.

I'm sure many people would. Great suggestion!

Target is another good place for lower priced clothes, including plus sizes. I think the stuff's slightly more stylish than Walmart.

What a good idea for a post! I love Torrid....they have awesome clothes...i shop there when i go to annapolis mall. I also find that Peebles has alot of "young attitude" clothing....thats what they call they're stylish plus sizes...

Nordstroms has plus size clothes up to 3X. There are some professional clothes there, but they're expensive. My experience with them is that they carry very high quality goods and offer wonderful customer service.

I'll keep looking for more work wear.

Sorry for the gender bias, Dean. Men are of course welcome to list plus size clothes resources, too ... or shall we say "Big and Tall" clothes? A lot of women buy from these stores, too - especially for better made LONGER t-shirts made in 100% cotton.
Why the heck are so many t-shirts for women midriff length????

Regarding Walmart ... I'm so conflicted. It's incredibly hard to turn down such an inexpensive source of clothes. My favorite t-shirt came from there and cost something like $5 (it's tie dye in all rose / fuschia colors). BUT I hate to shop there; I dislike their labor practices and destruction of some small town cultures.

However, Walmart also carries Just My Size undergarments. I buy the big value packs of their panties there, which I believe come up to size 14. The link above will take you to their website, which carries clothes 14W - 32W. Again, it's mainly casual clothing and moderately priced. I have ordered from them many times and have found the quality decent.

Bat Spit ~ Thank you for the Big On Batik link!!! I love that style of clothes ... The Darling Dress is gorgeous in blue dragonflies, too - and that Juliet waistline? So cute. I guess I'm gushing as well. I can sympathize with petite women, but I've been looking my whole life for dresses long enough. Maybe it's not the most fashinable thing, but I prefer the hem to hit me 6"-8" above my ankles, which means the skirt has to be ~54" long.

At my largest, I could not wear any of the plus-sized clothes at Nordstrom or Lord and Taylor. I find Lord and Taylor to be a great source of plus-sized work clothes now, but the largest they go up to is a 24 and I couldn't wear that until I was below 300 pounds. The Nordstroms around here have very small plus-size departments and I seldom see anything there I like. They also only go up to a size 24.

There are plenty of professional clothes up to size 24. I think the problem is women who wear above size 24.

eShakti carries Indian style clothes in sizes up the 3X. The cool thing, you can specify your own measurements and they'll make it to size for no extra cost!! There are some limitations based on style and fabric choices for plus sizes - but the list that under the description. I think they're very reasonably priced (~ $65) given you typically purchase a four pieces: top, inner slip, bottom and stole.

Take a peek at some of those silk sarees!

I'm going to get specific about my complaint with Junonia.

I bought many items from them. I got some cotton mock turtle neck tops expecting to get a good level of quality at the price I as paying, which was high for that item. What I got was a cheap piece of fabric(interlock) that did not impress me at all!!

I also ordered jeans in size 22, which I wore at the time and had no trouble fitting other makers in size 22. Junonias 22 did not fit me at all!!

They do have things that I ordered that were good quality and fit well...but those 2 items really turned me off to them.

When I was still in the corporate world, I'd get alot of my work clothes in the women's depts at Macy's and Lord and Taylor. Jones NY, Elisabeth, Ralph Lauren, etc, all make really beautiful career clothes but are definitely not cheap!! But so well worth the money, if you can afford them.

AntiM: I wokred for the Avenue back in the 80's when it was known as Sizes Unlimited, the stores weres still called Smart Size. I actually spent several weeks in the pacific NW going through a major store conversion. It was quite an experience and I fell in love with the Seattle area.

Selling to large size women can be a very satisfying experience, as you found out!! They really appreciated getting nice things that fit well and gave us lots of good feedback about what they wanted. You sound like a natural!!

I think manufacturers don't believe many large women can hold those types of job. And if a few through that "fat ceiling" (?!), they don't care enough about their appearance to dress appropriately.

In the early 80's, the only suit I could find for an interview was a Levi's BendOver combo. I was happy to find anything remotely professional, but I sure didn't feel my best wrapped in polyester, marinating in my own juices.

Did anyone else have a hard time with those kinds of fabrics? I can tolerate a blend of synthetics and natural fibers, but the 100% poly / acetate-esque stuff makes me miserable.

Oh, I remember Bendovers. My mom just offered me some of hers (I think she must have 50 of them ) and I said no thanks. I don't like them at all.

Don't overlook ebay a lot of things there are for the bidding and some are very reasonable. Here in my area there is Catherines and Fashion Bug plus both have online sources.

I have looked through some of the links...oooo and excited! Anyway.. speaking specificly about lane bryant (cuz thats the one Im looking at now)...why are the people modeling the plus size clothes all size 6. Half of them look like they are just wearing clothes that are way too big on them, Im sure they make models wear fitted clothes in the same styles..therefore maybe they are just showing what it may look like on us (lots of material to cover our big butts), but why not just put plus size models in them! Or maybe at least use different sized models throughout the ads. Its aggrivating.

This irritates me too. I know a size 6 can look good in damn near anything, now show me what a size 26 can look good in!

The official response on that question from Charming Shoppes (the parent company) is that they have done market studies and put out catalogs with both fat and thin women and the catalogs with thin women sell more clothes.

People in the 'size acceptance' movement has contacted them repeatedly about this. I'm not sure I believe the official response, as I have certainly never received one of these larger model catalogs, but there you are.

That's the most important reason I stopped buying clothes from them.


It is my privately held, very snarky opinion that most manufacturers don't think size 26 looks good in anything, so they don't bother.

As much as possible I try to buy from places like Junonia, Making it Big, and Big on Batik which are owned and operated by fat women for fat women. I certainly plan to continue to patronize them as long as I'm in any plus sizes, even as I get into sizes available from 'regular' stores.

I think the best place I know of for super-sized professional wear is Myles Ahead owned by Jodie Frankel, another large woman. Pricy, but high quality (I bought 2 when I still worked in an office in 1998, and I'm still wearing them) and fairly classic styles that will last over time.

Another pet peeve of mine about clothes...If you see a guys "plus size" its always "Big & Tall"...not all guys are tall (whats up with that)...but for women it seems the wider the shirt, the shorter it is. Its like they decided they needed the extra material for the sides and swiped it from the bottom of it. THEN! they all shrink even more. Acctually the only ones I have a specific problem with are the hanes her way stuff. It doesnt fit after you wash it - EVER! (if you anywhere near tall).

Hey, all,

I'm so excited about this thread that I'm jumping in before reading all the posts! Not to worry, will go back and savor, but that is going to take hours. . . here's a few:

How can you resist a site that asks, "Did you ever wear a bra that tried to kill you?" This company is rethinking big underwear:

http://www.abfab-australia.com/bras.html

As a matter of fact, the whole abfab (absolutely fabulous Australia) page for `big girls' is well worth a look.

I am just so contrarian today. Here's another perspective: I am not looking forward to shopping in the `normal' shops--although it hit me with amazement recently that I can now, as I am an 18--but I'm still shaped more like big people--circular, just somewhat deflated. I still want to wear clothes that are cut and shaped for me--curvy in the behind and thigh, full in the bust and arms--and my best bet for that right now is at the smaller end of the large clothes spectrum, instead of the large end of the regular clothes spectrum--besides, most of these places are so much more encouraging and warm and accepting--it's a lift just to shop there--only downside is the expense. . .

Thanks for starting this great thread. . .