Hello,

What constitutes a "plus size" in USA/Canadian clothing, for women?

I used to work at Old Navy and a plus size there was 12 and up for pants. Is that the same everyywhere else?

What about plus size bras? 38+ in the band?

Thanks!

Chrissi

Usually it means size 14 or higher, and 44 band.  IMO


Janet

It varies by manufacturer these days. It used to be 16 and up was "plus", then the fashion industry bumped it down to 14, now I'm hearing 12. It's all bull turds. The fashion industry is doing that to make money. Plus sized clothing costs more to buy. I doubt it costs much more to make; definitely not the extra amount the manufacturer charges.  I've seen excise charges of $20-60 more per item just because it's "plus sized" or worse "extended sized".

WR
(and yes, I hate the "fashion" industry, why do you ask?)

14. (which incidentally, is the average female size)

12 seems to be the point that covers both, above which you need the 'special' section.  And 14 may well be average, but women size 10 and under buy 75% of the clothing.

I've only seen 16+ in the plus sizes, at least in pants.  (I have no idea about shirts since I haven't bought women's shirts since before I wore plus sizes.)  But then, I pretty much only shopped at Walmart pre-transition.  Incidentally, a 16W or 18W is not the same as a plain 16 or 18.  The "W" sizes are definitely cut roomier in the hips and butt.

Maybe sizes 14, 16, & 18 are the "average" female sizes in the US taking into account that the United States is one of the fattest nations in the world.  But in other countries the average female size is much smaller than a 14.

EDIT:  Yup the United States is the ninth fattest country of the world where 74.1% of its population is obese.

http://www.infoplease.com/world/statistics/obesity.html

Says "overweight or obese." They are not the same, and I doubt Samoans are just that fat. Just heavy because they're tall and muscular.

That said, I'm surprised US isn't #1.

What about bras though? Maybe that would vary too?

Chrissi

Quote from: Icephoenyx on January 24, 2010, 06:05:01 PM
What about bras though? Maybe that would vary too?

Chrissi

Well, girls can be plus size or not without being plus in the bra department. But generally speaking, D and up is considered 'larger-sized' and may need a special store, owing to stores' usually sparse collection of D and up sizes.

But what about the band part (i.e. 36, 40, etc.)??

Chrissi

I think 40 is when it starts to get into 'plus size range. (But a woman can wear a band size 40 and still be thin; it's just when the bras start being considered big sizes.)

Quote from: Windrider on January 23, 2010, 05:48:24 PM
It varies by manufacturer these days. It used to be 16 and up was "plus", then the fashion industry bumped it down to 14, now I'm hearing 12. It's all bull turds. The fashion industry is doing that to make money. Plus sized clothing costs more to buy. I doubt it costs much more to make; definitely not the extra amount the manufacturer charges.  I've seen excise charges of $20-60 more per item just because it's "plus sized" or worse "extended sized".

WR
(and yes, I hate the "fashion" industry, why do you ask?)

That's true,WR. Also the larger the size the limited the choice of styles and colors.

Gennee