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I am trying to do a survey about the need for plus size women’s clothing stores. How many people feel there is a need for such a store? How many people would shop in a chic, stylish plus size women’s boutique?
I get a lot of my clothes from plus size catalogs. Fortunately longer skirts are “in” now. My biggest problem is finding shells. I don’t think I would shop in an expensive boutique.
Market forces dictate that if there was such a need, it would have already been filled.
Now, people do sometimes think of a new idea, and we find that the need existed all along, but I imagine that this has already been tried, and if it was successful, it would have already been emulated to the degree of removing any substantial imbalance between the demand and the supply.
But, if you’re thinking of opening such a store, I say go for it. But please install benches which can hold at least 5 people plus me sitting on them.
Its a need to have plus size clothing stores,haimesh ones that are not expensive bec its plus size. Instead of always going to the malls which don’t always have what a frum person needs.
Oh, sure, and also, gemachs, please don’t let the plus size simcha gowns be taken in more than one size so the extra material can be kept in for letting out again.
Depends how expen$ive the “boutique” is … There are plenty of plus-size frum women so there is definitely a market and it’s nice to be able to try clothes on rather than buying from a picture so a bricks-and-mortar has an advantage over a catalog. Additionally, I for one would rather support a local shop than a nameless corporation. On the other hand, price is clearly a factor in people’s decisions about where to shop.
Maybe I’m wrong but would frum women feel comfortable shopping in a store (if it were local in our neighborhoods and busy avenues) catering exclusively to plus sized women?
‘Cuz no-one can tell I’m fat unless I walk into the plus-size store?
WIY, uh.. I think that most people who’d need to shop in a plus-size store would have a pretty hard time keeping that secret.
Sorry WIY, I’m with ChanieE and LAer on this one…people notice these things….
Well a good idea would be “regular” size store should also sell plus size clothing there is no reason not to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So if ur planning on opening another clothing store it shoild b 4 all size people.
ChanieE
Ok well I don’t know if all fat women would be comfortable shopping in the fat womens store. Many women are self conscious about their weight and I think they would find shopping in the fat store degrading.
WIY….its only a big deal if you make it a big deal…live and let live, why do you care?!?!
Many women are self conscious about their weight and I think they would find shopping in the fat store degrading.
Obviously not so self conscious or they would lose weight. (I lost 25% of my weight and kept it off. All it takes is a bit of will power.)
there is already a store like that in bp
whoah popa, lets be fair and honest here.
i lost a great deal as well and kept it off (the loss was over 5 years) and it was easy for me.
BUT
and this is a very big but
losing weight and keeping it off is for 99.9% of people who need to EXCEEDINGLY DIFFICULTand pretty close to impossible. quite a bit harder than stopping smoking which is a matter of totally rejecting something which you cant safely do with eating.
we all know this from experience and very clear large studies as well (if you go in for such things)
although it is popular now for overweight people to claim they are happy with how they are, many of them would sacrifice many things that are dear to them if they could lose the weight they so wish to.
I am being unfair. But, not so unfair. Every guy in yeshiva I know who has tried to lose weight has successfully done so. At some point, (often before starting to date) they simply make up their mind and do it.
So while it is not as easy as my post made it sound, I really don’t have a whole lot of pity.
Popa
Maskim, most people (excluding the tiny % that have a condition that can’t be regulated by pills) are fat because they eat too much, eat the wrong food, don’t exercise…
I personally don’t either have that much pity for fat people as I have also lost weight in the past. If there’s a will there’s a way. its about motivation and will power.
popa,
not everyone can just do it by simply making up their minds. Some people have very slow metabolism or other issues beyond their control which make it waaaaay harder than just simply deciding to do it.
and maybe I’m right?
I just wanted to point out that many women have a harder time losing weight than men because of multiple pregnancies which have left their mark. It’s not always from overeating.
The question is “How many people would shop in a chic, stylish plus size women’s boutique?” Not “will the benches be able to seat Popa”? Frankly, I don’t think you need to concern yourself with spending time in a women’s clothing store of any type.
To expand on an above comment, Dress Barn stores have separate sides for regular and plus sizes, but many of the same styles. I think that is a great idea.
So re p_b_a: you think the heimish men’s stores should do away with portly suits?
Popa, unless you a medical doctor with experience dealing in metabolic disorders, you may be “right” about your own experience, but you cannot speak for anyone else.
I think heimish stores should carry suits which drop 4 inches from the shoulder to the waist, since that is what most of us are. In regular stores, the choice is only portly- 2 inch drop, regular- 6 inch drop, or athletic- 8 inch drop.
Frankly, I am very concerned with the benches being able to hold me. It would make a most interesting case of who would need to pay for the bench if several of us were sitting on it and I sat on them and it broke.
I do sympathize with the frustration of losing weight only to have to relose it again after a pregnancy. Yet, the bottom line is that if one eats less calories than one burns, they will lose weight.
