Settlement Shopping
Full Figured Fashion Nowhere to Be Found on Ste. Cat
__thumb_900_585_90.jpg)
Montreal is on its way to becoming a fashion hotspot, bursting with the latest and greatest in trends and styles. The city is a fashionista’s dream and a shopper’s paradise—assuming you fit into a size 12 or smaller.
Shopping in this city goes from amazing to abysmal if you’re searching for anything catering to diverse body types.
Just take a walk down Ste. Catherine St. Out of the 11.5 km of shopping complexes that dot the bustling street’s underground, you’ll only find one that caters solely to plus-size women. And let’s face it, one store can’t possibly satisfy every single one us.
As a result, plus-sized women are forced into “settlement” shopping—since we have to settle for choosing from what’s available, instead of from what we like.
Did it never occur to anyone that F.A.T.—that is, fabulous and thick—girls love fashion too? This may come as shock to some, but unlike most people, I’m
neither afraid nor offended by that three-letter word. Society has given this word an automatic negative connotation, though it’s nothing more than an adjective. Somehow “skinny” has become a compliment, making “fat” by default an insult.
Of course, bigger women in this city are not pushed aside to special neighborhoods or denied entrance into public locations—that would be barbaric. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t discriminated against.
Instead, retailers choose not to sell clothes in our size. That way, full-figured women will not even bother coming into their store and the brand will only be associated with skinny women. Clever, huh?
Let’s take Forever 21 as an example. This store actually has a plus-sized collection. They sell it online, but refuse to do so in stores. I wanted to know why, so I asked.
In response to my question, my email queries were ignored, I received rude customer service and got ridiculed in-store.
I did receive one response to my question though; it came in the form of an email from a teenage reader, who read about my experience on my blog. She told me about a shopping experience she had with her mother that went sour.
Initially, all this girl wanted was to be able to wear the same clothes as her skinnier friends—which they had purchased from Forever 21.
Once she and her mother arrived at the store branch, however, they were told that plus-sized clothing was never available there, nor were they ever planning on making it available. The salesperson suggested that maybe this girl’s mother should bring her to a “specialized” store.
Just imagine the pain and the embarrassment she felt at that time.
Enough is enough: just because someone doesn’t fit into a standardized size does not mean they warrant this type of exclusion or treatment.
New York, the Mecca of fashion has acknowledged the importance of the plus size industry, and Montreal would do well to do the same. Our city has been piggy-backing off of New York’s fashion influences—snatching every new trend and style—so why have we completely overlooked plus-sized fashion?
If for no reason other than simple economics, Montreal should open their eyes to the plus-sized industry as a valuable market—one that, until now, they have blatantly ignored.
Sarah St-Fleur is the author of QueenSizedFlava.com, a blog that raises awareness, highlights trends, provides plus-sized fashion references and promotes self-esteem for women all over the world. She has also started a campaign called “We Want Forever 21+ in Quebec,” which you can check out on her blog
