Plus size fashion ranges seem to be hitting the news more and more lately, much to the disgust of Daily Mail readers who seem to think anyone over a size 10 is ‘disgusting’ and should only be allowed out of the house in a sack, and even then only if they are on their way to a slimming club.
Even so, although with fabulous fashion bloggers like Mrs BeBe, Georgina at Fuller Figure Fuller Bust and Betty Pamper, who always seem to make everything they wear look fabulous on them, a lot of bigger women do still complain that plus size clothes aren’t really designed for them; they are more suited to slim women with a few larger sizes just tagged on the end to keep the curvies happy.
Back in 2013, another of our fave plus size bloggers, Marie Denee, said ‘There is still an interesting stigma attached to plus-size fashion and the woman who wears it. Many think ‘Oh, she doesn’t want to draw attention, live life, date, be confident, wear fitted clothes with bold colours and patterns,’ when the exact opposite is true.”
It seems to me, that with a few exceptions (obviously FatPhrocks being one of them) plus size fashion always used to fall into two camps. The blowsy, over the top example set by Evans, who tended to think anyone over a size 14 wanted to dress like they’d been let loose in their mother’s dressing up box and had paint thrown at them, or the black, grey, draped and baggy efforts foisted upon us by some of the department stores who thought they ought to cater for larger women but didn’t really know how. Lots of designs seemed to be an afterthought in plus sizes too, not quite right for women with curves and lumps and bumps.
Of course there have always been talented plus size fashion designers like Anna Scholz, who manages to pull off collections year on year with must-have pieces for plus size women of average height (even if they are expensive for most of us mere mortals.) Designers have even started to embrace plus size in their upmarket collections – websites like Navabi offer high end style from Lacoste, Anna Scholz and Roberto Cavalli White – among others – all at full designer prices.
There has always seemed to be something missing from the plus size offering though – fashion for plus size tall women. Retailers like Very do offer a few options when it comes to trousers for tall and plus size women, but not much else. Then you have Long Tall Sally – also quite expensive, and designed for tall women…with some designs available in plus sizes.
The entire FatPhrocks range, on the other hand, is designed for tall women who are also plus size. Everything’s designed to look awesome on the curvy woman who is a bit taller than average; no more plus size maxi dresses that swing somewhere around your knees and make you look like you’ve stolen someone else’s frock. They can of course be taken up for shorter ladies, but we think we’re probably the only designer who specifically caters for the needs of tall AND curvy women with our whole collection.