(Kind of like donuts, if you make more donuts than you eat, you will have more left to eat. Of course, if you eat them, you will no longer have made more. This is known in formal logic as “Popa’s dilemma”, and is considered to be less solvable than Fermat’s last theorem.)
uch! a set of parents has a bunch of kids…she gains some weight(not to mention scars) and he has no wear-and-tear at all….but “no pity”?
anyway Kohl’s has very tasteful clothing in plus sizes.
okay, so whos going to give popa a reality cheack???
okay, so who’s going to give popa a reality check???
You don’t mean to say you’ve solved my dilemma? Surely not in 10 minutes. Go over the calculations again.
First, men, especially young men, have a MUCH easier time losing weight than do women.
Second, losing weight is the easy part – keeping it off is VERY VERY tough.
Third, I would rather shop at a fat women’s store and buy clothes that fit than repeat my recent “spa” experience where even the larger robes don’t cover very much. You want to talk about degrading? THAT was degrading. Walking into a plus-size store is no big deal.
Where I live there are plenty of plus size stores and all of the department stores have big plus size sections. What is sadly lacking are stores for people like me – I am barely five feet tall and on a good day weigh 98 pounds. There is only one petite size store in town and it is very expensive. The department stores have a very limited selection of petites. I am forever running to have alterations done – and that can become costly. I guess that we all would like to have speciality shops to address our own concerns but if there were a lot of money to be made by fragmenting sales, then we wouldn’t still be searching and wishing.
your problems popa are more than I can possibly handle, perhaps a few month of intense therapy….but as I have mentioned in the past, u make us laugh :))
minyan gal…ALL the stores cater to your size,don’t they?
minyan gal- I agree with you wholeheartedly. where do you shop in general? (don’t have to give away your location if you say secular store names) I know a few people who don’t even make it to the 98 lb. mark… and they are not anorexic at all! They have to shop in kids clothing stores (even when they are double the age of the kids shopping there), pay for $$$$ alterations, or even sew their own clothes! yes, we wish we all had that problem but from what I hear it can be a real toughie…
Why all the pity for those who can’t or wont lose weight and none for those who can’t gain any? or never got a growth spurt due to genetics?
On a more serious side note, for those who are obese there is something called a gastric bypass. Ask your doctor about it- it isn’t a cosmetic procedure and people I know who have got it done say it changed their life (and I know several who had it). No complications, no more diabetes, other major health concerns are gone, and they feel 20 years younger because they can now walk to shul without passing out. Those who have had it are so glad they did and wish they did it earlier- and they recommend it!
When you call the store by a catchy name like “Dimensions” or “Woman of Substance” the ones who need to know, will find out, and those who do not, won’t shop there when they see it is for real women with non-anorexic size 0 bodies. It’s not like the stores are named “Chubs ‘r’ Us.”
Most malls have plus-size stores these days.
Have some seichel, would you recommend that people who are fifty lbs. overweight gain another fifty to qualify for surgery?
tzippi- I said talk to your doctor. There is more than one type, depending on how severe the case is. I am not a doctor, nor profess to be one. I am only talking about obese (underlined) people- which normally is over the “50 lb mark”. I know someone who lost 100+ (probably closer to 150 or 200) pounds, still is quite chubby but is ok with that- she did it for health and not beauty. She told me that she is glad she did it- now she’ll be able to dance at her kids’ chasuna and doesn’t have the same health problems. I know of a male who had it (someone I know’s husband) and he is also glad to have gotten it.
Oomis- not everyone who is a size zero has an eating disorder! It depends on height too! someone who is 6 feet tall shouldn’t be a 0, but someone who is just breaking 5 feet could very well be, and be healthy being that way! Stop with the generalizations….like I said, I know people on both extremes and it is not easy either way. Would you like being 20-30 and someone asking you what high school you are going to next year? seeing an 8 year old wear the same clothes as you are? this lady is self confident, but still sometimes gets crushed when people are so demeaning…if you think someone is older than they look, don’t ask what high school they are going to- ask where they are up to in life.
havesomeseichel: I live in Canada so we don’t have the same stores as you do (except for WalMart). As there are few petite size only shops, I generally have to pick what I can from few racks of petites available at some stores. I find it impossible to wear children’s clothing – except perhaps for a sweatshirt or something similar. Young children may weigh the same but their body shapes are totally different. Children’s size dresses and blouses do leave for breasts. The skirts and slacks do not leave room for the belly that most woman, regardless of their weight, have left over from having children.
Oomis: even though I weigh 98 pounds I am not a size 0 – usually a size 4 – and I am definitely not anorexic. In fact, until about 6 years ago I hovered in the 140-150 pound range. At one point I was 195 D/T to being on steroid medication, so I fully understand the problems associated with being a larger size. In fact, when I was at my highest weight I really could not find much to wear at all – being so short. At that time, in Canada, there was no such think as plus size petites. I managed to find one skirt that fit me and two sweatsuits that I lived my daily life in – this went on for well over a year. Luckily they reduced the medication because my sweatsuits actually wore out. I couldn’t even donate them. When I lost weight a few years ago, it was not from dieting but apparently as a side effect of a medical condition. It is the very first time in my life that I have ever been the right weight for my height (according to the charts I am at the very low end of the appropriate weight). My entire life from when I was a small child consisted on one diet after another. I empathize with everyone who faces the challenge of obesity and agree that losing the weight is far easier (and it isn’t easy by any means) than keeping it off. I do thank Hashem daily that in my later years I don’t have to watch my weight and can eat whatever I wish. I try to include as many high calorie foods in my diet as I can because if I slack off for a day or two, I will start losing weight. I dropped 4 pounds in September when I had my hip replacement surgery and I have been fortunate to regain 2 pounds. I still find it strange that whenever I meet someone that I haven’t seen in a number of years, they don’t recognize me because of the weight loss and usually I don’t recognize them for the opposite reason. It seems that for the most part, women have a tendency to gain weight as they age.
