Fat Tax on Plus-Size Clothing (but almost exclusively on women's clothing, not men's)

[Missouri-Lee's Summit 1,256]

The “Fat Tax” Is Everywhere, From Retail to the Nail Salon

Clothing stores and salons keep charging plus-size customers more.

https://www.racked.com/2018/5/21/17369488/fat-tax-retail-new-look-salon-plus-size-upcharging

Size is a sensitive subject in the clothing business. So when one of Britain’s most popular and affordable clothing giants was found to charge more for plus-size clothing, it was accused of imposing a “fat tax” on women.

“Obviously it costs more to make plus-size clothing because of the amount of fabric used, but if the pricing metric is going to be based on size, then every size should be priced differently."

“If smaller-sized people aren’t getting discounts, then plus-sized people shouldn’t have to pay a surplus."

“We rarely see ‘tall’ and ‘maternity’ editions of clothing being priced differently. It’s cruel and unfair to single out one body type.”

Fashion’s ‘fat tax’: Bigger women furious at having to pay more for clothes

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/designers/fashions-fat-tax-bigger-women-furious-at-having-to-pay-more-for-clothes/news-story/b170b879bd535dd7bc8d1724e1aaa59e

[Matt Z 4,138]

13 minutes ago, Missouri-Lee's Summit said:

The “Fat Tax” Is Everywhere, From Retail to the Nail Salon

Clothing stores and salons keep charging plus-size customers more.

https://www.racked.com/2018/5/21/17369488/fat-tax-retail-new-look-salon-plus-size-upcharging

Size is a sensitive subject in the clothing business. So when one of Britain’s most popular and affordable clothing giants was found to charge more for plus-size clothing, it was accused of imposing a “fat tax” on women.

“Obviously it costs more to make plus-size clothing because of the amount of fabric used, but if the pricing metric is going to be based on size, then every size should be priced differently."

“If smaller-sized people aren’t getting discounts, then plus-sized people shouldn’t have to pay a surplus."

“We rarely see ‘tall’ and ‘maternity’ editions of clothing being priced differently. It’s cruel and unfair to single out one body type.”

Fashion’s ‘fat tax’: Bigger women furious at having to pay more for clothes

https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/fashion/designers/fashions-fat-tax-bigger-women-furious-at-having-to-pay-more-for-clothes/news-story/b170b879bd535dd7bc8d1724e1aaa59e

I'm going to have to refute this, I've never bought plus sized clothing that didn't have extra charges on them for being plus sized. If anything, it's unfair that there are far less plus sized men's clothing than women's. When was the last time you saw a whole plus sized section for men in a clothing store? You see plus sized women's all over the place. Me and a female friend of a similar size could walk into any store and odds are she'd find what she wanted and I wouldn't find anything, or a greatly reduced selection.

[James Marusek 5,244]

I will make a couple observations:

As the article said "Obviously it costs more to make plus-size clothing because of the amount of fabric used". But another cost is the inherent cost of producing low volume products and selling that merchandize. Generally when I was obese, I found that I could not longer buy clothes in department stores. They no longer carried my size clothing. As a result I was forced to buy clothes at specialty stores that catered to "big and tall". Although their prices were somewhat compatible with department store prices, their clothes rarely went on sale. Since I generally bargain shop and buy clothing at 60% to 75% off retail price, pricing was a major consideration.

Another statement was “If smaller-sized people aren’t getting discounts, then plus-sized people shouldn’t have to pay a surplus." Does that mean children size clothing should be priced the same as adults?

I think retail generally prices their merchandise by what the market will bear. What keeps prices in line is competition. There are many small towns scattered across the U.S. These small towns had mom-and-pop stores. So generally if you went to town to buy groceries or clothes you found the prices were sometimes 50% greater than the prices in small cities. Then malls came into being and people began to travel to the cities for weekly runs. The Walmarts and similar stores came into being many located in rural areas which provided competition and prices came down and many small town stores dried up and went out of business.

[Sosewsue61 3,185]

This was a UK store.

But I will say a couple places where women get gouged is undergarments - bras and panties and such are outrageously priced when compared to the amount of fabric contained, and shoes too.

[Orchids&Dragons 9,046]

My twins are 6'3", so I've done a fair amount of plus-size shopping for men. Their clothing is more expensive, pretty much all the time. And XLT is a hard size to find. I don't mind the up-charge if it's a couple of dollars. I know it takes more fabric.

