I am so excited to share today’s post with my lovely photographer, Sarah Wolfe. I am launching a NEW series around body inclusivity in fashion! I am going to be working with Sarah to highlight brands that provide inclusive sizing for all women. We are going to be featuring the same pieces in our respective sizes.
SIZE INCLUSIVE FASHION
Many women find shopping stressful. That is a large part of why I started my blog – to make more fashion fun and accessible. But I have always taken for granted how easy it has been for me to find pieces and styles in my size. I am typically a size 6-8. It’s something that I had never really given a lot of thought about until I started working with Sarah, who is a size 16-18. She has shared her experience with brands and fashion:
Sarah’s Experience: “I always thought I couldn’t be in fashion due to my size and I never felt like the brands were talking to me. I have been told not to waste my time shopping and that nothing would fit me. How can I feel positive about my body in a world that tells me my body is not included.”
I began to really look at the brands and retailers that I shop to see if they offer inclusive sizing. I was shocked by how many brand’s sizes stop at a size 12 or just go up to large. This seems like such a large miss to me and a poor business decision. Retailers are leaving money on the table by actively ignoring a huge customer base and only catering to a subset of women in select sizes
The reality of women’ sizes in the US is:
A study published in the International Journal of Fashion Design, Technology and Education revealed, “The average size of an American woman is now between 16 to 18. With 67% of American women wearing a size 14 or larger. Plus-sized shoppers represent $20 billion worth of buying power.
HOLDING BRANDS ACCOUNTABLE
It’s been amazing to see the role social media has played with holding brands accountable for making clothes for all sizes. Someone who does an amazing job of holding brands accountable for the sizes they offer is Kate Sturino, founder of ‘The 12ish Style’ and Megababe.
She has been featured everywhere from WWD, Refinery29, and Entrepreneur around her Body Positivity movement. She started a “Make My Size” hashtag on Instagram and regularly posts to ask brands like Zimmerman, Theory and Neiman Marcus to make inclusive sizes. She recently partnered with Stitch-Fix, a popular styling service, to create a 21-piece collection. The best part is that this collection is 100% size-inclusive clothing line — and it retails for under $100!
REFORMATION – INCLUSIVE SIZING
The first brand we are featuring is Reformation! Sarah and I love their dresses! Reformation added extended sizes in 2018 and now permanently offer inclusive sizing from 0-24. We picked their Carina Midi Wrap Dress to feature. I am wearing a size 6 and Sarah is rocking a size 16.
My goal with this inclusivity series is to really put my money, attention and focus behind brands that are really catering to all women and not just some women.
Size inclusive means that, no matter how you look – short, tall, big, small, athletic, curvy, flat, plus size – you will not be discriminated against based on your size. When it comes to clothes, it means a brand is trying to cover as many different sizes as possible and doesn’t just cater to one figure.
What brands do you know that are size inclusive you think we should feature??
Tell us below!
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OUTFIT DETAILS: Dresses from Reformation:
*PIN THIS IMAGE*
Completely agree but it’s not just brands. When Nike put out a plus sized dummy people almost lost their minds. The same happens when plus sized models are on the front of magazines. I think a lot of brands would be more inclusive in sizes if they weren’t going to have deal with the backlash.
Yes – I saw that on the Nike model. The more brands and media include inclusive sizing and models the more normalized it will become. It’s so sad that ppl have such issues with different body types. All body types deserve to be represented.
Thank you for your sweet comment!
xo,
Whitney
So beautiful!
Mariya | https://www.brunetteondemand.com/pinafore-dress-styles/
Yaasss! I totally agree. And you both look beautiful. Wish I could afford reformation. 🙂
http://cityambiton.com
I think what you’re doing is terrific and you’re both gorgeous! When it comes to inclusive brands, I think Universal Standard is really doing a great job with the basics and their unique sizing is inclusive as well. Also, when you look at something on their site, you can see how it looks on models of all different sizes so you have an idea of what it will look like on you.
Thank you so much! Yes! I love the Universal Standard. We featured Univeral Standard in our last size-inclusive feature! make sure to check out that post!
xo,
Whitney
I just saw that post. How in the heck did I miss it before? Silly me!