Ben O. sent in this picture from the store Wet Seal:
As Ben says,
…as long as your body is between XS and XL, or no larger than size 15. (For non-US readers, that’s a waist of no more than about 75cm.)
This might be useful for a discussion of which groups are made invisible in our society (who isn’t part of “everybody”), as well as the more obvious issues of the arbitrary division of clothing into “normal” and “plus” sizes.
Thanks, Ben!
Comments 11
Alicia — September 18, 2008
I find this happening so often in advertising. In my quarterly shop for a new bra, in which I buy three bras and two of them fall apart in the first month of use, there's always a new brand saying that they have a fit for everybody, and that they cater to all breast sizes. The funniest one I saw was an ad proclaiming something similar to that, and then in the small print stating that they stocked cup sizes A through C. Congratulations, you stock three different bra sizes out of a large gamut.
In these situations they're not even catering for a majority of sizes.
Jane — September 18, 2008
What about stores that offer larger sizes for men, but not for women. UO is an example. XS-XL but for women their choice is only to L.
Ben "O." Ostrowsky — September 19, 2008
Jane: ugh! Urban Outfitters has other problems too.
Tim — September 19, 2008
It's surprising that Wet Seal would have all the way to 15. They are probably advertising their extension into XL and 15. Torrid is a clothing store specializing in clothes for size 12-26. Many styles of clothing would only be feasible for the overweight in a society where obesity is seen as attractive. Women know if they are under 12 to not shop at Torrid, and if they are 12 or over to not shop at Wet Seal (until now). Men know not to shop at either place.
Jane — September 19, 2008
Obesity? Just because you're a larger size does not mean you're obese. Sorry honey, but the BMI scale is bullshit.
Ashley — September 19, 2008
Hmm, apparently I am in a category exclusive from "every body" because I wear a size larger than a 15. So who's up for an "every nobody" club? 00 and smaller, 15 and larger are invited. Our sizes can have new names, like "plaid" for my pantsize (24; in b4 a barrage of people calling me fat, etc), "houndstooth" for a size 16, "slicked back '50s do" for a size 30.
Heh, at this point I don't even think I'm joking XD
Tim — September 19, 2008
It's like "One size fits all" though, now some use "One size fits most". The people that came up with the sign weren't worried about outliers.
Certain assumptions are made about the reader, no one expects one to go inside and ask for clothes for a body of water or a baby. "But you said EVERY body!" There are big and tall shops for those who need them.
Jane, I'd like to see a woman that wears a 15 and is less than 1/4 fat (body fat percentage lower than 25%). If you could find some examples I would appreciate it.
MD — September 19, 2008
You have got to be joking right? It's not an arbitrary decision to label clothing as "normal" or "plus" sized. People that are wearing plus are either taller than average, i.e. not normal, or are fat enough to be unhealthy.
Dubi — September 19, 2008
MD, you're joking, right? Half the people in the world are "taller than average". "not normal" begins where society decides to draw the line (tallest 5%? tallest 2%? People who are taller than 125% of the average?).
Kirsten — September 20, 2008
In the UK we don't have the division between normal and plus sizes - or we don't admit to it.
Some mainstream clothes shops carry styles up to size 26 or so - others don't. The cutoff point is not clearly drawn. But many stores here make clothes above size 18 (US 14), but don't order so many, which means that although the clothes are officially available they are hard to find. This isn't entirely based on demand, either. I have often noted that the Gap sale racks always have more of the smallest sizes than anything else.
Size 16 (US 12) is the average size in Britain, but in the early 90s an awful lot of youth-oriented clothes shops stopped at 12 in most styles.
I am a size 14 or 16 (depends) and never have any trouble finding clothes in my size, but I generally find when I'm ordering T-shirts from American sources that I need the largest girls' size available. This comes as a surprise, since the received wisdom here is that the average American would be larger than the average Brit (which would be me).
Sunny Dark — November 8, 2009
Haha, suckers.
Size XS over here represent.