Where do tall women shop for cycling apparel?

[bcipam]

Tell you a funny story...

a couple of weeks ago I attended a woman's only fun ride. After the owner of Shebeest ( a local So Cal company) attended and presented a fashion show. My buddy and I giggled through the whole thing. Each of her models was about 5'3" tall and weighed around 100 lbs. my friend, who is 5'3" is what I call an average 50 year old woman. Narrow shouldered and broad through the waist and hips. I'm 5'8" have very broad shoulders and am just big all over. My friend asked about Plus Sizes, the owner replied that Shebeest recognizes that not all women have not yet met their weight goals and while they are trying Shebeest offers Plus Sizes in its XXL. BTW - the XXL sizing is for sizes 12 - 14 hardly Plus sizing for big or tall women!

Alittle argument came up from all of us women "who had not yet met their weight goals". I explained no matter what I weigh, the jerseys are just too short. Not all small women want to wear jersey just at or above the waist. If 5'8'' or taller or long waisted, the jersey show too much skin. Ms. Shebeest was offended. Oh well, she does sell good products. Shebeest, however, does not catered to fat women who ride. Tall or Plus sizes are equally hard to find. I find I have to buy men's jerseys even though width wise I can fit into a woman's XXL, it's just too short. And worse yet I have broad shoulders and big boobs. Terry has done the best in making Plus size clothing but I wish more companies made larger jersies as well.

I have started to look at alternative clothing. Wicking materials for active persons but not specifically made for cycling. Since I use a Camelbak, I don't need the back pockets.

Good luck with your search. Let us know what you find!

[KnottedYet]

I'm shorter and smaller, but I've got looong arms and legs. I've had good luck with Ibex (www.ibexwear.com) for length and with Terry.

Did you find anything here on TE? If not, PM Susan O. and ask if she'd consider looking into carrying taller sizes.

[HipGnosis6]

My friend asked about Plus Sizes, the owner replied that Shebeest recognizes that not all women have not yet met their weight goals and while they are trying Shebeest offers Plus Sizes in its XXL. BTW - the XXL sizing is for sizes 12 - 14 hardly Plus sizing for big or tall women! . . . Shebeest, however, does not catered to fat women who ride.

That's funny, because my favorite jersey yet is a Shebeest plus size. The TE website says they're a TE exclusive. I wear a size 20 (sometimes a 22) and the 2X Plus fits me fine. AND I'm 4 inches taller than you are. On the flip side, I've never bothered trying a long sleeve jersey. The sleeves are bound to be too short.

I have one of the Mt. Borah Plus size jerseys and I definitely don't like it as much. And I didn't like this year's prints from Terry - but I LOVE my Terry Plus Knickers!

I'm glad to hear that there's a strong market for plus cycling and excercise gear - I staked the price of three years at a private college on it...

[BethinPR]

Thanks everyone for your responses. I am not a plus size, but the height part makes this pretty difficult. Three-quarter length sleeves won't cut it come November!

Funny you should mention the jersey length ... I have a rather dark tan line right across my lower back from riding all summer with that one strip of skin exposed between the bottom of my shirt and the top of my shorts. Lovely!!

I'll keep looking but please let me know if you have any other resources...

Beth

[Cari]

Hi bcipam,

The comment about "women who have not yet their weight goals" seems really annoying. Hey, maybe I'm 6 feet tall and my "weight goal" is to gain 40 pounds so I can work as a plus size model? lol... Yes, I'd love to be a size 6 or 8 or even a 10 again and I'm slowly losing weight, but it's irritating to me that people automatically assume that because I'm overweight I must be unfit and unhappy. Ugh.

On the other hand, Shebeest does seem to be fairly considerate of larger women in their sizing. According to their size chart, XXL is equivalent to a size 18. Also, their measurements assume that a woman of a given size will have hips that are 2" wider than her chest, which seems very realistic as well.

I normally wear a size 12-14 (more often a 14), have a somewhat large chest (36D), long arms, strong (read: big) thighs and large hips, and I wear Shebeest size *large*. In fact, several months ago (when I weighed 8 pounds more than I did today) I tried on a long-sleeved Bellissima jersey in XL and it was *huge* -- I mean, it looked like I was wearing men's pyjamas or something.

Shebeest also has different styles to fit different body types. For example, if you're big chested and/or have a pudgy torso, try their Bellissima jerseys (my favorite!), and definitely stay away from Retro Jerseys and Wahini jerseys, which are very fitted.

At Team Estrogen you can get several Shebeest products in sizes 1X-4X. The sizing chart doesn't offer a number equivalent for 4X, but it says it will fit a 50-53" chest, 46-48" waist, and 53-55" hips. That's pretty generous sizing, don't you think?

Maybe we have Susan and TE to thank for pushing the envelope on *that* one and taking a chance on carrying truly plus-sized clothing? I don't know too many female cyclists to begin with, and believe it or not, at a size 12-14, I'm the largest female cyclist I know, so we must not be a huge market. I'm just glad that *someone* caters to my needs, so I try to vote with my dollars, spend most of my clothing money at TE, and encourage my friends to shop there as well.

I can't tell you how many times I've called TE and asked Molly or Abra to measure a jersey for me, and often I end up ordering two of each, trying them on, and returning the one that doesn't fit.

Oh and if you're looking for plus-sized long-sleeved jerseys, try the Velo Bella Long Sleeve jersey. It has a relaxed fit and very long sleeves.

