OPINION: True to Plus?
by: Amanda Boucher
In Business Economics 101, you are taught that a smart business person will advertise in a way that allows their customers to relate to the product you are selling. You want the customer to be able to picture themselves wearing your product, using your product, or the product becoming a part of their lifestyle. Ideally, if this is achieved the customer will then want to purchase your product, thus making your business successful.
With this thought in mind…
Plus size clothing lines generally sell sizes 14-28, which makes their customers plus size women sizes 14-28. So why are they using models to advertise their clothing that are sizes 10-14?!? This just doesn’t make sense to me! How is a model that is a size 10 or 12 going to accurately display your product when you don’t even sell their size clothes?
Think about it…
Of course a tight fitting shirt or dress is going to look just fine on a woman who is a size 10-14 and is 5’9” or taller. Generally a woman that size is toned, has a flat stomach, and is basically just a thicker version of a size 7. How would that same shirt look on a woman who is a size 18, 24, or even a 28? Females from the middle ranges to upper end of plus sizes have bigger curves, bigger breast, rolls, back chub, and their bellies tend to be rounder on the bottom. How is that shirt going to look on those bodies? On the bodies of the women who actually FIT into the clothing that they are selling?
Personally, because of how plus size companies advertise, I can’t shop online or from catalogs because I cannot picture how I would look in the company’s clothing. It has been my experience that I will be shopping online and see a shirt that I like. Then, I get it in the mail a couple days later and although it is big enough, it is not what I thought it would be. For example, I put it on and see that it is too short and doesn’t cover my belly, it clings to my body or sides too much, the material is see through and not flattering for a plus size woman, or it just looks like a completely different shirt than the one on the website, once it is on MY body. Had the company used a REAL plus size woman to model their clothes, I could have found a shirt that would have worked better for me…which would have guaranteed me becoming a repeat customer.
Going back to the business economics lesson…wouldn’t it make more sense to advertise plus size clothing on models that are the same sizes of the clothes that they sell, which are the same sizes that their customers wear?
I have heard the argument that smaller models are used in advertisements because it creates a fantasy to the plus size woman, that if they buy this clothing , they can look like the model. WHAT?!? I don’t live in a fantasy world and 95% or more of the plus size women that I know, don’t either. We look at these models and think “This is ridiculous. Why are all these skinny women all over this catalog? How am I supposed to get a real feel for what these clothes will look like on me?” and we get frustrated. I would NEVER think that if I put a particular item of clothing on that a size 10 is modeling, that it is going to morph me into a flat tummied, toned, 5’9” bleach blond woman or that it will look the same on me that it does on her…but then again, I don’t use drugs! ;)
I have also heard the argument that people don’t like seeing sizes 18-28 on print because they look too big. WHO doesn’t like it…the executives of the companies, skinny people who aren’t going to buy the clothes, owners of stores who aren’t selling the clothes?!? I would like more clarification on this. If these companies want to make money, they should only worry about the thoughts and concerns of their customer…the PLUS size WOMAN. Anyone else not liking how big an 18-28 looks on print, doesn’t matter. They will not be spending their money on the company’s product…WE will.
Plus size women in America spend almost twice as much on clothes than average size women. Why? First of all…our clothes are more expensive because it takes more material to make them and because the demand is high and the availability is low. Second of all, it’s hard for us to find clothes that we like that are fashionable and that fit properly. We end up buying things and wearing them one time, still feeling unsatisfied, and then we go out and look for something else.
Here is a statement for all the plus size clothing lines out there…
If the money that pays your salary, that feeds your family, that keeps your business going, is coming from PLUS SIZE WOMEN…then you need to accommodate our wants and needs and make your advertising more plus friendly so we will WANT to buy your clothes. There are thousands of classy, beautiful, photogenic women who are sizes 14-28 that would be more than able to model plus size clothing and look wonderful, while giving the plus size consumer a better idea of how THEY would look in the clothes that THEY are going to buy.
This is agreed upon by the majority of plus size women. So now the question is…
How do we get the advertising world and the plus size industry to hear the voice of their customers, the plus size woman?
I think we can start by voicing our complaints to the websites, catalogs, and companies that advertise with size 10-14 models. Each company has a customer service email address that can be found somewhere on the website or catalog, or an address that can be provided by the store. Hopefully if enough complaints are received, it might spark the interest of someone higher up in the company.
Another way is by supporting companies and plus size clothing lines that use specialty plus models, or in other words…models that are REAL plus size women. Buxom Entertainment is just one of the many companies that are trying to change the way plus size clothing is advertised. We are a small company and taking baby steps trying to change the plus size industry. I am not saying that you have to buy from our Boutique to make a difference. Just offer us your support and commend us and companies LIKE us on the strides that we are making in the size acceptance movement.
