Why the lack of cute plus sized clothing?

[divingbiker]

I recently discovered a local (actually local to CrazyCanuck really since it's in Western Oz) company that makes up jerseys and other cycling apparel. They have a wide range of artwork and make them up to whatever size you order according to their sizing chart. Their women's jerseys are very definitely woman-shaped and come in up to 6XL.

I loooove some of those jerseys, but their web site is a bit frustrating. It's hard to see what they look like from those tiny little pictures. And when you click on the picture, the link is broken.

I think an order may be in my future. Thanks for pointing this out!

[smurfalicious]

Unfortunately from the perspective of manufacturer's and retailers there's just not a big enough market to produce a lot of plus size items. I want to say I've heard it's a 50/50 split of males and females in the cycling world, but looking around my area I'd say it's 2/3 men 1/3 women. BIA says 55% women, others say 60% men. Bah.

So let's go with half. Now you have to take 1/2 your market and figure that maybe I dunno, 1/4 or less of that is seeking plus size gear. So now you've got about 13% of your total market. As a retailer and manufacturer, are you going to take a huge risk on creating a lot of inventory that might sell to such a small group? So they knock out a few of their more core items in larger sizes and call it good. Does it suck? Yeah, but right now a LOT of clothing manufacturers, Descente and Sugoi I know for sure, are really struggling. They can't have a ton of product that isn't going to move.

Look at it this way, in any apparel line there will probably be three levels of a short of tight in men's, and maybe one or two in women's. I wanted Descente's Shelter tights, but they only made the Coldout in women's.

So I wholeheartedly agree that it sucks that all you get is "Here's your primary colored basic, boring jersey," but that's how it goes. It's a big risk for a manufacturer to make the flashy stuff that might not sell across the whole size run in additional sizes.

I think TE is a huge blessing! Specialty retailers are definitely at an advantage with this sort of thing. And thanks to the interwebs for creating a sort of global market for such items to thrive. What is totally unrealistic for your LBS to carry, a site like TE can.

I'm right on the edge of L and XL in cycling clothes and even then it sucks. I could not for the life of me get into my team kit in a women's size. It's a good thing I'm really secure with body (it is strong, healthy, and has banging curves!) or I might have cried coming out of the bathroom at a team meeting, women's L and XL jerseys in my hand declaring I couldn't get my boobs into either. I'm currently in a men's large. Thanks Primal, really, love your warped sizing. Oh well, I gots bibs and I looove them!!!

I do agree that a 10-12 is NOT an XL in anyone's reality except cycling apparel, and even then, their idea of 10-12 measurements are whacked as well.

So brands I would look at as an expert in boobs and ghetto booty. No lie, even when I was at my fittest I was still a large in cycling gear. I've found the folks at Craft have realistic sizing ideas. Sugoi seems to run big, I tried on some cute commuter tights, took the L and XL into the dressing room. The large was biggish but can't confirm medium was right due to it being a clearance item. Sheila Moon seems biggish as well. I found a large tank on the clearance rack, tried it figuring it would be too small and it was big on me. Skirt Sports rocks as well. I love Nicole and her company ohsomuch! I have a medium jersey from their new line that fits awesome and I'm normally and L/XL up top. And they're looooong! Love that the most!

Blah, blah, blah. Just the inane ramblings of an industry girl.

[pinkbikes]

I loooove some of those jerseys, but their web site is a bit frustrating. It's hard to see what they look like from those tiny little pictures. And when you click on the picture, the link is broken.

I think an order may be in my future. Thanks for pointing this out!

Yes - I had a look at their site and there do seem to be some broken links at the moment. I could get some pics to come up but not others. I might drop Alex a line and let her know - she seems nice and would want to know. The layout seems to be different from the last time I was on the site, so maybe they are having some teething problems with it.

I hope they get it sorted because I have a plus-sized friend who wants to buy the zebra jersey. She used to be a VERY substantial girl and is now down to about 220lbs. But she also has a waist and hips and doesn't want to wear a sack! I have just pointed her to TE for shorts because she has a fair bit of trouble fitting her saddlebags. It really is a PIA being a bigger girl sometimes!

[pinkbikes]

I loooove some of those jerseys, but their web site is a bit frustrating. It's hard to see what they look like from those tiny little pictures. And when you click on the picture, the link is broken.

I think an order may be in my future. Thanks for pointing this out!

I went and had another look at the site before I sent off an email to them, only to find it is already fixed. I went to two links that were previously showing up as broken (the Space Diva under the Diva heading and the Valentine under the Festive Holidays heading) and both were working now. So maybe they had it "under construction" earlier today?

[Jones]

I loooove some of those jerseys, but their web site is a bit frustrating. It's hard to see what they look like from those tiny little pictures. And when you click on the picture, the link is broken.

I think an order may be in my future. Thanks for pointing this out!

I think there may be an order in my future too.

Since I have taken up riding my size has been any where from an xl to a xxxl depending on brand. I guess I have been lucky though because I really like pink and I have always been able to find stuff I like. I do think it is frustrating that I am an xl in one brand and an xxl in another brand is way to small and it always too small across my back. What's up with that?
Anyway if I order a Sprint Jersey from Oz I will wait until I am done loosing weight which should be about next year at this time.

[Vanderkitten]

The Vanderkitten jerseys for 2009 are actually about a 14+ for XL. AND, you can return anything for a refund or exchange.

But the weird thing about women's cycling apparel- We are ALWAYS getting told how we need more bigger sizes. 2 years ago we made XL and XXL... and I believe they are all still sitting here or were liquidated to Bicycling HUb (who has since sold them). This year we did every jersey in an XL (which is about a size larger than many XL's), and we've sold 7.

Every year, about this time, this becomes a discussion- Do we sell XL? We have to buy so many pieces per size from the MFG, and layout artwork, etc, that it becomes a huge investment in something that has not worked for us consistently since 2004.

Anyhow, that's our experience. Our point of view comes from racing, so perhaps that might cause potential consumers to looks elsewhere?

2010 cuts are going back to racier cuts after all of the complaints this year about our relaxed "big" cuts. So... now might be the time grab a jersey or 5!