Why is it still so hard to find clothes that fit?
despite a growing wave of designers and models creating more meaningful body diversity in fashion, an exclusive grazia survey reveals women still struggle when it comes to buying clothes that fit. here, donatella versace, erdem, christopher john rogers and more discuss what it will take to transform the system for good
The runways have never looked more size diverse, thanks to a new wave of supermodels including Tess Mcmillan, Precious Lee, Paloma Elsesser and Jill Kortleve, all of whom are a UK size 12 or above. So why can women of varying shapes and sizes still not find clothes to fit? In an era in which conversations about diversity and equality are dominating cultural consciousness, what will it take
for the business of fashion, specifically stores, to finally catch up?
It’s a question the American model Dronme Davis often asks at shoots, where the clothes she’s asked to wear rarely fit – she’s a UK size 16. ‘My first ever job was a big campaign where there were 40 people and everyone was a size 0. I was wearing these skin-tight prom dresses – all US size 6 (UK size 10) – that were cut open on the back because none of the clothes fit me. It was an ordeal,’ she recalls. Saffi Karina, a
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British model who has starred in global campaigns for H&M and walked the runway at New York Fashion Week, tells a similar story – she was even dropped from her first modelling agency for being ‘too curvy’. ‘I had boobs and hips – it doesn’t matter how often you go to the gym, that genetically is my body shape.’
Fashion has long categorised plus size models as anyone above a size 12 (the industry differentiates between ‘curve’ sizes and ‘straight’ sizes, with the latter only going up to 10). This language jars, mainly because it’s so at odds with reality. The average woman in the UK, for example, wears a 16. Meanwhile, according to data from PWC, the ‘plus size’ market is forecast to make up 22% of the entire UK fashion market by 2022, growing at a significantly faster rate than the rest of the industry. And yet, despite years of media attention and many brands making commitments to do better, the majority of women still, at best, remain woefully underserved and, at worst, blatantly excluded. Why, in 2021, is this still an issue?
It’s true to say that there has been some progress in the last few years. Thanks to a growing chorus of voices within the industry, size is firmly on the agenda, with social media only helping to amplify this conversation. We’ve also seen luxury brands increasingly embrace body diversity, with the likes of Versace, Fendi and Alexander Mcqueen celebrating it in
their campaigns and runway shows. Piergiorgio Del Moro, the casting director who worked with both Versace and Fendi to create their most diverse catwalks yet in terms of body shape and size, cites the expansion of model agencies as one of the reasons why runway moments like his were possible. ‘Casting will always reflect the conversations taking place within society. As more model agencies started to open plus-size divisions, there was more opportunity to suggest body diverse models for editorial projects and then, subsequently, this inclusion got to the runway.’
And not just the runway. Precious Lee made history as the first ‘curve’ model to front a Versace campaign, appearing alongside Kendall Jenner and Hailey Bieber for S/S ’21. Donatella Versace says the decision was a very conscious one. ‘Our fashion shows were kind of old school in terms of casting. If fashion is the mirror of society, then something had to change in the way we represent people. Diversity has never been something I was afraid of, if anything, quite the contrary.’
Erdem Moralioğlu, too, recently announced that he will introduce inclusive sizing from a 6 to a 22. ‘I began to realise there was a need for more inclusive sizing through my bespoke clients,’ says Erdem. ‘I originally sold up to a 16, then 18 and, once I realised there was a desire from our clients for more sizes, I started the process.’
Designers like Diane von Furstenberg and Christopher Kane, meanwhile, have partnered with 11 Honoré to offer larger sizes. Founded by Patrick Herning in 2017, the online boutique has carved out a space for women in the luxury environment where, historically, they’ve been excluded. Offering pieces from the likes of Ganni, Mary Katrantzou and Carolina Herrera, all available in sizes 12-24 (or UK 16-28), Patrick and his team have developed their own fit tools (called patterns and blocks in the industry), which are then offered to designers who don’t have the capacity or budget to invest in it themselves. The ‘extended’ sizes are then sold on 11 Honoré exclusively. ‘If somebody wants to get into [plus sizes] and their feeling is, “Oh, we can’t do all of this,” we can help you.’
But, for all this progress, most retailers still use sizing standards that were introduced in the early 20th century, when the concept of ready-to-wear clothing was invented. With increased demand for affordable, stylish clothes for women following the First World War, companies introduced standardised sizing as a way to increase quantities and, therefore, profit. And there they stayed.
‘With store-bought clothes, the body had to fit into standard sizes that were constructed from a pattern representing a norm,’ Joan Jacobs Brumberg writes in The Body Project. ‘When clothing failed to fit… young women were apt to think there was something wrong with their bodies.’
addressing the building blocks of the clothes themselves, then, is integral to creating meaningful change. Alexandra Waldman is one of the co-founders of Universal Standard, a Us-based mid-market label that has revolutionised the very idea of fit. Having launched in 2015, Alexandra and her co-founder Polina Veksler set
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about devising a new way of making and fitting clothes, ensuring they would work for all sizes, from 00-40 (UK 2-44).