BTW, the best name for a plus size clothing store that I have ever seen is “The Forgotten Woman”. It was (or perhaps still is) in Palm Springs,CA.
minyan gal:
There is a store “Laura” that has a large petite section. I think they also have a fair amount of tzniusdik clothes.
minyan gal- yes, its true that children’s clothing do not always accommodate for physical maturity but I know this lady (I have gone shopping with her actually) who does shop in the kids department, especially for skirts. Also, she shops at teen stores- she really has a hard time! too bad you don’t have the same shops as the US- I really was hoping I could have some advice for her. She also eats high calorie food and stays away from the word “diet” as best as she can…
poppa: I totally agree with you!!! They used to make regular suits with a 4″ drop (42 jacket, 38 waist). I am not overweight by any means, but with my build, I wear a 38 jacket and 34 waist, which means I have to take jackets in, take pants out, or go custom. The first two options often leave me with a great suit that fits less than perfectly. The third option is too expensive except for special circumstances.
RSRH:
I heard that one of the Brooklyn stores- I think it was the Hatbox- has suits with a 4 inch drop.
Also, I generally consider it better to adjust the pants than the jacket. I say make the jacket fit.
Minyan Gal–I feel your pain. I’m not short, but I wear a very small size and often have trouble finding clothing that fits. I have a tiny waist so children’s clothing often fits me better than ladies’, but like you said, there’s often not enough room in the chest. (I’m rather well endowed on top, so I need the room up there, but not down in the waist.) Recently I’ve been having everything altered to fit me properly. It’s not cheap, but I find it’s the only solution.
your problems popa are more than I can possibly handle, perhaps a few month of intense therapy
Well, let’s see. Six months of therapy at even $200 a week is only $5,000. Any problem that can be solved for 5 grand is not too serious in my book.
Imagine if you could solve your marriage, or find someone to marry, for 5K- that’s like a tenth of the wedding.
In any event, there is nothing easier to solve than losing weight, because it is entirely physical. Almost every problem in life has psychological or emotional components, and that is the hard part.
You can’t solve your marriage for 5K because it also needs emotional adjustments. Just going through the motions of being a good husband is not enough.
You can’t just go through the motions of being a good parent, or teacher, or employee, or employer, or doctor, or lawyer, or indian chief.
To lose weight, you literally just need to eat less. You can just go through the motions, and you lose weight regardless of whether your heart is involved.
There is a store “Laura” that has a large petite section. I think they also have a fair amount of tzniusdik clothes
netazar: You are correct on both counts. Laura has lovely clothing and many of their styles are very suitable for all Jewish women. I try to shop there at the end of the season and take in their sales. I do some of my shopping when I am visiting my children in Toronto as the selection for shopping of all kinds is much larger there.
I think some of the posters have gotten a little too personal with details, that are inappropriate for a mixed gender frum chat room.
I have been reading this thread, and no one mentioned exercise which might help burn calories to reduce. There are Kosher Gyms, maybe exercise and Swimming (providing the facilities are in the Gyms)might also help one losing weight. I thought of an idea, perhaps by starting a new thread on losing meals. Meaning recipes that are nutrious and low calorie, that might help people myself included lose some needed poundage. Do other posters think there is merit in the idea?
Up until my late 30’s, I was never heavy. Then it hit, and as I’ve got (even) older, my metabolism has gotten down to a crawl. Trust me, it isnt’ always so easy to lose weight, so thin women, don’t be so judgmental.
Which store in BP carries larger sizes? I’d be very interested in a store where I could find simcha clothes (not MOB, but rather, outfits I can wear to other’s simchas). Yes, Dress Barn Women sometimes has tznius skirts, but for simcha-quality, fahgetaboutit. Most of the frum boutiques only carry sizes from 0-14, and their styles are for women up to about 25. They need to realize that some of us are bubbys, not teenagers. On the otherhand, the large sizes, even in the better department stores, are often quite ugly, like they still haven’t moved away from the mau mau look. For work, I often buy knit skirts online from Lands End. The length is fine, they last forever.
Womanoutsidebrooklyn, I sympathize and see it all over.
For people struggling with thyroid issues who can’t seem to lose weight, make sure your doctor is testing you, nonitoring and dosing you properly. Anyone who’s only had a TSH and was told s/he’s normal had better get a hold of the numbers and double check.
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