(Closed) How do you define full-figured?

• Regina-Phalange
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: July 2015

On the Bee boards, I always took it to mean plus size.

• SpecialSundae
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2012

@mrsSonthebeach: I think there used to be some segregation like that in shops here, but whilst it may make it slightly quicker to find your size quicker it sort of becomes “fat shaming”. I think they’re realising that making a large proportion of their shoppers feel like they’re being sent to the “fat section” doesn’t actually help to sell clothes. 

• happyface
• 8 years ago

To me, “full-figured” means plus size, such as 1X or 2X or Extra large, or double extra large. Most of my family is full-figured, men and women… I can still fit into sizes 11-12 but my mom has to go to size 22-24 (this is to give you a comparison) but I do consider myself “chubby” but not full figured… yet…

• allyfally
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2014

@mrsSonthebeach:  “I think full-figured basically means you need to shop in the women’s department or specialty stores. I see it as meanign that the figure you have is plumped up with fat (as opposed to muscle or bone mass). I do not think it is the same as curvy. You can be curvy as size 2 and you can be straight at size 22. I do think it is the same as plus-sized.”

 

Thats how I would define it. If you’re skinny, but have curves, then I say you’re curvy or voluptuous. If you’re all around plus size, I’d say full figured. But generally I just say plus sized.

• mrsSonthebeach
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: March 2012 - Pelican Grand Beach Resort

@SpecialSundae:  There’s an ongoing cultural debate about this. Some full-figured/plus-sized women don’t want to walk into a fitting room full of smaller women and want designs to be clearly catered to them and prefer to accept and own and be proud of their size. Others feel like they are being herded into a fat department. I’ve been plus-sized in the past, and going to a different area of the store or to a different shop entirely never bothered me, personally, but I get why it bothers some other people. When I shop, I’m concerned with finding things that fit and look good. I don’t really care what the label says or where I got it.

• allyfally
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2014

The whole plus size clothes and “regular” sized clothes being in different spots doesnt really bother me. I just think its harder to find stuff in my size when its all together with the rest of the clothes.

My main problem is finding stuff in my size in general though. A lot of plus size stores shirts are too big for me, but if its not plus size then its too small.

• mrsSonthebeach
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: March 2012 - Pelican Grand Beach Resort

@allyfally:  I remember being on the cusp and going crazy with that same issue. The XL misses or the 14 misses would be tight, but the S/1X women’s and the 14 women’s would be too big… there’s just this missing area in between… poof… gone.

• SpecialSundae
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2012

So Misses’ and Women’s sizes are different? 

• mrsSonthebeach
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: March 2012 - Pelican Grand Beach Resort

@SpecialSundae:  In the US, yes. Roughly, misses = 2-14; women = 14-24 (or more). Cut is often different too because the two sets of sizing have different sizes taht they use to base other sizes off of.

ETA: I’m sure sure if I’m describing the sizing process well. Each designer has a size that they design their clothing for. They make a master pattern for the size. Then each size up or down is made relative to that pattern based on standard changes in dimensions. For example, a designer might start with size 4 and the garment is designed to fit the average size 4 woman perfectly. Then, the bust, waist, and hip gets another 1 inch each to get to size 6 and loses 1 to get to size 2, but the proportions are not reconsidered to match the average size 6 or size 2 woman. Often, by the time you get to size 12 or 14, the sizing is really not good proportionally and the clothing often doesn’t as well off the rack as it does for a woman closer to the pattern size. Then, the designer does the same for plus, maybe choosing size 18 as the pattern size. So, a size 14 in plus will usually not have the same dimensions as a size 14 in misses.

• pinkshoes
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: June 2011

I think of the term ‘full figured’ synomously with overweight.

• lookingglass
• 8 years ago

@SpecialSundae:  Oooh i remember New Look had the ‘inspire’ range- they don’t have that anymore, do they?

I remember friends of mine mentioning that larger sized clothes (16+) are cut to the shape of 10-12s and so don’t fit properly.

I do think it’s a good idea to do a separate range- so often shops order the same quantity of all sizes and when I see things I like only the size 16-20s are left. If they had them separate they’d know instantly when they sold out of the smaller sizes!

Clothes would be so much nicer too if they were tailored to certain sizes.

• Brielle
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: May 2009

@mrsSonthebeach:  That is so true! I’m plus sized, but I am only a half inch taller than petite and have an hourglass shape. Almost all Women’s sizes are too long, too big, and too full for me, and most do little or nothing for my figure. I usually end up having to purchase my pants in the Women’s Department or at a specialty store (and I have to wear them with 3.5-inch heels or have them hemmed), and I sometimes have to look in the misses department to find XL sweaters, but they aren’t always large enough in the bust. It’s very frustrating. Finding attractive, well-proportioned dresses has been a fairly elusive effort for years. My favorite places to shop for tops and jackets now are Chico’s, Coldwater Creek, Talbot’s, and certain Macy’s stores that carry some higher-end brands in plus-sizes.  This used to be difficult enough when I lived in a major metro area. Now that I relocated to a rural area after marrying DH, I either shop when I’m visiting friends or family or I order online, something I never liked to do.

• SpecialSundae
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2012

@lookingglass:  It would be nice if they were tailored… but sizes vary so much. Most of my team at work wear approximately the same size but our proportions are wildly different. There are women with very nipped in waists and curvy busts and hips; women with no curves; and women who are true apple shapes… and they can all be “the same size” (theoretically).

• bearlove
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: July 2012

I think its a very loose term. If someone was like “oh Jane Doe is full-figured” I’d probably imagine in my mind a person who is on the cusp of plus-size clothing, but with an hourglass type shape.  I guess that’s my default ‘full-figured’ image lol, but I know it is a faaaar cry from what other people may imagine or what people may define themselves as.  I don’t know if there is a standard definition.

• SpecialSundae
• 8 years ago

• Wedding: April 2012

@bearlove:  I think I have a similar image.