Plus size apparel is womens’
clothing in sizes from (usually) 12-26. Some retailers do sell plus size
clothing in sizes larger than 26; you just need to look and see what they sell.
Commercial plus size clothing was first produced in the early 1900s by Lena
Bryant, the founder and owner of Lane Bryant. She designed and made the first
commercially-made maternity dress. Also, shortly before World War II, she saw a
need for clothing for ‘stout’ women, measured over 4500 of her own customers,
gathered information from another 200,000 women, and began to design and
manufacture clothing for 3 types of full-figured women.
Lane Bryant also owns Catherines,
Sonsi, and Cacique as well as Fashion Bug.
Catherines, Lane Bryant and Fashion Bug retailers sell via catalog,
online, and in brick-and-mortar stores, while Sonsi and Cacique sell online.
Cacique specializes in bras, panties, sleepwear, shapewear, and swimwear.
Other plus size retailers include
Eloquii by The Limited, Avenue, Ashley Stewart, Woman Within, Kiyonna, Old
Navy, Macys, Alight, Torrid, and Roamans among others.
Eloquii by The Limited offers
sizes from 14W through 24W. They sell dresses, tops, pants, skirts, blouses,
suits, jackets, outerwear, leggings, bras, panties, sleepwear, shapewear,
jeans, and shirts. They also offer
accessories such as belts, handbags, purses, totes, scarves, and jewelry.
Avenue sells fun trendy clothing
from size 14 through size 32. Their
clothing lines include tops, camis, tanks, shirts, blouses, cardigans,
sweaters, jackets, pants, jeans, skirts, dresses, bras, panties, sleepwear,
shapewear and coats. They also sell shoes and offer a full line of accessories
including belts, purses, totes, handbags, jewelry, and scarves.
Ashley Stewart carries hip urban
outfits from size 12 through size 26. You can find dresses, pants, tops,
denims, suits, separates, skirts, linen, bras, shapewear, panties, and
sleepwear through their website and also at one of their 190 retail locations. They can also be found on Facebook, Twitter,
and YouTube. In addition, they offer
shoes and accessories.
Woman Within sells online and
through catalogs. Their clothing is available in sizes 12w to 44w, and they
sell tees, tunics, shirts, swimwear, dresses, jeans, coats, lingerie,
sleepwear, sweaters, jackets, blazers, scrubs, and maternity clothing.
Old Navy sells plus size clothing
as well as junior and misses sizes.
Their offerings are available online as well as offline. You will be able to find dresses, graphic
tees, hoodies, jeans, school uniforms, shapewear, cardis, jeggings, jeans,
swimwear, capris, shirtdresses, and many other types of plus size apparel. As well, there is a full line of sandals.
