Why the high street is failing plus-size women

From Cosmopolitan UK

If you are below a size 16 you will never fully understand the misery that comes with clothes shopping. I'm not saying you can't relate in some way, or that finding a bikini when you have small boobs is an easy chore by any means, but you do have options.

As a size 22 woman I don't. I can't shop in Topshop, Zara, Miss Selfridge, Whistles, Reiss, Oasis, Warehouse, Urban Outfitters, & Other Stories, to name a few. To be completely frank with you, if I listed everywhere that I couldn't shop it would probably fill my entire word count. In fact, I can honestly say that if it wasn't for ASOS Curve I would have less wardrobe options than Mark Zuckerberg.

If finding a high street shop that actually caters to plus-size women is hard, than finding the plus-size section in a shop that does, is like that time Moana wrestled the Heart of Te Fiti from a gigantic crab with seriously impressive vocal skills.

Rather than just extending the size range of their existing clothes (crazy idea right?), shops create a separate plus-size section, which is normally hidden away on a completely separate floor, just to further remind you that you're different to everyone else.

You might think that after embarking on such an epic journey to find some clothing that actually fits, you would be rewarded with a plus-size paradise. A mecca of clothing in every style, shape, colour and size imaginable, all while Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson sings a cheery ditty in the background (I'll stop with the Moana references now). But unless you're looking for some tailored, no-personality black trousers to go with your offensive slogan tunic top, you would be sadly mistaken.

And if you think I'm just being a snob because I work in 'fashion', I'm not. While the size 8-14 population has an entire shop to choose from, the rest of us are left with approximately three rails of weather inappropriate kaftans that no one, absolutely no one wants to wear. The problem is, we don't have the luxury of choice that everyone else has.

When I said that the majority of my wardrobe comes from ASOS Curve, I wasn't exaggerating. In my opinion ASOS is the only fashion brand that truly caters to young plus-size women, by offering by far the biggest trend-led selection of clothes that go up to a size 34. But who wants to only buy their clothes from one shop for the rest of their life? And what about when you need something right away and don't have time to wait for an online delivery? Or you know, just want to actually go to a shop and try something on like every other person is able to?

This happens to me every time I look for something to wear to a wedding, Christmas party, or other formal event. You know how it is, you spend weeks searching online for the dress. The one that will give you your She's All That moment when you walk down the stairs and into the arms of Freddie Prinze Jr (aka Gary from sales), but somehow it's the day before the party/wedding/event and you still have nothing to wear.

This exact situation happens to me every time I need something special to wear, and it is then, when I'm forced out onto the great British high street to try and find something, anything vaguely resembling a formal dress, that I realise just how badly the British high street is failing plus-size women. Luckily for me though this year ASOS launched same day delivery and saved my bacon once again.

So why do we just accept that Topshop and so many other brands don't stock above a size 18? Especially when research by PricewaterhouseCoopers revealed the plus-size fashion market has been 'outperforming the overall womenswear and menswear market in the UK', with an estimated worth of £6.6bn in 2017. As plus-size model and body positivity activist, Tess Holliday put it "we’re a huge percent of the market and we have so much buying power, and we’re just constantly being ignored.”

When Rihanna launched her Fenty Beauty makeup line in 2017 she had one mission statement "that women everywhere would be included", which is why she launched 40 shades of foundation. While skin tone and size are two separate things, I wish that someone (other than ASOS Curve) would take the same message and apply it to plus-size fashion.

Sadly myself and RiRi don't exactly share similar bank balances, so whilst starting my own clothing line might be out of the question, I can use my platform to help promote a much needed change in the fashion industry. Which is why you'll be seeing a lot more dedicated curve content right here on Cosmopolitan UK.

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