No matter your current size, you’ve likely heard of the term plus size before. More and more retailers are popping up that cater exclusively to plus-sized women, but what exactly does this term mean?
The term plus size was created by the retail industry and refers to any woman who’s a size 14 or over. The “plus” part, in particular, indicates sizes that surpass a retailer’s standard clothing sizes.
That’s the very basic definition, but we have plenty more info to share with you. From other terms that describe plus-sized women to how even plus sizes vary from retailer to retailer, you’re definitely going to want to keep reading!
What Does Plus Size Mean?
Petite’s, junior’s, big and tall, plus size…have you ever wondered where all these terms originated from? The answer is the fashion industry.
The above terms, despite being wildly disparate from one another, describe a body shape and size. You’re meant to take measurements of yourself and then figure out if you’re plus size or junior’s size so you can buy flattering clothing.
That’s really all it comes down to.
As we said in the intro, a woman who’s a size 14 or over is considered plus-sized. Where does the plus-size term come from? We’re glad you asked! Here’s an overview.
The History of Plus Size
Lane Bryant, a beloved plus-size retailer today, was the first one to start the plus-size trend. This was in the 1900s, when the brand produced maternity wear.
About 20 years later, Lane Bryant’s collection grew to include clothing for “stout women,” which is probably the earliest descriptor of plus-sized bodies that we’ve got. To be a stout woman in those days, your bust had to be between 38 and 56 inches.
Over in the UK, a brand called Evans started selling clothing for bigger women as early as 1930. The brand still exists to this day and caters to the same audience.
Sometime from the late 1970s onward, the Fashion Group of NYC published a report stating that the Baby Boomer Junior Market was done and new fashion would soon follow, possibly plus-sized styles among them. A modeling agency called Mary Duffy’s Big Beauties brought plus size to the mainstream shortly thereafter.
But the world wasn’t ready. Sure, there was a plus-size boom through the end of the 1990s, but think about what chic was in the ‘80s and ‘90s especially. It wasn’t plus-sized ladies, but rather, waif-like women.
Today, plus-sized girls are having a real movement, and it feels great. The Internet has allowed more women with bigger bodies to get their voices heard and their bodies seen. The body positivity movement has taken over Instagram and other social media platforms. In 2013, plus-sized women walked the runways at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week for the first time. Big brands like Nike began advertising plus-size workout wear, using mannequins sized to the clothes they’re trying to sell.
Even still, there’s so much more work to be done before plus-sized women are as accepted as women of a smaller size. We are definitely on the right track though!
What Are Other Descriptors Used to Refer to Plus-Sized Women?
In the next section, we’re going to revisit the confusing merry-go-round that is trying to understand which size of clothing you fit into as a plus-sized woman. Before we do that though, it helps to know all the other nicknames that retailers will use that refer to plus sizes.
Stout Wear
The term “stout” is like husky for men. It’s almost offensive and you can hardly believe it was ever the norm in clothing, right? At least stout wear we can forgive since it originated during the early 1900s, but husky clothes as a label have stuck around for far too long.
You may still see some plus-size clothing described as stout wear, but it’s not highly likely.
Size Inclusive
As the world’s perception around bigger bodies is changing, even for the better, retailers have had no choice but to respond. A store that says it’s size-inclusive is trying to cater to more women by expanding the available size variety.
Dia & Co., in one of their blog posts, writes that most women in the United States–67 percent–are plus-sized, meaning they’re a size 14 or over. Yet as many strides as the movement have made, not too long ago New York Fashion Week featured only 22 percent of designers whose clothes were plus-sized. Even then, the clothes only went to a size 20.
Is that size-inclusive? No, not really. Imagine a retailer only offering seven sizes for smaller women. There would be an outage! Selling clothes between sizes 14 to 20 for plus-sized women is not enough.
That’s not to say other retailers aren’t already nailing size inclusivity. Madewell’s clothes go up to a 3X, a brand called Girlfriend Collective sells clothing from XXS through 6XL, and Universal Standard’s sizes are as high as a size 40.
Size inclusivity is out there. You just have to know where to look!
Extended Sizes
This is sort of like size inclusivity, but not quite. A retailer that offers extended sizes is telling you their clothing doesn’t stop at a size 12. How far up on the plus-size scale the garments go depends on the brand, but you do have more clothing variety here.
Stores with extended sizes also cater to smaller bodies, but not at the expense of plus-size women. Some examples of brands that sell extended sizes include Wet Seal, ASOS, and Prettylittlething.
Curvy
The term plus size is starting to be phased out. If that ever does happen, it seems pretty likely that curvy will be its new replacement.
This word is better for a few reasons. For one, it describes bigger bodies exceptionally well, which is important in fashion to ensure the clothes stand a chance of fitting you. Second, it doesn’t mention “size” anywhere, which is nice.
Ashley Stewart just unveiled a new collection called Curvy Girl. One connotation that does come up with the term curvy, including in Ashley Stewart’s clothes, is youthfulness. If curvy is going to replace plus size, we may have to change the way we define the word to accommodate women of all ages.
