But others point to serious health consequences of being overweight. Andrea Marks, a specialist in adolescent medicine in Manhattan, suspects that "the vast majority of overweight girls are not so happy."

When's the last time you saw an article about a fashion show with clothes aimed at women with a BMI below 16 quote a health expert on the dangers of being underweight?

Oh for fuck's sake. Fatties hanging out in the frozen foods aisle! They want fashionable clothes to wear when they're pickin' up their ice creamzzz!

This makes me so angry. Every single article about "plus size" fashion HAS to include a warning about the dangers of being fat. Because that's so relevant to the issue at hand.

Hey Andrea Marks - should people be screened at the door for mental health issues before they're allowed in to shop? I can't believe she's basically suggesting that fat girls don't deserve cool clothes that fit them because they're allegedly unhealthy and unhappy. WTF?

Well, perhaps a large part of the unhappiness seen in overweight girls comes from all of the shame the gets dumped on them. Adn then they can't go shopping with their friends and find clothes that are fashionable and fit well. You know, because going to the 4 square feet of floor space designated as the plus size section and then only finding clothes with no shape and hideous patterns that even skinny people wouldn't look good in makes someone feel really good about her body.

It's why I learned to sew. Seriously. I have always been big, even as a child, and now as an adult. I try to eat healthy and get exercise, but my body does not want to budge from a size 20. Now in my thirties, I'm mostly ok with my body size, but there are still times when shopping for clothes makes me feel like the insecure teenager I once once.

Really, why are all the plus sizes only available online? As a size 10, I never really understood how it felt to go in a chain store and not be able to fit into the clothes. Then one day I went to Abercrombie & Fitch with the intention of buying jeans. But they kept all the sizes 10 and above on a shelf so high that you would need to ask for assistance just to LOOK at them. Added to the fact that their size Large T-shirts bared my stomach, it didn't take long to figure out that they were going to great lengths to ensure that overweight people didn't wear their clothes. I still remember how insulting that felt.

The article, “authored” by Ruth La Ferla, is a shameless cut and paste job. Parts of it have borrowed liberally from other articles on the same topic, featured in the UK’s Guardian and Times London newspaper magazines.

The New York Times was provided with photos from some of the companies they "pitched" in the article, like Target. I wasn't offended by the frozen food setting, or the picnic cooler set-up. Target sells these things, along with pretty clothes for women of all sizes. I actually think the Target pictures were intended to give a bit of the finger to the folks moaning about how fat fashion encouraging us to pig-out.

Not to derail, but I'm curious, has anyone read anything useful about the treatment of Celia Hodes' daughter on Weeds?

As a friend of Annie and customer of Fat Fancy, I can say that she certainly did NOT mean fat women should have to "present as freak shows." I would guess that what she meant was that, often plus-size clothing is all about "slimming" and looking as boring as possible, but that fat women should feel free to wear crazy stuff and have fun with fashion. When you go shopping at Fat Fancy, the environment is supportive and fun, and nothing but positive. They offer a valuable resource where you aren't encouraged to wear stuff that will hide your body, but fashion that will celebrate it.

Slightly off-topic but I'm confused as to what constitutes 'plus-sized'. It seems to differ by stores/brand.

(I know the stores claim they just don't have room for all their merchandise, but I call bullshit on that).
Seriously! If they can only carry certain things in-store, wouldn't they carry the medium sizes that cater to the most average customers (and of course, I've always heard that the average woman is around 12/14, ie basically "plus size" anyway). But no - instead, most of the stores I go seem to have tons of size 0-8 stuff on the shelves, and when racks get picked over, only the small sizes are left!

I agree that the article had lots of problems. However, the pictures you're criticizing weren't dreamed up by the photogs at the NYT -- they're Target's own adds. That's what the story was about - stores trying to appeal to "plus sized" young women. And in Target's defense, the woman is holding a bag of frozen fruit, which isn't bad for you.

Another thing...I'm tall (5'10") and there are very few mainstream stores that carry clothing meant for us "skycrapers". It sux.

Holy Clothing FTW!

Now that's out of my system, I'll give some rational explanations.

I used to be very thin. Almost Underweight by the BMI standard. Now I'm well into the Overweight category, an Australian 16.

While I don't always have trouble finding clothes in my size, I've learned where to look. Rockmans/BeMe are always great, and even have a fair range that appeal to me. BigW have daggy clothes I can bum around the house in, with the advantage that they're cheap.

I quite simply have trouble finding stuff I actually like. Whatever happened to simple, plain-colour (ie no gaudy, sickening patterns), long dresses? And not evening dresses, either - everyday stuff?

VTIdealist - I'd love to learn how to sew. One day I'll even get around to buying a sewing machine and doing it :)

As to sizing - They should introduce something like the male sizing, where the measurements are listed in inches. It would be very interesting to see them...

