These Plus Size Panties Were in a Bin Hidden Under a Table Under a Table Cloth at Frederick’s of Hollywood
“Plus size shoppers and plus size bodies are the second class citizens of the retail world.” (Quote by me, but I am SURE I am not the first person to say or feel this! )
I am sure I do not have to tell any of you about being a second class consumer. If you’re like me, you’ve been plus size since the days your Mom was taking me you to Sears & Roebucks to try on “Toughskins” in size “husky” every year for back to school shopping. What a nightmare that was. I am scarred for life from those traumatic adolescent experiences. That was about 35 years ago and it’s not that much better now in 2014 when I shop at the typical retail stores like Macy’s,Target, Nordstroms and JC Penney.
How many times have you had to walk a half a mile to get to the plus size department at your local retailers. I am so OVER having to scrounge around and dig through racks and racks to find stylish, contemporary clothes that fit my fat, thick, curvy body. Clothing and lingerie in our size is always at the BACK of the store. Or in the BASEMENT.
And I am over walking by rows and rows and racks and racks sutffed full of clothing options that are designed for my thinner sisters. I am thrilled for them, but it really stings when I see thousands of items for them and then like in the case of Targets’s plus size clothes/department, 3 paltry racks for me. (Next to the maternity clothes, no less.) And if you haven’t read about Garner Style’s boycott of Target, here is the link. Chastity, Garner Style founder is also fed up!
Recently, I was at one of our local Macy’s looking for a new leather jacket. I literally had to walk a half a mile from the parking lot to the plus size department which was 2 floors down in the basement on the opposite side of the store! Just to get to clothes and jackets that would fit me. (My phone has a pedometer on it. Great exercise, but not what I was looking for at that moment, ya know? ) When I worked in high tech (before I opened Curvy Girl), I use to spend so much time in this department at Macy’s. It was always so humiliating having to walk through the entire store down two floors to find what I need to wear to work.
“…the average American woman is a size 14, and plus-sizes, often classified as 14 to 34, account for 67 percent of the population, according to Houston-based Plunkett Research.” (Bloomberg News is the source of this quote.)
So, the Macy’s trip set me off. And then I visited my local Frederick’s of Hollywood at a different mall a week later. I don’t want to call out which mall I was at because the ladies that work at this particular Frederick’s were lovely. But you know what wasn’t so lovely?
Plus Size Panties Hidden in a Bin Under A Table at a Local Frederick’s of Hollywood Store.
What wasn’t so lovely and was downright humiliating and awkward was WHERE the Fredrick’s of Hollywood stored their plus size lingerie.
I was looking for g-strings and thongs in my size. Their website says they carry lingerie 1x to 3x, so I decided to stop by and find some sexy panties. (I love variety in case you are wondering why the owner of a plus size lingerie store would be shopping for more panties.) I did not see anything in the store over a size 12 in the store. So, I asked to two lovely sales people that were working there where the plus size panties were… and you know what they told me… they told me they have some but they are in a bin under a table in the front of the store and the table was covered with a black table cloth!
Talk about dehumanizing and humiliating! The Plus Size panties were hidden under a table selling straight site panties all displayed all out in a beautiful and pretty way. The only panties that fit my fat sisters and me were relegated to a bin all jumbled together in a huge mess underneath another display. HOW RUDE!
The two super helpful sales women went to the front of the store, pulled the table cloth back and pulled out this bin full of plus size panties and they hauled it up to the register where I was able to dig through the bin to find panties in my size. And, I did take the time to dig through them all and find 7 pair (they were having a sale) I could wear and that would fit my big butt (size 24 pants is what I wear) and purchased them from Frederick’s. But, for days now it’s been marinating in my curvy brain just how ridiculous that is.
What if I was a different fat girl? What if I was a curvy girl who was not yet comfortable in my own fat body? What if I was too shy or to ashamed to ask? Because, honestly, hiding your plus size panties is no way to EMPOWER women and it is no way to make women of all sizes feel beautiful and sexy, Frederick’s.
Frederick’s…. get with the program. It’s 2014! Frederick’s, do you know that women over a size 14 ARE THE MAJORITY? We have the money and the means and we want to dress in sexy clothes and lingerie. And, while I know my one little plus size lingerie boutique in San Jose is not really your competition, I can tell you that my customers would LOVE to able to go to the mall and buy lingerie like everyone else that shops in your store in malls all over the country!
And, here’s a really cool article from The Militant Baker all about why we all deserve a safe, sexy place to shop for sexy lingerie.
—————————-
If you have a comment about Frederick’s hiding their plus size panties, join us on Facebook and sound off. Our Facebook is www.Facebook.com/CurvyGirlInc And, you can shop our plus size lingerie boutique in San Jose, CA and we also ship our plus size lingerie all over the world! http://shop.curvygirlinc.com We carry lingerie sizes 12 to size 28 at our store and online.
You can also tweet Frederick’s @love_fredericks and let them know how you feel about them not having any plus size lingerie in their stores in the malls all over America. My twitter handle is @blissconnection .