What is Plus Size?

What is Plus Size?

eye-for-ebony-341041-unsplash

The growing acceptance of fashion for all sizes is a boon to campaigners, but what shops and shoppers really mean by ‘plus size’ varies wildly.

A third of UK women would class size 18 and larger as plus size – but some UK retailers are still starting their ‘bigger’ ranges at size 14.

The figures reveal that female figures are still defying definition, with no ‘one size fits all’ rules for standard sizes.

It’s been revealed that one in four women – 27% – believe that a size 16 is where plus size starts, while and one in six (15%) feels plus size should start at a size 20.

Shoppers who are themselves between a dress size six and 12 were most likely to class size 16 as plus size, and the majority of women sized 18, 20 and 22 classed their own dress size as plus size.

Putting a number on plus size has always been a cause for discussion within the industry.

There is no agreed starting size for plus size high street collections – retailers who do offer a plus size collection have a starting size range from anything from a 14 up to a size 20.

New research from online clothing retailer Daxon shows attitudes are changing for the better, with 70% of respondents agreeing that plus size is more accepted now than 10 years ago.

The online store, whose clothes range from size eight to 32, surveyed women across the UK to find out how attitudes to plus size fashion have changed over the years.

Although over half (57%) of ladies surveyed felt that high street retailers cater for plus size women, this was not the case for ladies over the size of 20 themselves.

A massive 64% of size 20 respondents felt that the high street didn’t offer an adequate range of plus size fashion, with this number rising to 67% for ladies who are sized 22.

Karen Hazeldine, Managing Director at Daxon, said: “We are thrilled to see that so many ladies across the UK have seen a more positive attitude to plus size fashion, compared to 10 years ago.

We believe that the diversity of shapes and sizes in the UK should be celebrated, which is why we offer our range of clothing from a size 8 up to size 32.

Fashion should be about making people feel as confident as they can, so we believe that the focus should be on creating clothes that make people happy in their own skin, rather than on numbers on a label.”

mango

Mango

Where does plus size start on the UK high street?

  • Bon Marche: sizes 16-32
  • Evans: sizes 14-32
  • H & M: sizes 18-28
  • M & Co: sizes 16-30
  • Marks and Spencer: sizes 18-32
  • New Look: sizes 18-32
  • Violeta by Mango: sizes 14-26

 

 

 

 

 

Source: The Mirror

Image: Eye-for-ebony-341041-unsplash