This obsession about weight is just a symptom of deeper societal problems. So many things we can't control and it's all directed back onto body images. The masses can't vent on the real problems so it's turned against people who have larger body sizes.

Some people are larger. Nothing is going to change that fact. We are a species that selected for it because most of our history it was feast or famine. People who gained quicker survived. No one should be shamed for it. And I find it horrible that we are allowing fellow human beings to be scapegoated. There is no reason that their opportunities should be restricted because of this triviality. Being unable to find clothing is just the tip of the iceberg. And as far as A&F is concerned everything over a size 4 is considered plus size, they hide the size 6 to size 10s. And other stores catering to younger people do the same.

Articles constantly state that changing a diet will automatically change weight. No it won't. The body is designed to find stasis.

Everyone here knows that it is extremely hard to lose even 10 pounds.

Well I have news, it is equally hard to GAIN 10 pounds. I challenge anyone reading this to try it. You will have to eat enormous amounts of food. And even then most of you will not gain. And if you do, you will need to eat even more food to keep the extra 10 pounds. Your body will fight you. Most of you will lose the extra experimental 10 pounds without even trying. Only a small 5-10% percent of any readers will stay at the larger weight. Exactly the same percentage of people who keep lost weight off their frames. This has all been proven during experiments on volunteer prisoners in the 60's. None of them were able to gain. And all who gained lost it.

I believe when Annie Maribona made that statement about being outrageous, it was meant in the context of plus sized people owning their style and feeling freedom from shame. When people gawk and you know you feel good about the way you look and you can feel the freedom to express your fashion regardless of size or how unique your sense of style might be, that is empowering. I can tell you that Annie lives that everyday and she is an inspiring woman for that. And, for the record, Annie Maribona runs a store that she has given blood sweat and tears to in order to make a safe space for fat people to be empowered, find clothes that fit in an actual store setting instead of online...which seems to be the thing you are upset about not really existing. Maybe you should talk to her and check out her mission before assuming the worst?

I believe when Annie Maribona made that statement about being outrageous, it was meant in the context of plus sized people owning their style and feeling freedom from shame. When people gawk and you know you feel good about the way you look and you can feel the freedom to express your fashion regardless of size or how unique your sense of style might be, that is empowering. I can tell you that Annie lives that everyday and she is an inspiring woman for that. And, for the record, Annie Maribona runs a store that she has given blood sweat and tears to in order to make a safe space for fat people to be empowered, find clothes that fit in an actual store setting instead of online...which seems to be the thing you are upset about not really existing. Maybe you should talk to her and check out her mission before assuming the worst?

Also, I need to say that it kills me that you decided to take an oppertunity to turn a good article about small social changes into a bad thing. I don't think anyone who is fat is satisfied with the way we are treated or our options available, but it is unrealistic to expect a complete social change overnight. We have spent decades teaching people to hate themselves and hate fat...those decades will take a lot of time and hard work to chip away. I do not feel good about the fact that a lot of stores start with online only plus sized clothes, but I DO feel like it is a START. A start of something important and special that could change the lives of future generations of fat girls like me. Baby steps forward are still steps in the right direction.

Folks, the problem with the photo is that it automatically associates plus size with food/eating. It would be like doing a shoot about southern fashion where the subjects were toothless and barefoot, or a shoot about Latina fashion where they were holding chimichangas. The photograph is established on stereotypical but unnecessary, unhelpful, and stigmatic associations. It entraps the woman in the photo/all plus size gals in hurtful, ignorant associations between size and food (or size, and over eating).

Based on the best reporting I've seen its not some nefarious plot by fashion execs to keep overweight people out of their brands but because sizing variability increases with weight, so from a store stocking perspective its hard to carry a full collection of plus-sized clothing that actually fits clientele.

The best article I've seen on this recently ran in DoubleX last week: http://www.doublex.com/section/life/real-reason-ann-taylor-hates-plus-sizes

Along with a distribution of weights here:http://www.deepglamour.net/.a/6a00e553bc5256883401156fef52f5970c-popup

I don't doubt that there are some brands (Abercrombie is possibly an example) which 'discriminate' on size...but I'd argue that even with them its more likely a straight forward decision to target their core clientele exlusively & ruthlessly, than an attempt to discriminate. I'm a bit larger myself & don't take it personally when the A&F, Hollister, etc don't carry my size.

From Melponeme:

Some people are larger. Nothing is going to change that fact. We are a species that selected for it because most of our history it was feast or famine. People who gained quicker survived. No one should be shamed for it [. . .].

No matter my state, I can always count on some good feminist ideology to make me really just love and be happy with my body. And that is AWESOME.

Thanks, feminism. (And Melponeme!)

