When Melva Alvarado, 34, of Chicago wears her flirty corduroy mermaid-style stretch skirt from the Bucktown boutique vive la femme, she says, heads turn and compliments follow. “It’s a good feeling,” said Alvarado. “I like to be cute and funky.” Finding clothes that match her mood, however, often has been an arduous task, with her size–18 or 20–limiting her choices to roughly Lane Bryant and the women’s department in Bloomingdale’s.
No longer. Slowly retailers and boutiques are responding to a previously ignored consumer: the plus-size woman or teen who doesn’t want to wear a tent. Instead, vive la femme, which opened last spring, offers an assortment of hip styles to suit its Damen Avenue location. In September, Hot Topic Inc., known for its trendy club clothes, opened Torrid stores, targeting teens and young women size 14-26, at Schaumburg’s Woodfield mall and Orland Square shopping center in Orland Park. On Oak Street, a Marina Rinaldi shop opened about a month ago–without any blaring announcements of its niche.
That’s because it isn’t a niche, said Monica DeBellis, design director for Marina Rinaldi, a 20-year-old plus-size division of Max Mara. Noting that 65 percent of American women wear a size 10 or above, DeBellis said, “In reality, we are normal sizes.”
So just what is “plus size”? Pinpointing it can be a little tricky. Depending on the brand, many misses lines run up to size 14 or 16, then “plus” refers to sizes 14 or 16 and up, although it may vary. Marina Rinaldi, for example, carries sizes 10-22. Torrid considers 14-26 plus size. Lane Bryant clothes start at size 14. Also, many women who are size 14 shop regular stores.
Stephanie Sack, owner of vive la femme, opened her boutique after learning to embrace her size 18-20 figure. That was after “fat-girl camps” and fen-phen use landed her in the hospital.
“A lot of plus-size women should be encouraged to work with their curves, instead of hiding them,” said Sack, who demands her customers leave self-deprecating comments at the door. “No one can say anything bad about their bodies. There are no excuses. I don’t want to hear it.”
She may get her wish as reality gains recognition. Seventeen magazine has launched “Curvy Girl,” a new section for larger girls. Trendy stores such as Delias and Old Navy are expanding their size range.
Because clothes from the Gap or Express did not fit her customers in the past, Torrid sales associate Patricia Dominguez said, many people didn’t know the store was there at first.
“A lot of our customers don’t shop at the mall,” she said. “But if they do get to see us, they’re very excited.”
Sack said this is progress from when she was a teen.
“If I was 16 years old I would have moved into Torrid,” said Sack, citing $40 pleated red-and-black plaid miniskirts, black leather below-the-knee boots for $35 to $43, and $20 Pink Panther T-shirts. “It’s total rock star clothes. It’s the first sign that the youth market has finally got it.”
Retailers for adult women also are offering more choices. At Marina Rinaldi, customers can find 10 styles of jeans, including low-waisted and boot-cut fits. The shoes, handbags and scarves are all made with the plus-size woman in mind–boots are designed to accommodate not just the spindliest calves.
There’s money in this method, said Kurt Barnard, president of the Barnard Retail Trend Report.
“It’s a powerful market,” he said. “For years, they’ve had to scrounge around for fashionable clothes to wear, but retailers are beginning to wake up. They’re realizing this is a plus for them.”
Indeed, Alvarado estimates that she has spent $800 to $1,000 at vive la femme so far.
“I always carry their cards in my wallet,” said Alvarado, who sent Sack a thank-you note after her first purchase. “When I see a plus-size or Rubenesque woman I give them a card and tell them, ‘Go to this store; it’s awesome.’ “
Warning: If you come in talking about a New Year’s food-related resolution, it had better be about health, not weight. Sack wants her shop to be a haven from the temple of thin.
“I kick skinny girls out,” Sack said, half-joking. “Sometimes I’m polite, sometimes I’m not.”
A gain, no shame
Once a pencil-thin size 2, Carre Otis is over it.
“Some models would rather not be working than be seen as a size 10,” said Otis, best known for her role alongside former husband Mickey Rourke in “Wild Orchid.” “I’m the first woman in my caliber of modeling who has crossed over with pride.”
Otis, who speaks at high schools and colleges urging women to accept their bodies, has sensed greater acceptance too.
“I have received such an amazing response,” said Otis, who was in town recently promoting the new Marina Rinaldi store in Chicago.
At O’Hare International Airport, a woman approached Otis, saying the model gave her motivation to overcome an eating disorder:
“She said, ‘I wanted to thank you. You’re the reason I started eating again.’ “
— B.W.
