For instance, buying shoes as a male-to-female person is simply a nightmare to some of us who weren't blessed with small, petite feet. Trying to find any appealing and feminine shoes at EU size 44-45 (US size 13) is more often than not an extremely difficult task.
In most women's shoe sections the selection of larger sizes mainly include two completely different types of shoes. Either you find crocs, slippers and other shoes that are mainly designed with comfort or working conditions in mind. Sometimes you can only find platform heels and all the latex thigh-high boots you can stomach. In some rare cases I have stumbled across shoes that I would like to have and wear, but then the price tag becomes an issue (not all of us are able to pay 159€ for a pair of ankle boots, y'know).
Some of my friends have also complained about overall clothing sizes. My friend once told me how he has to shop at the kid's section every time he's looking for new clothes and more often than not the selection is highly kid-friendly, but doesn't necessarily suit a grown man's tastes. He told me he's also a little dissatisfied with how most men's pants are designed, since they don't fit his form factor that well, thus he has to more or less wear baggy jeans/pants or alternatively tailor his own bits of clothing so they could fit in a more sensible way.
The only real shopping option with variety in sizes is eBay. However, having no way to try on shoes or other bits of clothing makes some of us a little nervous. Do you want to spend 30-60€ on a pair of shoes you really like, only to find out that the shoes in actuality are not comfortable after all?
I wish clothing stores would start to have more variety in sizes. The demographic for these sizes is smaller than the sheer amount of average sized consumers, but would stocking a couple of extra sizes be that much of a burden for clothing stores? After all, this isn't just an issue for transgender individuals but a bunch of others too whose body type or size don't fit in with the norm.
What I would like to see some day is a trans-friendly clothing store where sizes weren't an issue, where one could just walk in and try out anything they find to their liking. A place where every customer could find nice, stylish and affordable pieces of clothing with the chance to try them on even!
That's most likely not going to happen... But a girl can dream, right? ^_^
Precisely. I've been wondering about the same thing. You have these big clothing chains like H&M and GAP that produce cheap clothes for the general public. The big setback is the lack of large and small sizes, or clothes for different body types for that matter. These chains make A LOT OF MONEY selling their cheap labour clothes. Producing a few more sizes shouldn't cost them a dime considering how much they already make. So why wouldn't they? It'd bring a huge amount of positive publicity and it'd be the right thing to do.
ReplyDeleteAs a plus sized man, I shop for my pants in Dressmann, and I've been happy. They have a quite good selection of pants for men that are short and fat, just like me :D The same consensus should work for women too. Only it's not.
It makes me sick seeing those Versace commercials with their prospect of a body, or rather, air. I mean, these girls don't even produce a shadow. I think it's unhealthy and sad. I mean, dove has previously had their "natural body" campaigns. It's a step to the right direction, although their women were also quite thin imho. But this leads me out of the topic into the area of body norms.
Major clothing stores and chains should take into account that not everyone suits to that illusion of a "normal body" that the fashion industry created. What IS normal anyway?