I was getting Starbucks at my local mall. And when I say my mall, I have been going to this mall since I was a teenager. It became my second home when I had to get out of the house and none of my friends were around. I have kind of a love/hate relationship with malls. On one hand I find them to be an urban and suburban blight, on the other hand, this mall allowed me an escape for a few hours at a time.
Today this mall offers me little except for the occasional Starbucks and my credit union is next door. The mall opens at 10 but Starbucks and Gloria Jean coffee opens for commuters before that. I got to traverse the mall with no pedestrian traffic thinking this might be a good place to walk during hot or cold days. The mall is mostly small chic clothing stores such as Banana Republic, White House, Black Market (stupidest name for a store ever), Bebe, Charlotte Russe, Guess, Forever 21, H&M. If you see one suburban mall you should know all the stores. Despite the fact these stores sell overpriced crap, this mall is one of the most successful malls in the country and that disturbs me considering that the neighborhoods around it are all working class, median income people.
Oh yeah about almost none of the stores carry plus sizes. At last count out of the 33 stores in the mall that carry clothes for woman, only 4 carry plus sizes and of those 4, only one carries a variety of selections. For example Hot Topic which owns Torrid has plus sized t-shirts but nothing else. So what does that leave us in the mall? Not the food court because fat people aren’t supposed to eat.<
I often hear comments that the reason stores don’t carry plus sizes is that fat people never buy clothing but a small study shows that might not be the point. In this study a random sampling of people of difference sizes went to stores in a Houston mall. Casually dressed fat people were discriminated more than the others, even well dressed fat people. Fat people who held a diet drink and talked about how they exercised were treated better than fat people who held an ice cream drink, talked about not dieting and being unable to do exercise. Average size shoppers who carried different drinks did not suffer discrimination.
So if you walked in a store that didn't have your size and if they did they had terrible selection and limited sizes (And if you are over a size 26, don't even bother looking) and they treat you like dirt,would you shop there? I wouldn’t. There is a reason I am now only shopping regularly at two stores, Re/Dress which is unique to New York and Marshals because I can shop with anonymity. Department stores no longer carry the selection and style I need. In fact many have gone downhill since I published my book. While Fashion bug, the Avenue and Lane Bryant carry style, sizes and selection, I find their quality of clothes substandard and in the case of Avenue and Lane Bryant overpriced.
So what does a fat person get? Lack of quality, quantity and selection or nothing at all. So my fat sisters and brothers. What do we do? First things first, if you like a store's style, but they don't have your size. Let them know. Let them know that until they carry your size in the store (Not the Old Navy BS that has plus sizes online but not in their stores) you will never shop there for anything and you will encourage other friends to not shop there as well. If you do find a store you like that has what you need, patronize it as much as possible. I go to Re/Dress as much as I can despite the long trip and I go to Marshals despite the long lines. Don't give any money to a store that won't give you respect!
I live in a pretty remote rural community where the only place I can get clothes in my size is Walmart. Since I don't want to shop there anymore after their recent ruling, I'm pretty much all online, and I gather links and sources from my fabulous fat blogging sisters. If Re/Dress wasn't six hours away you can be I'd be there.
I found my thoughts going in a bit of a different direction when you mentioned the mall because I've had some of the ugliest comments ever made to me made in malls. Just because I had the audacity to be there.
Posted by: Shieldmaiden1196 | July 04, 2011 at 12:44 PM
I wanted to share a shockingly positive story on this topic - once in a while a store doesn't mess up. I was shopping with my girlfriend, in a store whose largest size is 14, wandering around with a few items for her. The salesclerk approached me and asked, not a hint of snark - would I like a changeroom? Not - sorry we have nothing your size, not assuming the 2 cardigans were for my friend. Treating me as she would anyone who was browsing through the store holding a couple of items over her arm.
Posted by: Eandh99 | July 04, 2011 at 01:54 PM
We were at our largest area "upscale" mall the other day-not a single plus store. Not one. I have become good at buying online because I hate to shop but damn, at least toss a fashion bug in there or something!
Posted by: buttercup | July 04, 2011 at 03:48 PM
Hah! I laugh bitterly at that study, because I wonder if it was done at the Houston Galleria. I say that, because a few months ago I was in desperate need of some new black pants to wear for work. I went to the Galleria, and tried shopping at each of the anchor stores. Each one had plus sized clothing that stopped at size 24, while I needed a size 26.
In the whole of the Houston Galleria, the fanciest mall in town, not one store will sell me a pair of pants. Not one.
So, back to that study: When I'm in a mall where not one single store will sell me clothing, how do you think the sales people will act when they see me? Even if they've never deliberately thought about the target market for their mall, wouldn't it be less likely to see a big woman show up in their store, whatever it is that they sell, if the mall as a whole doesn't offer clothes that I can wear? Of course we'll show up less often, and therefore stand out more. Add that phenomenon to the usual miasma of anti-fat bias, and yeah, I absolutely believe we'd be treated worse.
Posted by: O.C. | July 04, 2011 at 04:39 PM
Yeeeeeeeeah. Wanna know the reason why THIS fabulous fatty doesn't buy clothes? Because I can almost never find anything in my size, that's why. I'm not going to buy something multiple sizes too small. What's the point in that? I find that it's especially hard to find suiting in sizes over 24. I can still fit in a 26/28 in items with a looser fit or made from materials that have give, but I need at least a 30 in anything form-fitting and/or non-stretchy -- like, you know, professional business attire.
And you're totally right about the lack of options. I recently had a conversation with my mother where I pointed out that I typically have to choose between choosing clothes that fit and are affordable or clothes that fit and look good, and that my closet is currently full of clothes that are just okay and that I probably wouldn't have bought at all if more options in different styles were available to me. But since the options AREN'T available, I'm stuck with a closet full of clothes that are just okay and not always the greatest quality (sadly for me I can't afford to boycott places like Lane Bryant over lack of quality) because those are the only ones that fit and that I could afford.
Well, my rant is really going anywhere except to get some annoyance off my chest. But I swear, if I thought I could handle another round of college after the one I'm going into now, I would go back to school, become a fashion designer, and make a link of clothes for size 26 and up.
Posted by: T | July 04, 2011 at 08:27 PM
Oh that study drives me crazy. I want to give credit for effort or intention, or something, but I can't. That study used PEOPLE IN FAT SUITS. (Like they couldn't find any actual fat people?)
How much can you tell about reality from how store clerks interact with people in FAT SUITS? They look weird (I have NEVER seen on that looked even vaguely realistic), they act weird (hot, burdened, awkward, not used to their own size, etc.). It's frankly just f**king preposterous.
Average people put on fat suits and say, "Oh, it's so hard to be fat, pity all the poor fat people!" As if BEING fat and WEARING A FAT SUIT are anything at all alike. Being fat can be hard, obviously, but it's whole different hard than fat suits.
Fat Suits are deep and abiding hate of mine. If average people want to know about the experience of being fat, why not try, you know, maybe talking to actual fat people?
Posted by: ElizabethA | July 05, 2011 at 03:49 AM
thank a lot!
Posted by: Phone Reviews | July 05, 2011 at 01:08 PM
maybe all the malls are girls' heaven and i also like it. but the fact that we have to afford it . iwas born in a rural village and never go to a mall until i went to high school.i always dream that one day i will go to the biggest mall and ca afford all the things i like .
Posted by: Italian villas | July 07, 2011 at 12:36 AM