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Sunday 12 May 2013

+ Size

My all-time favourite plus size blogger, Erin from Zero Style
The market for "plus size" clothing in has increased by almost 50% in the last five years, making it a £3.8 billion industry. It's kind of crazy that there's still brands out there that don't cater to this customer despite it being the majority rather than the minority any more. This size is not a niche. 40% of the population in the UK wear a size 16 and over.

I find it really bizarre that hardly any high street stores and high end designers are tapping into this market whatsoever, it seems that they would only lose money by continuing to do so. A lot of high street shops even do Petite ranges rather than Plus Size! From these figures we know that this is a very small market, at least in the UK. It kind of seems like the high-street is grasping onto that exclusivity that designer brands so pride themselves on.

A very recent example of this happening is the CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch claiming he only wants the "thin and beautiful people" to wear his brand. Not only is this an utterly ridiculous form of elitism suggesting that thin is equivalent to beautiful but it's also a huge contradiction considering that Mike Jeffries is anything but 'thin' and 'beautiful'. Not only is this awful publicity for the brand it's also terrible business considering that two-thirds of American's are considered plus-size. And besides, who really wants to wear A&F...

Another dilemma with plus size branding is that even the brands that do it, do it terribly. But it's now becoming a lot better, so which are the brands who are doing it right?

ASOS Curve
 ASOS Curve have really stepped up their game recently, with many of their regular-line clothes now being available in the Curve range which goes up to a dress Size 28. And it's actually really stylish and gorgeous! None of those horrible shapeless garments here.

ModCloth
ModCloth is an American online retailer who have a gorgeous array of plus size clothing. I especially loved this swimsuit! They specialise in vintage-inspired clothing. They go up to 4XL and a really big choice of styles.

SimplyBe
SimplyBe is exclusively sizes 14-32, and they also provide menswear! I feel like this brand is a little more hit and miss however I think these pastel trousers and peplum are really on-point and fashionable.



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