<p>Ladies, remember the last time you went shopping for that perfect party wear or a casual top to wear for your next office outing? If you are anything less than the perfect hourglass figure they show on screen, chances are that you have a tough time picking up something for yourself. Most of the times, the garments are either too small or the L, XL and XXL sizes are just too heavy on the pockets. <br /><br /></p>.<p>“The fashion industry is one of the biggest propagators of the idea of achieving an impossible figure,” says Sharanya, a lawyer. <br /><br />“Just compare the starting sizes of some famous brands and the normal ones that we can pick up in a not-so-famous clothing store or supermarket. You will see a marked difference in the same size points. It is basically a way of saying that if you don’t look a certain way, you are not good enough to wear our clothes.”<br /><br />“The marking of the sizes is unfair too. A somewhat healthy and curvy lady is labelled as XXL when it comes to a clothing store,” says Shalini Singh, a professional. “This is the reason why we have 12 year olds with eating disorders and a population that thinks being called fat is the ultimate insult. Add to that the extra money females have to shell out while buying normal sized clothes and you have the sure-fire way of bringing down a woman’s confidence.”<br /><br />“I am directed to the ethnic wear section when I ask for clothes my size,” says Sharanya. <br />“I love traditional wear and am more comfortable in such attire but once in a while even I want to wear the clothes like the ones we see in commercials or in movies. So being told that the store doesn’t stock clothes in ‘my size’ with a smirk really does make one upset.”<br />There are some stores that have now started a ‘one size fits all’ trend. One size does certainly not fit the entire female population, not even most of them. <br /><br /> While the somewhat rational among us would be able to see the ridiculousness of this and laugh it off, imagine the effect it would have on a teenager. She will most certainly get it into her head that she does not fit in.<br /><br />“The markings seem to be so arbitrary,” says Sonia Thomas, a professional. “When it comes to men’s sizes, it is usually based on waist sizes but in women’s clothing, nothing makes sense. Therefore, you might be a size 28 or a size 32 depending upon the brand you choose. If you consider it from a marketing point of view, females will like to believe that they are slimmer so they will most often pick out the brand that makes them a smaller size, no matter what the price.”<br /><br />“In a society where beauty is still only skin deep, these are some of the first things that need to be addressed,”explains Shalini. “Plus size women should not be made to feel bad about themselves. Everyone has a right to look beautiful and feel good about themselves.” <br /><br />“They say shopping is retail therapy. So when we shop for ourselves, we should be able to get things we like; things that cheer us up. Being relegated to the sidelines of a departmental store shelf to pick out your clothes when the rest of the world is shopping from glitzy branded stores is hardly a pick-me-up,” elaborates Sharanya. We couldn’t agree more.<br /></p>
<p>Ladies, remember the last time you went shopping for that perfect party wear or a casual top to wear for your next office outing? If you are anything less than the perfect hourglass figure they show on screen, chances are that you have a tough time picking up something for yourself. Most of the times, the garments are either too small or the L, XL and XXL sizes are just too heavy on the pockets. <br /><br /></p>.<p>“The fashion industry is one of the biggest propagators of the idea of achieving an impossible figure,” says Sharanya, a lawyer. <br /><br />“Just compare the starting sizes of some famous brands and the normal ones that we can pick up in a not-so-famous clothing store or supermarket. You will see a marked difference in the same size points. It is basically a way of saying that if you don’t look a certain way, you are not good enough to wear our clothes.”<br /><br />“The marking of the sizes is unfair too. A somewhat healthy and curvy lady is labelled as XXL when it comes to a clothing store,” says Shalini Singh, a professional. “This is the reason why we have 12 year olds with eating disorders and a population that thinks being called fat is the ultimate insult. Add to that the extra money females have to shell out while buying normal sized clothes and you have the sure-fire way of bringing down a woman’s confidence.”<br /><br />“I am directed to the ethnic wear section when I ask for clothes my size,” says Sharanya. <br />“I love traditional wear and am more comfortable in such attire but once in a while even I want to wear the clothes like the ones we see in commercials or in movies. So being told that the store doesn’t stock clothes in ‘my size’ with a smirk really does make one upset.”<br />There are some stores that have now started a ‘one size fits all’ trend. One size does certainly not fit the entire female population, not even most of them. <br /><br /> While the somewhat rational among us would be able to see the ridiculousness of this and laugh it off, imagine the effect it would have on a teenager. She will most certainly get it into her head that she does not fit in.<br /><br />“The markings seem to be so arbitrary,” says Sonia Thomas, a professional. “When it comes to men’s sizes, it is usually based on waist sizes but in women’s clothing, nothing makes sense. Therefore, you might be a size 28 or a size 32 depending upon the brand you choose. If you consider it from a marketing point of view, females will like to believe that they are slimmer so they will most often pick out the brand that makes them a smaller size, no matter what the price.”<br /><br />“In a society where beauty is still only skin deep, these are some of the first things that need to be addressed,”explains Shalini. “Plus size women should not be made to feel bad about themselves. Everyone has a right to look beautiful and feel good about themselves.” <br /><br />“They say shopping is retail therapy. So when we shop for ourselves, we should be able to get things we like; things that cheer us up. Being relegated to the sidelines of a departmental store shelf to pick out your clothes when the rest of the world is shopping from glitzy branded stores is hardly a pick-me-up,” elaborates Sharanya. We couldn’t agree more.<br /></p>