‘I dubbed it micrograding,’ says Alexandra. ‘I’ve lived in the bigger body all my entire adult life, so I know what’s out there and what’s missing. Our system means that we take a separate approach rather than using a formula to go from 00 to size 40. We make sure every size looks like it’s native to the body it’s being worn by.’ As a result, Universal Standard now offers the largest commercially-available size range in the world, where clothes on the website can be seen on models of all sizes.
It’s hardly surprising, then, that brands such as adidas, J Crew and Rodarte – with whom Universal Standard produced a sell-out collaboration last year – are lining up to work with them. ‘We make every size because we don’t care what size you are. We just want to make sure that everyone has access to great clothing and we hope we can influence the industry to join us.’
according to grazia readers, that day can’t come soon enough. An exclusive survey of our audience revealed that 75% of women have struggled to find the right size in both physical and online stores, while fewer than half agreed that they can always find a size that fits their body shape. This may be one of the reasons that an Instagram post from Fran Burns, a leading fashion stylist, provoked a huge response in September of last year. The image was of a very slim model wearing a pair of Celine trousers that were clearly too small. ‘Can we make our sample sizes bigger please?’ she wrote in the caption. ‘I never want anyone on my set to be made to feel “less than”.’
Fran saw the moment as a wake-up call. ‘It was genuinely shocking how small those trousers were. My model was a slim, healthy 18-year-old girl; everything else had fit perfectly. She was made to feel like there was something wrong with her. I was angry because no one should be made to feel like that. Women are incredible in all sizes and yet the overwhelming image that fashion presents is tall, slim and young – an impossible ideal for the majority of people, so why do we do it?’
That is the million dollar question. Effort may need to be concentrated on the very way in which designers are taught how to make clothes. Sinead O’dwyer is a Londonbased designer whose MA collection attracted much attention due to its comments on fashion’s relationship with the body. At fashion schools, Sinead says, the patterns from which students create clothes, as well as the fit models they use, are based on a very specific size 8. ‘If you’re always fitting on a size 8, with proportions that are very straight-up-and-down, when you grade that bigger, it’s really difficult to then make something fit the natural curves of a bigger body.’
Iskra Lawrence, a model who has graced countless magazine covers and who is currently one of the faces of L’oréal Paris, agrees. ‘It definitely comes down to the sizing of samples and how they’re created. I did some fit modelling and I had a friend who did. She was a size 8 and the clothes would only be fitted on her and then just graded up. That is difficult because it’s not taking shape or different proportions into account.’
There’s a business case for sizing up, too. Christian Siriano tripled the growth of his business when he made the decision to provide more sizes over a decade ago. ‘I grew up with my mum, who was curvy, and my sister was quite petite and they were both healthy and fabulous women,’ he says.
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‘I think that’s why it was my mentality to always provide clothes that they both could buy. I’m surprised that other brands don’t feel the same way. I’m sure they have people in their lives who can’t buy their clothes and I think that’s really weird.’
Similarly, Christopher John Rogers, the designer who has dressed everyone from Vice President Kamala Harris to Lady Gaga, Lizzo and Ashley Graham, doesn’t think size should prevent a woman from being able to engage with fashion. He actively encourages women to
‘take up space’, as he puts it. Is this, then, why his clothes are so appealing to such a wide range of women? ‘It’s important for that fact, exactly. Historically, people of marginalised backgrounds and identities have been taught to shrink themselves, and I find excitement in encouraging those same people to do the opposite. We all deserve to take up space in this world and feel amazing about ourselves.’
The good news, though, is that for fashion houses like Versace, representation really has been the first step towards change; while many pieces are only available up to a size 16 on the website, the brand has announced that every look worn by ‘plus size’ models will be available in boutiques
up to size IT 52 (UK 20). ‘One thing goes with the other,’ says Donatella. ‘What is the point of having different body sizes on the catwalk if then those same girls won’t find those clothes when they go shopping at Versace?’
What is clear is that millions of women, of all sizes, face feelings of inferiority, exclusion and derision on a daily basis, all as a result of what is essentially a measuring system devised over 100 years ago. And that’s just the emotional weight of this issue – there’s also the practical reality that they simply can’t find clothes to fit.
But there is hope. ‘I’m incredibly optimistic,’ says Alexandra Waldman. ‘This change is so much deeper than just having access to clothes. It’s about dignity.’ For designers like Christian Siriano, the dream is ‘to make everyone feel their best selves, which has no limitations; who cares where you live or where you come from? We’re not curing cancer, just making a dress to go to a party in.’
Size is just a number, after all – it’s not a woman’s worth. Now, finally, fashion seems to be waking up to that fact.