Plus-Size Clothing Site Shows No Fat People

Tip of the hat to Scary Mommy who originally posted about this company, Plus Size Baby. When I first read the article, I thought certainly that the site was fake somehow. Perhaps I just hoped that it was. Alas, I visited the site myself and it is all true. The Scary Mommy article, by Casandra Stone, focused on the lingerie specifically, which for sure had the most egregious what the fuckery. But I took a look at other areas of the site as well, and it doesn’t get any better.

In an effort not to drive any more traffic to their site than strictly necessary, I took screen shots. I apologize in advance.

First, an overview of the lingerie section, where first a straight size model shows how stretchy (?) the panties are, instead of just hiring a plus-size model. But more importantly, there is not a plus-size person in sight anywhere on that page.

The fashion model on the second row is particularly upsetting.

One of the only actual fat people I could find on the site was this one (though she is apparently just breasts and a tummy with no head. There was an abundance of headless bodies all over the place.)

If I was hoping that things would get better in other areas of the site, I was quickly disappointed. Take a look at this bullshit in the Sports Wear section.

This looks like some kind of before and after insanity.

I mean…. WHAT? I just go into anger brain lock when I look at this. I know lots and lots and LOTS of fat athletes who would be much more appropriate models for this. Because we’re selling leggings for plus size women to workout in, but we can’t actually SHOW any plus size women.

And then there’s the swimsuits. Buckle up, folks.

The top one only goes up to a 3XL, but all of the extended sizes are sold out. I’m not even sure what the second one is trying to show us. I guess it’s all about pulling your body in and changing the shape. Not about being able to swim.

In a last-ditch effort, I went to look at the clothing. Things got marginally better here, but not by much. The model here at least looks like she is actually wearing a large dress, despite the fact that the dress itself covers up practically every part of her. And the dress goes all the way up to a size 6XL!

But then I saw it… “Ships From China.” Uh oh. Sizing overseas is very different from sizing in the United States. I’ve seen ads for cute dresses around Christmas and Halloween that claim to go up to a size 5X, but after a little investigation a 5X was actually closer to a 2X in our sizing. So, I took a look at the size chart.

My handy-dandy conversion calculator tells me that 124 cm is equal to 48.8 inches. I usually wear a 5X or 6X and my bust is 64 inches. So, there’s that. Also, the difference between 5X and 6X is just 4 cm, which is about 1.5 inches.

Also, apparently this site can’t have anything more than a multiple of 20 in any category. Which makes me question, again, the validity of this site. It feels so much like a scam.

For a super fat like me, it is almost impossible to be able to go into a store and actually try on the merchandise. I depend on plus size clothing sites to show actual fat bodies in their clothes so I have some idea whether an item might look good on me. There is a lot of trial and error involved, and over the years I have had more disasters than successes. There’s a pair of gray pants I ordered recently that looks great on the model and looks formless and shapeless on me. Into the donation bin they go.

So, it’s hard enough out there for fat people to find fashionable, flattering clothing without a bullshit site like Plus Size Baby muddying the waters. The Scary Mommy article ends with “Do better, Plus Size Baby.” I suggest that they do all of us a favor and just go away.