Fashion and Culture

Archive for January, 2010

The fashion industry is a huge force in modern culture, not only the haute couture high-end fashion shows but influencing the day to day look of the modern workforce. All forms of media scrutinize every twist and turn of the fashion industry, from the eccentric geniuses running the fashion houses, to coverage of this seasons ‘in look’.

Traditionally one section of population has been restricted from this fashion culture – anyone of “plus size”. Many of the high street retailers no-longer cater for this growing segment, in fact many normal-sized people find they no longer fit into the size of clothing they have become accustomed to buying. For the plus-size shopper this has made finding clothes even more difficult, they want well made fashionable clothes available to the rest of the population. Whether this has been due to retailers not stocking conventionally lower selling product lines to clothing maker’s reluctance to design for a larger size is up for debate.

Either way, the tide seems to be changing. Specialist retailers are starting to spring up to cater for this increasingly large and undersupplied sector, plus size customers no longer have to settle for clothes where styling seems to be an afterthought.Plus-size customers can still find it difficult to find clothes to suit them, so here are a few tips to keep mind:Avoid clothes that are too tightThis may seem like an obvious point, but clothes from differing retailers may not always turn out to be the same size. I.e. it’s possible to find you are a size 19 with one retailer yet have to order clothes of a larger or smaller size from another retailer. One way to avoid disappointment is to use any available sizing guides, however sometimes you can’t substitute experience! Another tip is to keep a note of any sizing differences you encounter – it will help you next time you order.Don’t assume black clothes will be bestOne long standing mantra for larger size clothes was “black is slimming”.