Nick

Size 12 is not Plus Size

Mon, 03/08/2009 - 10:30pm | by

So I’m reading the online paper today and I come across this article. I was thinking that it was great to see Myer taking the issue of plus sizes seriously.

 

[img_assist|nid=76|title=Clipping from news.com.au/couriermail/ - 03/08/09|desc=|link=none|align=center|width=299|height=178]

So I click on the link and read further. You should too, since I figure they might not be happy with me cutting and pasting the whole article. The article is titled “Fuller figures on display as Myer show thorws a curveball“.

I’m reading and reading and reading and it all sounds like great stuff. They’ll be stocking large sizes and you can even order custom briadal wear up to a size 24. They even talk to (or quote from a press release, who knows these days) one of the fuller figure models.

Brisbane model Bree Warren will be one of them and she said she wasn’t perturbed by the plus size tag.

“I know that I’m happy and healthy and I think that I’m in proportion,” she said.

“I think you’ve just got to be confident with how you look and who you are as a person.

“I think it’s so exciting that they’ve decided to include curvier girls this year in their shows.”

I kept the original link as included in the article to the model’s page on the Dallys Models website. I wasn’t sure if I read correctly at first, but it’s there in black and white. Well white and black.

SHE’S SIZE 12 AUSTRALIAN.

Since when did Size 12 Australian, which although I’m no expert I’m lead to believe is Size 8 US, is not plus size. I’m glad that she’s happy and healthy. Confidence is great too. But I don’t see how she can be thrust forward as the face of a plus size revolution by Myer.

Bring on the size 18 to Size 24 women, or even larger. Get hot sexy men of a larger size (like me for example) and dress them in AWESOME outfits. Make me want to come into your store and go “OMFG I can finally get some great threads and look as stylish as I feel.”

Just don’t lie to me ok?

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  1. Health is important to me

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  • http://www.definatalie.com definatalie

    Dallys have a couple of plus size models (AU sizes 14 and 16) on their books – but for some reason the site isn't loading their photos for me which is unfortunate!!

    HEY MYER, IF YOU WANT A FANCY SIZE 24 I CAN GET SOME HEADSHOTS DONE OK!?

  • http://www.nicholasperkins.com/blog/ Nicholas Perkins

    Maybe that's on purpose so that you can't hire them?! Maybe they are discriminating against their Size 14 and 16 models?

    Maybe a conspiracy theorist…

  • http://www.axisoffat.com Zoe

    PSST DALLY MODELS: HOT SIZE 18-20 MODDLE HERE, WILL WORK FOR FOOD. OR TWO WHOLE CAKES.

    Also, yes, this. Size 12 = can shop in regular-size stores. Epically not plus-sized.

  • http://pretty-in-plus.com bethamint

    No plus size store I've ever been to in the UK or US stocks a size 12, rediculous!

  • amydoll

    Oops i clicked the wrong thing! I pressed 18 by mistake, I meant 22, I got confused whilst changing my brain from UK to AUS sizes. But basically, anything a size 20 (uk) and up, i consider a plus size. Most shops here go up to an 18, so I consider it a standard size, not to mention that the average uk body is now a 16 or something. size 20+ is extremely hard to find in most high street stores, so I would consider those the “plus” sizes.

  • Linda

    I don't think distorted perceptions count as “lies.”

  • Linda

    I'm not sure distorted perceptions count as “lies.”

  • Linda

    Distorted perceptions don't count as “lies.”

  • Meems

    Yeah, an Australian 12 is about a US size 8, and definitely not plus sized…but I'm not even sure a US size 12 is really plus sized, either! I'm around a US 12 and have never found the need to shop plus sized stores – most of them run a bit too big for me, though, of course some straight size stores size out right around my size, too.

  • La_di_Da

    (Size 12 Australian = size 12 in North American sizes, these days. Usually. Depends on the manufacturer.

  • Meems

    Hmm – officially, a US size 8 should equal a UK size 10 and a AU size 12, however, I've personally found that UK sizing runs more like two sizes bigger, rather than one. I've never tried on anything in Australian sizing, so I have no personal reference point. But, based on Shauna Reid's description of the difference between Australian and UK sizing, it does seem like they're about the same…or no more than one size different.