[Missouri-Lee's Summit 1,256]

22 minutes ago, Sosewsue61 said:

This was a UK store.

But I will say a couple places where women get gouged is undergarments - bras and panties and such are outrageously priced when compared to the amount of fabric contained, and shoes too.

Yes, but this store is by no means the only store. There are plenty of stores in the U.S. that quietly but deliberately fat-tax plus-size women. I linked to this example because it was the most publicized (and one of the more egregious) examples. Also, this forum is a global community (I've seen members from the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere), so it shouldn't really matter if it is a UK store; we're all in the same fat-shaming, fat-taxed boat.

[Matt Z 4,138]

3 minutes ago, Missouri-Lee's Summit said:

Yes, but this store is by no means the only store. There are plenty of stores in the U.S. that quietly but deliberately fat-tax plus-size women. I linked to this example because it was the most publicized (and one of the more egregious) examples. Also, this forum is a global community (I've seen members from the UK, Australia, Canada and elsewhere), so it shouldn't really matter if it is a UK store; we're all in the same fat-shaming, fat-taxed boat.

The point is... it's **NOT** just women's clothing, it's ALL plus sized clothing. And it's WAY easier to find plus sized women's clothing than it is to find plus sized men's clothing. You all have WAY more options than men in this category.

But... none of this matters to most of us anymore!

[Missouri-Lee's Summit 1,256]

Men don't have much variety in terms of clothing anyway: pants/shorts, shirts... what else is there?

Women have skirts, dresses, pants, blouses, shirts (in a multitude of styles).

I'm not disagreeing that men also pay more... but, in general, they are excepted to pay for TALL and BIG.

Tall women aren't penalized, mostly just plus-sized women.

[Frustr8 7,886]

And a little more fuel on the 🔥, here I brought a cord of wood myself. Yes it looks like at Wally World the selection is better. Lets look a little closer. Now what is the shade we're highlighting? Nausea green,baby poop yellow, dead calf liver maroon, indiscriminate gray, let's dump them all together, make a shirt in a print that shouts " I'm fat, I grabbed the first thing I could find" Lets make it with 1 sleeve instead of 2, let's cut the bottom at an angle so it looks like she was mauled by an animal at the zoo! Now if we make any slacks , let's make the pockets,decorative only, a half - inch deep sounds good, let her hubby carry keys and things for her, or she can jam things in a purse, and we will make them ugly too , let's make only 2 sizes, big so everyone can watch her for shoplifting or small so she can't ever get a Protein Bar in let alone money. She already spent $17.99 on a shoddy made shirt, didn't she? She'll spend more, she brought some with her today! Ok back to the slacks, let's make the legs like 2 sausage tubes but make the crotch seam skimpy in the rise and only single stich it with nylon or cheap cotton thread, the nylon will itch, the cotton will break the first time she wears it, time it so it's in an a embarrasing location, like in line at the bank. AND let's taper the legs on the dressier slacks , like 28. inches at the thighs, 8 In at the ankles. Ooh this is fun isn't it? And make them in two basic lengths, one to fit 4ft8in, the other 6ft 3in, that's the only two leg lengths we needed anyway. Fat women only come in one height, short fat blob and excuse me, are you a woman or a transvestite? sizes. Now sizes, let's send in 15 1x(16-18) 5 2X, 2 3X, 1 4X, 1 5X. That way unless she happens to be there when they are unpacked, she's out of luck. And make sure you never use more than a single stitching , those seams will never have much pressure anyway. That will sell like gang busters, Sam Waltons motto. was "if we make it or stock it, they will come." Lets have ours be" Make it shoddy, make it ugly, make it ill-fitting, fat women are gullible and stupid in the first place" . I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt and gym shorts, bought from the skimpy mens department, why? Unbelievable but that's where the pink sweat shirts were, there was enough length in the shorts and they do usually have more 4X in and they have a bigger crotch seam to handle guys," package", no I wasn't granted that package but when I bend over, it doesn't separate my buttocks and finish the job spitting me. where God started. And I'll trade you guys three diagonal cut,shirts, 2 t-shirts in baby poo yellow, and a tube top that the first time I bend over my feminine enhancements fall out for one nondescript grey sweatshirt. You don't want them? Guess what, I don't either! 😳

[Healthy_life 1,437]

20 minutes ago, Matt Z said:

The point is... it's **NOT** just women's clothing, it's ALL plus sized clothing. And it's WAY easier to find plus sized women's clothing than it is to find plus sized men's clothing. You all have WAY more options than men in this category.