Here is an article @ a lot of the problems brought up in this article and comments... and it doesn't say anything about negative health effects of any body type or size. IMO, it makes the fashion designer who does talk about this look like an ass.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/05/30/AR2005053001003.html

You comment reminded me of something I totally forgot to mention, which is that it's not uncommon for a person's body to contain multiple different sizes (this might also happen for folks who don't wear plus sized, but having never been out of the plus-size range I can't say...someone else feel free to fill in my knowledge gaps!). For example, if I were to go by clothing size charts, my torso alone has three different clothing sizes: one for my shoulders and breasts, one for my waist, and one for my hips and buttocks. Yeah, it's possible to find ways to work around it, but it's incredibly irritating.

Also, heaven forbid you be plus-size and also need some other specialty clothing type, like petite sizes. Maybe it's just where I live, but it seems like every store in my area thinks you can be plus-size or petite but not both. I discovered this the hard way back in February when I had to go suit-shopping so I would look at least a little professional for a job interview, and re-discovered it this month when I had to go shopping for business attire to bring with me to said job.

I think the picture is awesome, and I don't think there should be shame in our game for grocery shopping. I'm fat and I like food. It's badass to be upfront about that. Also, I think Annie's statement was right on, there's no denying that people are looking at us because of our size. We should do it up. Like a said - NO SHAME!

as the picture goes, I don't find it offensive.
In order to be a normal weight- like the woman in the photo, or plus sized, which seems like should be bigger than the woman in the photo (she looks like a size 10- that's about average)
you have to eat food.
Food is not bad.
Food is not your enemy.
Food is not a bad thing to be associated with.

Personal sharing:
I care about my size and care about my childs size- no one else. My child is very thin and eats all day. I was like that as a child. As an adult, my metabolism slowed AND I became less active.
If I don't exercise, I gain weight. If I eat junk food, I feel sick. The combination of not working out and eating processed foods makes me depressed.
As looks go, I could give a shit.

When you are fat you need to go on a diet. Bulemie is not healthy, being fat is not healthy either. Medical conditions that cause you to be fat are extremly rare. Most people are fat because they eat too much, which can be fixed by eating less.

Of course I'm not offended. We disagreed; if everyone agreed with one another, (or pretended to) no one would have their views challenged- no one would learn anything. I certainly wouldn't.

I think you're absolutely right, that there are multitude of lifestyle choices that might be fulfilling. Yes, what's fulfilling depends on the goals that a person has. Grown, rational adults are free to do as they choose, have any goal they wish, and though we should all have access to information that will affect the decisions we make, ultimately it's up to every rational adult to choose for her/himself.

Still, there can be a difference between good and bad lifestyle choices. If I have a goal- maybe running a marathon, and the choices that I make impede me reaching my goal- I smoke so much I can't take a deep breath, then I'm making bad choices. But as a rational adult, no one has the right to make me do otherwise, and good-heartedly encouraging me to change my ways is more condescending than it is helpful.

I make a lot of "bad" lifestyle choices in this sense: I smoke, booze it up, eat junk, etc. I couldn't claim that these are good choices just because they're what I want to do. Insofar as they impede other goals that I have, they're bad lifestyle choices.

I had to come back here to post this after I read this article: Chubby people live longest: Japan study: http://bit.ly/Wbq7R

Andrea Marks was my doctor when I was a teenager careening into an eating disorder (anorexia). She was not helpful.

Ugh. I am going to ignore most of this comments section -- seriously, can't we get some kind of fat-specific "derailing for dummies" going? I am sick to death of reading about "lifestyle choices," christ -- and just remark that, somewhat to my surprise, The Gap is actually pretty friendly towards people like me, who are on the smaller end of "plus sized" (which makes things especially hard -- I have sort of a peary hourglass figure, and it always seems like clothes are always cut either for people a lot more straight up and down or people a lot more round than myself, with no wiggle room). They even have a specific "curvy cut" for jeans and pants (that comes in all sizes, not just the big ones) that is a total lifesaver for me. They generally don't have a lot of larger sizes in their stores, but they are there, and usually within arms' reach -- and the salespeople don't look at you funny (at least not usually), not even in skinny NYC.

On the other hand, Old Navy (owned by the same people) has had an "online exclusive," separated and cordoned-off plus-size section for years, which really sends a strong "We'll take your money but we don't want to be seen with you" message.

By the way, after reading through some of the links I came across this awesomeness. Notice that there is absolutely no hedging in that announcement about things being "flattering" or whatever, it's just all "Beth Ditto! Hot shit!" I hope they keep that attitude up.

I'm not denying the anti-fat bias, but most Petite sizes are sold online as well.

It's hard to mass produce women's clothes for such varied body types. If you don't fit within a fairly narrow range, it's difficult.

i don't know if this is true, but i have heard the average woman is 5'4 and 140 pounds.

at 5'4 and 145 pounds, i wore a size 10 or 12 depending on the store i was in.

i am ALWAYS angry when going into a store and finding NOTHING in my size but about 14 size XS or 2's in 4 different shades or patterns.

obviously they aren't selling their small sizes in the quantity they expect to, so why not have enough of the sizes that people actually do buy????