Good luck with your shopping, keep riding lots, and thanks for shring the story.

Cari

[KnottedYet]

Molly is such a babe. She has helped me with sizing, too. She really knows her stuff, and is great on the phone!

Yay, Molly!

[7rider]

Cari, I hear you.
I'm 5'9", 16x lbs, and a solid size 12. I have a good friend who's about 6'2" and a cyclist and she's the biggest I know (but she's skinny). No other cyclist I know comes close to us in height (but I've seen some bigger - i.e., heavier - riders). I have a long standing argument with my LBS about women's clothes. He likes to carry high-end stuff like Descente and Castelli. Nice stuff, but size L in Descente is snug on my and I need XL in Castelli (yet I can wear size M in Cannondale...go figure...but it's short). He NEVER has that size in stock and he wonders why I rarely buy clothes from him! Bike clothes seem to be all over the map.
TE will probably banish me from their list, but while I love to shop TE, I've never actually bought. Unless I know the brand well (Shebeest is okay, but runs short, Pearl Izumi is wishy-washy....somethings I can do M, some I need L), I generally don't do mail order. I must try it on first. That's why I'm hesitant to try those CW-X tights I mentioned in another thread from Sierra Trading Post.
p.s. I can't believe the woman from Shebeest was "offended." She should take some constructive criticism from possible customers as an opportunity!

[Susan Otcenas]

Hi Ladies,

Hopefully I can provide a little more info.

Tall sizing is tough. Most cycling manufacturers do NOTmake tall-specific apparel. That said, we always keep our eyes out for longer than average apparel (longer inseams, or longer in the torso and sleeves) and add these items into our Tall Specialty Shop here: http://www.teamestrogen.com/categories.asp?catID=105 Again, these are things that we've added to the category because we've noticed they are longer. With our fall items just starting to arrive, we will be progressively measuring the inseams in all our tights. We'll put those with leg measurements of greater than 30 inches in the tall category (remember, we are measuring the GARMENTS, so its not a true inseam measurements, which is meaured to the floor. Tights end at the ankles ) We'll also add those with particularly long-sleeves to that category as well.

Regarding plus sizes:

First, let me state that I am 5'4" and 160 pounds. I mostly wear size 14s and a 36D bra. My size, and frustration with finding well-fitting apparel, was one of the primary motivators for founding Team Estrogen over 8 years ago. I'm an active gal - ride my bike to work and log plenty of miles on the weekend - and I wanted the same technical apparel the skinny girls got to wear. If I haven't met my "weight goal" by now, I'm not likely to anytime soon.

Soooo, one of the things we've worked really hard on is finding apparel that fits all body types. While we have a long way to go, it's gotten MUCH better than when we started 8+ years ago.

This year, Shebeest designed custom plus size jerseys exclusively for TE. The Bellissima Plus is a generous cut and in the 4X could easily fit a woman up to size 24 or so. We'll have another TE-exclusive Bellissima Plus print in Spring 2007. The Bellissima in regular sizes is both generous in sizing AND longer in the torso. It's Shebeest's longest style and would work well for taller women (6'2" might be a stretch, though) The large fits me quite well.

Pam, was it Claudia that did the fashion show for you? The reason I ask is that at the beginning of July, the folks from Shebeest, including Claudia, came here to TE and we discussed broadening the selection of larger sizes available. We discussed which pieces would best lend themselves to pattern changes to be adapted to a plus size line. There are several styles, that with a few tweaks would make fantastic plus size pieces. We're probably talking 2008 before they become a reality, but they ARE in the pipeline.

As far as other plus size pieces go - Sporthill out of Eugene, Oregon has been doing a fantastic job of adding plus, petite and tall pieces to their line. We have a HUGE order coming for the fall, most of which falls into one of these 3 categories. While none of it is cycling specific, it is all fantastic athletic apparel that easily crosses over into a cycling application. So hopefully some of you that don't fit the "average" parameters will find something in their line that makes you smile. Keep an eye on the "what's New" page on our website for it's arrival. We also have tall tights arriving from Hind shortly.

OK, it's almost 7:30pm and I gotta get out of here. It's perfect cycling temperature out there right now and my bike is calling to me. During the week, my commute is about the only miles I get to log.

Let me know if I can provide any more info.

Susan

[bcipam]

Susan it was Claudia (she's actually a member of my bike club). I'm surprised she didn't mention that she has been working with TE to develope more Plus size clothing. Alot of women who attended the event would have been happy to hear trust me. All us old, frumpy women who ride were getting real frustrated seeing size 2 after size 2 model clothes. The one thing I think most manufacturers need to realize is that generally women are getting bigger, not just broader, but taller and just bigger. I'm 5'8" and don't feel all that tall any more. In my bike club, alot of the women are much taller. And even a skinny 6 footer won't ever wear a size 2!

I would really like to see bike clothing expand into size 16 to at least 20's but still have style and some fit. Larger sizes tend to be unfashionably tent like. Too big. There's needs to be a happy medium somewhere.

Anyway look forrward to what's coming...

[BethinPR]

Guy at LBS was really helpful and set me up with some men's long Pearl Izumi thermafleece tights that I love. They are so long!!

I also tried on a longsleeve jersey that had these neat holes in the bottom of the sleeves to put your thumb through, to keep the sleeves from pulling up. But alas... need to save some $$ first.

Anyway, thought I would pass this on for any 6' plus women looking for winter gear!