I was in Target earlier tonight and was once again pissed by the fact that the plus-size clothing is hidden way back in the corner, barely visible through what seems like a ginormous section of maternity clothing. The fact that Target feels the need to co-mingle maternity and plus-size clothing in the first place offends my chubster soul (and I have too much pride to ever wear maternity clothing, no matter how fat I am). To add insult to injury, it seems that every time I do make my way back to browse through the few racks of mostly bland blouses, skirts, and unflattering dress pants and jeans, there's always shopping carts full of dressing room cast-offs in the way. Way to make fat women feel like valued customers, Target.
Shopping as a plus-size woman is always a frustrating adventure. Shopping as a short, plus-size woman who takes being fashionable very seriously is even more so. Lane Bryant is great but expensive. I love Torrid but the clothes are way overpriced for the quality and have a tendency to skew a little too young for me. Macy's and Kohl's have great plus-size sections but skew a little too matronly at times. TJMaxx and Marshall's are touch and go as far as what can be available at any given time.
Old Navy has a wonderful plus-size clothing section (I LOVE their khakis!) but it's only available on-line. Although I've had decent luck with the clothes I've ordered, if I do need to return anything, I have to return it by mail, as opposed to being able to return it directly to an Old Navy store (Watch out! We don't want fatty wear mingling with the Size 2's!). So not only do I have to pay for the initial shipping when I order something because I can't buy it in the store in the first place, I also have to pay the shipping again to return it through the mail. Discrimination much?
What's a fashion-forward chubster to do? Sometimes I get lucky because I'm at a weight where I can buy clothes from the Misses section but then again, the fact that I'm 5' 2" and have big bazoombas always complicates the situation, no matter what size I am. I'm also hesitant to order clothes from on-line plus-size clothing stores because the sizing can be so wonky and I hate the hassle of returning things through the mail (Old Navy is enough of a hassle already).
In closing, I find it quite ironic that in a city where heavy women abound, Cleveland has such a dearth of stand-alone plus-size clothing boutiques. It's a dream of mine to open one someday, after I find the time and money to open a specialty foods store and a cosmetics boutique. Maybe I could combine all three and open a wonderland boutique where fat women can shop for fabulous clothing, get their make-up done, and pick up fancy food for dinner.
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