They come to the house with striking photographic stories about adventures in fitness. They bike to work, play soccer on the weekend, do yoga and run like Heidi on snaking trails across the sides of mountains. They wear the latest; spandex, supplex, organic cotton. It looks like fun and I have to admit; I want to play. But when I try to arrange a get together, the answer is always no; not today, not now, probably not ever.
The girls come to my house in catalogs; from Athleta, Patagonia, Title Nine. The photographs are inspiring; the Patagonia catalog often includes a shot of a woman running along a high mountain trail; surrounded by wildflowers or snowy granite peaks. I want to be that woman; and I’m ready to buy the clothes. Yet despite my moderate level of fitness from trips to the gym or hikes at altitude in the Wasatch Mountains, there are very few clothes that will fit my chubby body in these catalogs. Okay, I’m a fat girl (my fault) and short (not my fault) and so I fall outside the range of clothing made by many of the hip and inspiring merchants of women’s fitness wear. But I am not alone.
Sitting at my computer today, I’m wearing a pair of x-large petite yoga pants from Athleta. They’re wearing out and I would buy another pair but Athleta did away with its x-large petite sizing in 2009. In response to my complaint, I got a corporate speak non-answer. A question to Title Nine resulted in the suggestion that I shop plus-size websites. And an e-mail to Lululemon got me the usual; a non-promise to think about it.
According to information around the web, including from the Centers for Disease Control, the average American woman is about 5 feet 4 inches tall and somewhere between 140 and 165 pounds. This correlates to a clothing size between 14 and 18 for most women. Yet at Lululemon, the trendy maker of yoga and pilates gear, most of the clothing tops out at size 12. At Title Nine, many items go up to size 14 and others go to x-large, which correlates with a size 16; unless you’re a petite (me) where the sizes only go to large. A large waist size is 32 1/2 while an extra large waist is 35; two inches smaller than the average waist size (37 inches) for an American woman according to the CDC. Athleta offers what they call “special sizes” for regular height and tall girls but considers an x-large to be a waist size of 33-34. Similarly, a Patagonia x-large has a waist size of 33 1/2.
I can hear the accusations of whining and yes, I am guilty. But I do think something important is lost when the makers of fitness wear decide that the average American woman is too fat to wear their clothing. Because really, the accusation of whining will undoubtedly be followed by a demand that those of us who don’t fit the clothes lose weight. Get out of your chair; go for a walk; push yourself away from the refrigerator. But while the less than average girl gets to wear a cute pair of “Dream pants” with a “Willpower” short sleeve t-shirt, the rest of us are left with shorts from the big box store and whatever cotton shirt happens to fit, which may or may not be the best, most appropriate active wear for the activity at hand. Nor are shorts from the grocery store likely to provide any incentive to get to the gym.
So back to the mean girls. Title Nine, under the heading “About Us,” says “We are evangelical about women’s participation in sports and fitness.” Really? You can’t pat yourself on the back for being an advocate for women’s fitness when you exclude a substantial part of the population that wants to play with your toys by saying “sorry, you’re just too fat….we don’t play with girls like you.”
mamiejane 
Very insightful! And you are not fat!
Amen sister! This could be an OpEd in the New York Times, etc.
Yay! I am your new biggest fan, your my hero 🙂
every word rings true.
preach!
So true! Athleta does carry big girl sizes, although not in petite, I think. (I’m a tall person, so not personally familiar with the petite size issue but from what I understand you petite girls have to deal with sizing issues even in non-plus lines). Athleta’s big girl sizes are an exercise fashion lifesaver for me. Even Nordstrom, which values its reputation for carrying hard to find sizes in other areas and has OK plus size clothing lines, has plus size exercise wear options that are either non-existent or totally gag-worthy. If I recall, Title 9 flirted with plus sizes a few years ago but discontinued them. Which I too found incredibly hypocritical given their mission statement.
Speaking as someone in the business of retail sales, though, I have to give Athleta and Title 9 a little bit of the benefit of the doubt. We retailers really really like to sell stuff to people. And if there’s a big demand for something in the market in which we operate, we’ll find a way to satisfy that. I suspect Athleta and Title 9 stopped their plus and petite plus lines in part because they weren’t selling enough to be profitable. Most exercise clothes are purchased by women size 8-12. Most women who wear larger sizes are in that size range in large part because they don’t exercise (and yes, in this category I am including the women of the average American proportions you describe since data also shows they do not, in fact, exercise regularly) . So these women generally aren’t buying anything from Athleta and Title 9 even if these retailers carried their size, which explains why Athleta and Title 9 ignore them. Yes, a small group of us are the exception, but we’re a small group and big retailers by their nature market to big groups.
From a solely economics perspective, will Athleta and Title 9 try to address this problem by upping their marketing of larger sizes thereby increasing their profit in these lines? Probably not. They want their customer to look at their clothes and think “all I need to look like that model is to buy that outfit.” Ka-ching goes the credit card. And in fact, lots of their customers, even the ones who don’t look like the models, do exactly that. If Title 9 and Athleta became known as retailers of exercise clothes for big girls, they’d be targeting a really small market, and risk losing a big chunk of customers who don’t want to think of themselves as big girls. (For instance, you’ll notice that Athleta, which carries 1-3x sizes, is pretty low key about it.)
It’s a total catch-22 for us big (or statistically average!) girls who exercise. And a business opportunity for someone who wanted to create really sassy performance exercise wear for women sizes 14 and up. If I had a bunch of extra money laying around, and knew anything at all about making clothes, I’d be all over it!
Here, here, Mary! Well written and oh so true. People come in all shapes and sizes and strengths. When I lived in Hawaii, I absorbed a cultural acceptance of the spectrum of body types. It was such an eye opener for me. My body image was stuck in my 7th grade chunky girl stage. I spent my initial days at the beach in my one piece swimming suit and wrapped in a towel and within a week I was wearing a bikini because I saw that women of all sizes were enjoying playing in the ocean and on the beach, comfortable in their own bodies. Hula dancers at store openings and celebrations came in all shapes and sizes and ages. Just like children of various skin tones needing to see themselves in illustrations in children’s books, I’d like to see a large woman like me represented in those catalogs and in magazines (with access to clothing sizes for those of us who don’t fit the “norm”). I am big and tall and wear size 11 shoes. I ride my bike, love to hike, pant up big hills and am afraid of heights. You have inspired me with your hiking and camping trips. Your words may start a clothing and a marketing revolution!
What a wonderfully written piece. Even at my smallest, 125 lbs, 5′ 8″, I was still a size 8-10. Now after two children and in my 50’s I’m a 14, and even if I would love to be a size 10 again I don’t think I have some kind of character defect. I bike, walk, garden, do hot yoga etc. and eat healthier than most people, but I will never look like those “real women with real bodies” in Title Nine’s catalog. So here’s a message to Title Nine and others, “Wise up and broaden your view about what it means to be fit. My heart rate is probably lower than yours, and your shareholders are missing out on a lot of dollars. You see some of us plus gals have some money to spend.”
Just sent off my plus size request to title nine. I am so with you sister.
We dont want bigger flowers or wider straps, we just want the opportunity to wear the clothes that the other girls are wearing.
Lisa