But... none of this matters to most of us anymore!

Wow!

So here are a few places that have mens sections with larger clothing. Ordering clothing on the internet is also an option.

Walmart has an Mens large dept (go figure)

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=mens+big+size&adid=22222222220216541480&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=b&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=66242571275&wl4=kwd-682876645&wl5=1016202&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&veh=sem

H&M mens plus size section

http://www2.hm.com/en_us/sale/men/big-tall.html

kohls mens plus size dept

https://www.kohls.com/catalog/mens-big-tall-clothing.jsp?CN=Gender:Mens+SizeRange:Big %26 Tall+Department:Clothing&kwid=p2112849007&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Big and tall mens clothing&utm_campaign=Men's+Clothing&UTM_Adgroupid=58500000002003652&pfx=pfx_google_roi&cid=genericsearch&gclid=CjwKCAjw8O7bBRB0EiwAfbrTh3Thb9TqyJbse4QR-cbCxef6vZyysEDjdfXJhdemZEayNcXX4-YO0BoCLDUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CKm-1Iax_twCFXsCrQYdoPAMZA

K-mart

https://www.kmart.com/clothing-men-s-clothing-big-tall-clothing/b-5001153

DXL

http://www.destinationxl.com/mens-big-and-tall-store/?cm_mmc=PaidSearch*Google*DXL*Brand_DXL&Dmonetate=true&adpos=1t1&creative=278490656282&device=c&matchtype=e&network=g&gclid=CjwKCAjw8O7bBRB0EiwAfbrThzY02IUrCckaKVmUbohNFaNcA2T8UQOrIjviKbRloeyxAjDrvupu2BoCN_IQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CI3uxrWx_twCFZQQfQod7n0B7Q

Clothing marketers direct most fashion toward women not men. Does not matter about clothing size. Look at magazines and social media. We are usually the fashion spending force that keep money in their pockets. We keep up on trends have shoe and purse collections.

Holy hell a $2650 blazer? are you kidding me. All depends on the designer. https://www.balmain.com/us/women/essentials 

Edited August 21, 2018 by skinnylife

[Matt Z 4,138]

4 minutes ago, skinnylife said:

Wow!

So here are a few places that have mens sections with larger clothing. Ordering clothing on the internet is also an option.

Walmart has an Mens large dept (go figure)

https://www.walmart.com/search/?query=mens+big+size&adid=22222222220216541480&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=b&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=66242571275&wl4=kwd-682876645&wl5=1016202&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&veh=sem

H&M mens plus size section

http://www2.hm.com/en_us/sale/men/big-tall.html

kohls mens plus size dept

https://www.kohls.com/catalog/mens-big-tall-clothing.jsp?CN=Gender:Mens+SizeRange:Big %26 Tall+Department:Clothing&kwid=p2112849007&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=Big and tall mens clothing&utm_campaign=Men's+Clothing&UTM_Adgroupid=58500000002003652&pfx=pfx_google_roi&cid=genericsearch&gclid=CjwKCAjw8O7bBRB0EiwAfbrTh3Thb9TqyJbse4QR-cbCxef6vZyysEDjdfXJhdemZEayNcXX4-YO0BoCLDUQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CKm-1Iax_twCFXsCrQYdoPAMZA

K-mart

https://www.kmart.com/clothing-men-s-clothing-big-tall-clothing/b-5001153

DXL

http://www.destinationxl.com/mens-big-and-tall-store/?cm_mmc=PaidSearch*Google*DXL*Brand_DXL&Dmonetate=true&adpos=1t1&creative=278490656282&device=c&matchtype=e&network=g&gclid=CjwKCAjw8O7bBRB0EiwAfbrThzY02IUrCckaKVmUbohNFaNcA2T8UQOrIjviKbRloeyxAjDrvupu2BoCN_IQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CI3uxrWx_twCFZQQfQod7n0B7Q

Clothing marketers direct most fashion toward women not men. Does not matter about clothing size. Look at magazines and social media. We are usually the fashion spending force that keep money in their pockets. We keep up on trends have shoe and purse collections.

Holy hell a $1000 to $2000 blazer? are you kidding me. All depends on the designer.

