Does the Fashion Industry Ignore Average Women?

NOTE: For photos I managed to find several images of 'average' and 'plus-size' women's fashions, but its rarity. I experimented with Google image searches and I'd say skinny fashion outweighs average-sized fashion by a factor of 150.

FASHION - The average American woman is size 14.

But when was the last time you saw a size 14 woman on a catwalk? Or a size 14 mannequin in the store window? They don't exist.

But male mannequins and male models that size (or bigger) do exist. Why is that?

In these troubled economic times, it seems idiotic for an industry to ignore half of its potential customers. But that is exactly what the women's-fashion industry is doing by catering to size 4 women, according to the L.A. Times.

The average American man in contrast weighs 189.8 pounds and can easily find his size in department stores or expensive boutiques selling Armani. They know men won't diet to fit into a suit, but women will diet to fit into a dress.

Many women's designers limit their collections to size 10 and under, while department stores carry vastly fewer selections in women's so-called plus sizes and relegate those to fashion's "back-of-the-bus" by tucking them in hard-to-find corners of the store.

"I just don't want fat people wearing my designs," says one fashion designer. "Fat people aren't cool, and no hip designer wants uncool people wearing their clothes."

But these aren't fat or obese women. They're average. The fashion industry is ignoring AVERAGE women just because they're worried its 'uncool'.

Only a few chain stores, such as Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug, Avenue and Torrid, focus on full-figured women, despite 62% of United States women being categorized as overweight (and approx 30% as being obese). Retailers are hurting for business, many are reluctant to even talk about plus sizes, let alone promote them, because they don't want to be seen as uncool.

It seems like the fashion industry is only marketing to the less than 5% population that is "super thin".

Where are the stores for fat women?

Where are the stores for average women?

The L.A. Times also reports that almost every major retailer, including Macy's, Nordstrom and even Wal-Mart, the county's No. 1 seller of plus-size clothing, declined to give interviews or failed to respond to requests. Why? Because they don't want to admit they sell to 'uncool' women apparently and are worried such a stigma would hurt their sales.

See Also:
Skinny Fashion Models / Standardized Women's Clothing Sizes
Skinny White Runway Models
Anorexia in Asia
Carre Otis
Fashion Waifs Disappearing
American Obesity Rates
The Perfect Female Body at Work