Forever21 just emailed me to let me know that they’ve got their own plus size line now, called Faith21. At another point in time we can talk about the weirdness of having a plus size line versus just offering the same clothes in more sizes. But whatever. Right now, what I wanted to share with everyone is the interesting way this was presented to me. I got the email and clicked on the ad. That brought me to their homepage, which is all celebrating the new line:
Ooh. I thought. I like that dress. It looks really pretty on her. That’s a pretty girl with pretty clothes and does make me want to buy something similar. This prompted me to go to their “regular” line because I wanted a summery dress and I would not fit in anything on the plus size line. But do you know what I found when I went the their “regular” line?
I found this girl, who looks like she just bit the head off a squirrel. Not to mention that outfit. Who would pay money for that? It’s awful. Can I have the pretty dress, please? And why do I have to see the clothes I’m going to buy on emaciated wigger billy teens? I’m not a size x-large, but I do have boobs and some muscle and fat in areas. Can’t I see the clothes on someone like me? Please?
You crack me up.
F21 is pretty ridiculous. I can’t fit my big toe into their regular line, which seems weird to me–I’m a large at places like Old Navy and the Gap, but completely unable to wear even the most billowy and loose of tops at F21. I was really psyched about the plus-size line, until I realized, when I checked the site this morning, that the selection is TINY. Like you said, why couldn’t they have simply extended their sizes to accomodate the average American woman (who is a size 14) rather than creating a tiny section in the back of the store for “plus-size” clothes?
Anyway, it’s interesting to get a “straight-size” woman’s perspective on it. I never thought about it before, but you’re right–the plus-size stuff is cheerful and feminine, while the straight-size stuff is darker and edgier. I’m not sure which group that’s more insulting to.
I always chalk this kind of thing up to America’s complete lack of a sense of moderation. We’re simultaneously the most obese of the developed nations, yet to go in our normal clothing stores, we can’t find sizes that fit average sized women. We have incredible body image discrepancies, none of which makes sense in context with the others.