I can't really tell why you quoted me. I know places exist, but their selection for men is vastly smaller than the women's sections. And the whole point about men's plus sized costing more, just like women's... is true.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Matt Z

[KimTriesRNY 1,853]

41 minutes ago, Frustr8 said:

And a little more fuel on the 🔥, here I brought a cord of wood myself. Yes it looks like at Wally World the selection is better. Lets look a little closer. Now what is the shade we're highlighting? Nausea green,baby poop yellow, dead calf liver maroon, indiscriminate gray, let's dump them all together, make a shirt in a print that shouts " I'm fat, I grabbed the first thing I could find" Lets make it with 1 sleeve instead of 2, let's cut the bottom at an angle so it looks like she was mauled by an animal at the zoo! Now if we make any slacks , let's make the pockets,decorative only, a half - inch deep sounds good, let her hubby carry keys and things for her, or she can jam things in a purse, and we will make them ugly too , let's make only 2 sizes, big so everyone can watch her for shoplifting or small so she can't ever get a Protein Bar in let alone money. She already spent $17.99 on a shoddy made shirt, didn't she? She'll spend more, she brought some with her today! Ok back to the slacks, let's make the legs like 2 sausage tubes but make the crotch seam skimpy in the rise and only single stich it with nylon or cheap cotton thread, the nylon will itch, the cotton will break the first time she wears it, time it so it's in an a embarrasing location, like in line at the bank. AND let's taper the legs on the dressier slacks , like 28. inches at the thighs, 8 In at the ankles. Ooh this is fun isn't it? And make them in two basic lengths, one to fit 4ft8in, the other 6ft 3in, that's the only two leg lengths we needed anyway. Fat women only come in one height, short fat blob and excuse me, are you a woman or a transvestite? sizes. Now sizes, let's send in 15 1x(16-18) 5 2X, 2 3X, 1 4X, 1 5X. That way unless she happens to be there when they are unpacked, she's out of luck. And make sure you never use more than a single stitching , those seams will never have much pressure anyway. That will sell like gang busters, Sam Waltons motto. was "if we make it or stock it, they will come." Lets have ours be" Make it shoddy, make it ugly, make it ill-fitting, fat women are gullible and stupid in the first place" . I'm sitting here in a sweatshirt and gym shorts, bought from the skimpy mens department, why? Unbelievable but that's where the pink sweat shirts were, there was enough length in the shorts and they do usually have more 4X in and they have a bigger crotch seam to handle guys," package", no I wasn't granted that package but when I bend over, it doesn't separate my buttocks and finish the job spitting me. where God started. And I'll trade you guys three diagonal cut,shirts, 2 t-shirts in baby poo yellow, and a tube top that the first time I bend over my feminine enhancements fall out for one nondescript grey sweatshirt. You don't want them? Guess what, I don't either! 😳

This made me laugh out loud!

[Matt Z 4,138]

1 hour ago, Missouri-Lee's Summit said:

Men don't have much variety in terms of clothing anyway: pants/shorts, shirts... what else is there?

Women have skirts, dresses, pants, blouses, shirts (in a multitude of styles).

I'm not disagreeing that men also pay more... but, in general, they are excepted to pay for TALL and BIG.

Tall women aren't penalized, mostly just plus-sized women.

Men have pretty much all the same categories of dress as women, sans the dresses and skirts, everything else each "gender" has it's categories that match the other gender. So, fat men and tall men both have to pay upcharges and only fat women do?

So, I'm confused, if men are forced to pay more for 2 categories of dress, and only 1 for women, how is this statement from your title accurate? "but almost exclusively on women's clothing, not men's" Plus-sized Men also have the added "benefit" of having to pay extra for suits, that pretty much always have to be tailored to fit, another fun additional cost, just to have something they can wear to work.

I just think the whole article is not only excessively limited in scope, but also rather divisive for no reason. Men and women pay additional costs pretty equally for plus sized clothing. Stating that it's mainly for only women... is beyond false.

Edited August 21, 2018 by Matt Z

[Orchids&Dragons 9,046]

1 hour ago, skinnylife said:

Holy hell a $2650 blazer? are you kidding me. All depends on the designer. https://www.balmain.com/us/women/essentials 

Who knew it cost so much to the the Ringmaster at the circus?

[Matt Z 4,138]

2 minutes ago, Orchids&Dragons said:

Who knew it cost so much to the the Ringmaster at the circus?

Or an "Off Vegas" magician. LOL