Brandy's Blog of Blargh

Recently, I’ve been looking for plus size swimwear, and searched online to get an idea of which stores might carry larger plus sizes. I was very happy to see that Target’s website had a plus size section that went up to a 4plus (28-30) and I was excited to go to check it out sometime.

About a week ago, my fiance and I went out to Target one evening,and I was really looking forward to trying on cute clothes in my size. Once there, however, I got confused. There were the large overhanging signs, including one that said “plus”, but as I looked at the garments underneath, they were all straight sizes, the largest being “xxl”, listed as a size 18. Even these were few and far between.

Thinking perhaps I was missing the Plus section, I asked a worker hanging up clearance where the plus size section was. She said the plus sizes were just at the back of each rack- aka, the size 18’s. They had no plus size section- it simply didn’t exist. I would’ve asked a follow up question, but both the girls working the area were very small themselves.

It is perhaps worth noting they had a huge clearance section, and there were not only smalls, but extra smalls in abundance.

My heart was crushed. I felt dehumanized and sick. I do not believe this could be due to a lack of interest- I live in WI now, and while there are smaller women, I would say the average woman I see is in the larger size range, and plus sizes are not at all uncommon. Not to mention, the surplus of small sizes not selling tells me this is about more than what sells.

I applaud Target for having a plus section online, but this is not enough. We deserve to try on clothing- particularly since a lot of us plus sized girls are always unsure how true to size a plus really is. We deserve to be able to look for something cute to a date or get an interview outfit the day before, not have to wait for shipping and hope just maybe it will fit us right.

I was so hurt, eventually my fiance wrote a letter to Target explaining what happened to us. This is the response he got:

“I’m sorry to hear you’re disappointed with the current availability of plus-size clothing at our Delafield Target store. Your comments are important because they help us learn more about what you’re looking for at Target. We’ve partnered with many different designers so we can bring you the latest styles. To help us serve you better in this area, I’ve shared your comments with our buyers for further review with our design teams.

We appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your thoughts and feelings with us.”

I don’t feel like it’s enough. Tumblr, I know the outcry there was over the whole “manatee grey” incident. I know what we’ve done to Abecrombie & Fitch. I ask you to reblog this and spread the word, I want Target to know people do care about this.