Full-Figured
This is a gentler way of saying plus-sized, but it too is a viable replacement for the term since it doesn’t talk about size. To be full-figured means your body is shapely throughout.
What Sizes Are Plus-Size Clothing?
We’ve talked throughout this article about the definition of being plus-sized, which means you fit into at least a size 14. Yet what is a size 14?
Here’s the thing about that: the answer wildly varies.
Around the world, women’s clothing is sized vastly differently. Even within the same country, the sizing charts that retailers use are nowhere near identical.
If you remember from a recent post on our blog, we looked at the sizing charts from brands such as Ashley Stewart, Lane Bryant, and Dia & Co. Each brand determines what size you are by slightly different breast, hip, and waist measurements.
Maybe you need a refresher. Okay. To be considered a size 14 at Lane Bryant, you need a 42-inch bust, a 36-inch waist, and 44.5-inch low hips. This is the measurement of your hips that includes your rear.
If you shop Ashley Stewart, you’re a size 14 if your bust is 41.5 inches, your waist is 33 inches, and your hips are 44 inches. Between those two brands alone, that’s a bust size difference of 0.5 inches, a waist difference of 3 inches, and a hip difference of 0.5 inches.
We also mentioned this on the blog, but retailers have added further sizing for plus-sized women’s clothing such as X sizes and women’s sizes.
An X size means that, instead of using a number to describe the size of your garment, it’s an XL or a 2XL instead. A size 14 at Ashley Stewart would make you a 1X, as an example.
X sizes sound convenient because you don’t have to deal with any numbers, but they’re also sort of one-size-fits-all. What do we mean by that? If you measured your breasts, hips, and waist and then shopped for a clothing size for your body, your clothes will fit you better than wearing X sizes.
Women’s sizes may sound like what we’ve been talking about all this time, but no, they’re something different entirely. This type of sizing refers to larger, often looser garments denoted with a W after the size number. If you have bigger curves, especially in the chest, and regular plus-sized garments don’t fit you, then W sizes should.
Let’s say you’re blessed with 46-inch hips, a 36-inch waist, and a 43.5-inch bust. In other words, you’re about a size 18. That doesn’t make you an 18W, no, no. Instead, you’re a 16W and possibly a 1X depending on the retailer. Are you confused? That’s fair!
Here’s what we recommend above all else: take measurements of your body about every six months. Be willing to try on clothes in sizes slightly larger and slightly smaller than what you normally wear, especially when shopping at a store for the first time. That will help you overcome the sizing mumbo-jumbo!
Tips for Achieving Confidence at Any Size
We talked before about the plus-size movement and how women of bigger sizes are being represented in more ways than ever before. Yet sometimes being a plus-sized woman can feel isolating, especially when you go to the gym or you’re out and about and seem to see nothing but slimmer people.
If you’re struggling to feel comfortable in your own skin or find clothes that fit your new frame, here are some tips to keep in mind. You’ll be able to harness your confidence in no time!
You Don’t Have to Be Body Positive All the Time
Among plus-sized women, the body positive or bopo trend is especially popular. It’s very uplifting for young women to see other ladies out there with bodies just like theirs on social media. This is the kind of representation that can foster self-acceptance and possibly even prevent the onset of eating disorders.
Yet body positivity can be hard for all women to achieve. Even the ones who feel good about their bodies sometimes may not share that sentiment every single day. Perhaps you’re bloated or you’re PMSing and it’s affecting your feelings of self-worth. You could have body dysmorphia that needs to be addressed by a professional.
Just like you can’t be happy all the time every single day, you won’t like your body all the time every single day. And that’s okay. What more women are focusing on instead is body neutrality.
It may sound bad, but it’s not. Body neutrality is simply accepting your body as it is, that’s it. You don’t have to be happy with your body, you’re allowed to feel less than good about it, it’s alright.
Body neutrality is good in another way that body positivity isn’t in that you’re far less focused on your appearance. You don’t give your body too much thought either way.
Know That Women of All Sizes Struggle to Find Clothes That Fit
When you bring a heaping helping of clothes to the dressing room only to find that you missed the mark on the fit for all of them, it can be very easy to blame your size.
As the section above should have illustrated, sizing is very fluid. Don’t be surprised if some of your jeans are a size 16, others are an 18, etc., etc. You can forget it sometimes, but smaller women go through the same sort of fitting issues. It’s not just you.
What matters most is that the clothing fits, not what the number on the label is. No one sees that anyway.
Find Your Style and Rock It
They say that clothes make the (wo)man, and a good outfit can make anyone feel like a million bucks. With more plus-sized retailers available now than ever before, there’s no excuse for you to not be able to shop a style you like regardless of your size.
If you have clothes you love in styles that you feel good about, you won’t think as much about your size!
Conclusion
To be plus size, using the technical definition, you’re over a size 14. The prevalence of plus-sized women is at an all-time high, and while the world still has to work on its fat-phobia, plus-sized ladies are seeing themselves represented across social media, on fashion runways, and even through mannequins.
Although your size is just a number and not indicative of your worth, hopefully, this post helps you understand and better appreciate the origins and growth of the plus-size label.