  • http://www.axisoffat.com Zoe

    It's pretty much a crapshoot, because it depends on how generously (or not) various labels are cut. I have clothing from Australia in a 14 (lulz, vanity sizing), 16, 18 and 20. I have clothing from the US in a 14W, 16W and 18W (a little too big, but it's from Igigi, which is really generously sized). And clothes from the UK in a 20 and 22.

    I won't even get into Japanese sizing.

  • GimliGirl

    I wear a 12 US/Canadian and I've always identified as fat; I've gotten the rude comments from family and friends and frankly, it's fat ENOUGH. I may not have to shop in plus-size stores but I've felt shamed and ugly enough my entire life to whole-heartedly embrace the FA/HAES movement. Any recognition of anyone wearing double digit sized clothes is a point for fat acceptance, IMO.

  • http://www.definatalie.com definatalie

    The difference between Australian and international sizing really should be stressed in this post (and for all Axis posts). Our frame of reference for fatness is different, and we have different numbers, names and labels that we use when talking about fatness.

    I'm personally of the opinion that if one wants to identify as fat, one should – but when it comes to representation at a very visible level (such as being the “plus size model” for a department store) the threshold for “fatness” is quite the contentious issue!!

  • GimliGirl

    I agree with that; 'plus size' models are really just average sized women, right? ;)

  • Meems

    I think it's always a crapshoot. I generally say I wear a US size 12, but I own everything from a size 4 (I think the Gap mislabeled that one) to a size 14.

    And, of course, because I didn't proofread, I meant to say that I've found UK sizing to run two sizes smaller than US sizing, and that my impression from Dietgirl was that US and Australian sizing is pretty similar.

  • Meems

    Absolutely. And it drives me a bit crazy.

    You and I are the same size, but I don't identify as fat – maybe just a little bit fat at best :) There have been times I've felt fat at a smaller size than I am now; I think personal experience does make a huge difference, as well as height and build. My parents were also very careful not to comment negatively about my weight. I've certainly gotten commentary (the seamstress who took in my size 10 prom dress actually stated that “of course” I was planning to lose weight before prom and refused to take in the dress as much as I'd asked. *sigh*)

    Regardless, I think it's wonderful for both fat and non-fat people to embrace FA and HAES.

  • bri_fatlotofgood

    The whole size thing addles my brain. I wear the same size in Australian sizing as I do in US sizing. Actually, I can wear a size 20 Australian top but have to have a 22 US top. And I can wear an Aussie 22 bottom and sometimes need a US 24 bottom. So I don't think the translation between sizing from country to country can be relied on. I just wish they would do women's clothes in inches/centimetres. It would save a lot of trouble.

    Anyway, I think plus size would be from 20 up but then again, why do we need an arbitrary designation of what is plus size? Plus what? Plus insinuates there is a 'standard', 'normal' or 'desirable' size and we fatties are over that. Well that is all totally subjective and the notion of 'plus size' does nothing to normalise being fat.

  • http://fatheffalump.blogspot.com/ Kath

    Makes me all sad to think that anyone considers a size 12 as plus size. In fact, I think it makes me sad to think that people consider a size 16 plus size these days. It used to be that 18 and beyond was plus sized. But the size thing is getting smaller and smaller, and it is rammed down our throats with more ferocity as the years go by.

  • animally

    This may not be the best place for this comment, but the rage is bubbling inside and I fear exploding if I don't vent soon. If Myer is serious about this “plus size revolution”, then why the Helen of Troy have they put an in-store Weight Watchers centre right next to the plus size clothing section in their Carindale (Qld) store????? (I'm wary of inappropriate capslocking, but I'm screaming on the inside.)
    Usually I enjoy shopping at the Carindale store – it seems to have a more complete range than my 'local' at Indooroopilly – but today I walked in, saw the WW centre, and walked out after the briefest of browses (I usually spend a good hour or so trying and buying). I felt so uncomfortable, and after a couple of hours' rumination I'm not sure who I've ended up feeling most angry with – Myer for being such hypocrites, or me for feeling uncomfortable…

  • Amy

    The cognitive dissonance is that when the industry panderers say “plus-sized”, there's the invisible “compared to the tiny models on the international catwalks” tacked on the end, whereas the normal person in the street instead thinks “compared to the average shopper”.