clothing that looks like it was designed for my super long frame (with the help of a tailor often).

But just like there are plus sized petites, there are plus sized talls and these are the most challenging to address because the plus size market offerings are so limited. It would be wonderful if designers catered to ALL frames but they don’t. And everyone assumes tall women have it easy but whether thin or plus or in between we have the same challenges as petite women finding clothing, often harder because you NEVER see ‘talls’ in department stores.

All sizes and statures can be beautiful –we just need more options period! I hope other designers start to cater more to the plus size market in particular and that stores like J Crew, J Jill, Victoria’s Secret , Talbots and Eddie Bauer etc. continue to serve all sectors of the woman’s market. 

The Image Diva, Elan Image Management, image consulting