Plus-size women AND shopping, TV, fashion
Plus-size women are getting their time in front of the television camera these days. And many people think it’s about time. An estimated 62 percent of all American women age 18 and older wear a size 12 or larger.
Now, most women do not consider a size 12 plus size. The point is, more women are seeing on television what they see when they look in the mirror.
I wrote about this in today’s You! section. One benefit of more exposure for plus sizes could be more fashion choices. But the plus-size fashion issue is prickly.
According to an Associated Press story, apparel in general is suffering because of the economy, but plus-size has been particularly hard hit.
NPD Group, a market research company, reports the overall women’s apparel business is down about 5 percent and plus-size is down almost 10 percent from the 12 months ending in May 2009 compared to the same time the year before.
It’s hard to account for the dip at a time when more than half of American women are estimated to wear plus-sizes, generally considered size 14 and up, but analysts have some theories, according to the Associated Press.
“The stigma still continues despite the majority of the population is overweight,” said Marshal Cohen, chief retail analyst at NPD. The stigma means some retailers don’t want to lure overweight customers and send out the “wrong” image, experts said, and the customers themselves may feel put off by many stores.
Several years ago, stores had made an effort to expand the plus-size market, but they have basically abandoned that during the recession, Cohen said.
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