Proof stores DO slap a fat tax on plus-size clothes

aT FIRST glance, these two women appear to be dressed in identical outfits. But look at the prices, and you will see there is one major difference: the cost.

A size 18 outfit can cost up to 23 per cent more than an identical one in a size 8, illustrating that larger women pay more to dress as stylishly as slimmer counterparts. This has been dubbed the ‘fat tax’.

The row over the plus-size premium erupted earlier this year when New Look customer Maria Wassell, 43, from Kent, noticed the difference in price between a pair of standard and plus-size green striped trousers. The larger versions were on sale for £22.99 — equating to £3 and a whole 15 per cent more than the £19.99 charged for the ‘standard’ sizes.

Maria said she was ‘absolutely disgusted’ at the price differential. ‘It’s like I am being discriminated against for being plus-size, when I’m only slightly bigger than average, ’ she complained. But industry insiders were quick to point out that the so- called tax was actually a matter of simple mathematics: bigger clothes mean more material and higher transport costs, so of course they cost more, they argued.

Lynn Bye, co-founder of clothing company FLAB, which specialises in larger sizes, said retailers are ‘ stuck between a rock and a hard place’. ‘It costs considerably more to produce larger items of clothing. It’s not just obvious things, such as using more fabric, that rack up costs. They also cost more for delivery, warehousing and packaging.

‘The entire process takes longer. For example, moving a large garment around the sewing machine also takes longer. Because there is more fabric, it’s more difficult to manipulate. You may need longer zips and, sometimes, more buttons.

‘There may also be the extra design time that goes into making sure the garments drapes as well in a size 26 as it does in a size 10 or 12, for example. Then you have to pack the clothes. Bigger sizes go into larger bags and weigh as much as a third more.

‘So you may only get 25 to 30 into a box, instead of 50, raising transport costs.’

Lynn added: ‘All these tiny little things add up, so I think the average price rise of around 12 per cent is really reasonable.

‘As a manufacturer, you either try to absorb that cost and don’t make any money and you go out of business — or you have to pass that cost on.

‘If businesses don’t pass on the cost, it also means that other customers, who are not plus-size, have to shoulder it.

‘By forcing brands to have a single pricing structure across sizing, you will just end up with more expensive clothes for everyone, regardless of size.’ BuT Andrew Killingsworth, founder of Yours Clothing, which stocks styles in sizes 16 to 36 and is the uK’s fastest- growing plus- size fashion retailer, says it makes good business sense for retailers to stick to a ‘one-price-fits-all’ policy because retail purchases are ‘emotional’ and tied into self-image. And when you take into account that the plus- size market is now worth £ 5 billion a year — and growing — it pays to keep larger customers happy and loyal. ‘If a plus- size garment uses 30 to 40 per cent more cloth — and fabric accounts for about 40 per cent of the price — you can see why the cost might be more to the retailer,’ he says. ‘However, the consumer who needs the bigger garment won’t have any more money than a consumer who needs a standard size. ‘So it’s very difficult for retailers to tell their customers, who earn the same, that they have to pay more, because it feels discriminatory. ‘That’s why we stick to the same price for our styles, whatever the size — 16 or 36.’ Tam Fry, of the National Obesity Forum, says that in cases where there is no medical reason for their weight gain, plus-size women would do better to take responsibility for their size. ‘ From conversations I’ve had with retailers, they are often scared of losing their customers, so they don’t add on the extra they are having to pay and end up having to take the hit.’ But the fact that plus-size clothes have generally been the same price as smaller clothes is an anomaly in retail, where consumers generally pay more for bigger products, adds Tam. ‘For example, bras for bigger-breasted women cost more and children who are tall for their age and have to wear adult-size clothes have to pay VAT and no one’s complaining about that.’ Even so, many plus- size women feel that retailers are unfairly penalising them.

Plus- size blogger Tanya Barrow, 48, of Fleet, Hampshire, says: ‘If retailers argue that plus-size clothes are priced differently according to the amount of the material, that should mean the little skinny knickers from designer shops should cost £1.50, not £20 a pair, which, of course, they don’t.

‘Stores don’t charge less for petite sizes or more for tall ranges, so it’s unforgivable to charge plus-size women more.’

However, now the uK plus-size market comprises an estimated 12 per cent of all clothing sales, such increases could end up costing larger women millions more.

So, how much extra do retailers charge the bigger woman? We visited eight wellknown stores and bought the same — or very similar — items in a size 8 and a size 18 for our two models. We then weighed the outfits to compare how much fabric and other raw materials were used.

Are plus- size women being charged a ‘fat tax’? And which stores are guilty of charging the most?