Let’s voice our opinions and show the major plus size clothing lines like Lane Bryant and Torrid, that this is what we want to see in their ads! We want to see the same size women modeling their clothes that are going to be buying their clothes! Nothing is going to happen over night, but in order for change to even start to happen, we have to start somewhere.
With this thought in mind…
Plus size clothing lines generally sell sizes 14-28, which makes their customers plus size women sizes 14-28. So why are they using models to advertise their clothing that are sizes 10-14?!? This just doesn’t make sense to me! How is a model that is a size 10 or 12 going to accurately display your product when you don’t even sell their size clothes?
Think about it…
Of course a tight fitting shirt or dress is going to look just fine on a woman who is a size 10-14 and is 5’9” or taller. Generally a woman that size is toned, has a flat stomach, and is basically just a thicker version of a size 7. How would that same shirt look on a woman who is a size 18, 24, or even a 28? Females from the middle ranges to upper end of plus sizes have bigger curves, bigger breast, rolls, back chub, and their bellies tend to be rounder on the bottom. How is that shirt going to look on those bodies? On the bodies of the women who actually FIT into the clothing that they are selling?
Personally, because of how plus size companies advertise, I can’t shop online or from catalogs because I cannot picture how I would look in the company’s clothing. It has been my experience that I will be shopping online and see a shirt that I like. Then, I get it in the mail a couple days later and although it is big enough, it is not what I thought it would be. For example, I put it on and see that it is too short and doesn’t cover my belly, it clings to my body or sides too much, the material is see through and not flattering for a plus size woman, or it just looks like a completely different shirt than the one on the website, once it is on MY body. Had the company used a REAL plus size woman to model their clothes, I could have found a shirt that would have worked better for me…which would have guaranteed me becoming a repeat customer.
Going back to the business economics lesson…wouldn’t it make more sense to advertise plus size clothing on models that are the same sizes of the clothes that they sell, which are the same sizes that their customers wear?
I have heard the argument that smaller models are used in advertisements because it creates a fantasy to the plus size woman, that if they buy this clothing , they can look like the model. WHAT?!? I don’t live in a fantasy world and 95% or more of the plus size women that I know, don’t either. We look at these models and think “This is ridiculous. Why are all these skinny women all over this catalog? How am I supposed to get a real feel for what these clothes will look like on me?” and we get frustrated. I would NEVER think that if I put a particular item of clothing on that a size 10 is modeling, that it is going to morph me into a flat tummied, toned, 5’9” bleach blond woman or that it will look the same on me that it does on her…but then again, I don’t use drugs! ;)
I have also heard the argument that people don’t like seeing sizes 18-28 on print because they look too big. WHO doesn’t like it…the executives of the companies, skinny people who aren’t going to buy the clothes, owners of stores who aren’t selling the clothes?!? I would like more clarification on this. If these companies want to make money, they should only worry about the thoughts and concerns of their customer…the PLUS size WOMAN. Anyone else not liking how big an 18-28 looks on print, doesn’t matter. They will not be spending their money on the company’s product…WE will.
Plus size women in America spend almost twice as much on clothes than average size women. Why? First of all…our clothes are more expensive because it takes more material to make them and because the demand is high and the availability is low. Second of all, it’s hard for us to find clothes that we like that are fashionable and that fit properly. We end up buying things and wearing them one time, still feeling unsatisfied, and then we go out and look for something else.
Here is a statement for all the plus size clothing lines out there…
If the money that pays your salary, that feeds your family, that keeps your business going, is coming from PLUS SIZE WOMEN…then you need to accommodate our wants and needs and make your advertising more plus friendly so we will WANT to buy your clothes. There are thousands of classy, beautiful, photogenic women who are sizes 14-28 that would be more than able to model plus size clothing and look wonderful, while giving the plus size consumer a better idea of how THEY would look in the clothes that THEY are going to buy.
This is agreed upon by the majority of plus size women. So now the question is…
How do we get the advertising world and the plus size industry to hear the voice of their customers, the plus size woman?
I think we can start by voicing our complaints to the websites, catalogs, and companies that advertise with size 10-14 models. Each company has a customer service email address that can be found somewhere on the website or catalog, or an address that can be provided by the store. Hopefully if enough complaints are received, it might spark the interest of someone higher up in the company.
Another way is by supporting companies and plus size clothing lines that use specialty plus models, or in other words…models that are REAL plus size women. Buxom Entertainment is just one of the many companies that are trying to change the way plus size clothing is advertised. We are a small company and taking baby steps trying to change the plus size industry. I am not saying that you have to buy from our Boutique to make a difference. Just offer us your support and commend us and companies LIKE us on the strides that we are making in the size acceptance movement.
Let’s voice our opinions and show the major plus size clothing lines like Lane Bryant and Torrid, that this is what we want to see in their ads! We want to see the same size women modeling their clothes that are going to be buying their clothes! Nothing is going to happen over night, but in order for change to even start to happen, we have to start somewhere.
No comments:
Post a Comment