Society describes an average sized woman as 5' 4" that weighs about 140 lbs and wears a size 12 to 14. As an average sized girl size 6 or 8, I find it very discouraging to go to stores such as American Eagle or Victoria Secrets PINK and see size zero models on the advertisement signs. Shopping is never a happy experience for me and I actually dread going to the mall at all times. I sit back and ask myself...."why do I hate shopping so much?". I think the answer lies in the stores and their products themselves.
Popular stores like American Eagle and PINK advertise their clothes on models who are either a size 0 or a size 2. Are you kidding me? This to me is false advertisement. Sure, there are girls out there who are a size 0 or 2, but most girls and women are not. Most girls today are an average size of an 8. Right off the bat we walk into the store feeling ashamed of our bodies because our thighs aren't as small as the models or our waist isn't as tiny. This has been me my whole life, I have always been average and I am perfectly okay with that.
For example, I won't wear American Eagle shorts because I feel as though they are too skimpy on me. They show too much of my thighs and I HATE that. Anyone who has thicker thighs can relate to this with out question. Although American Eagle makes sizes as big as 14, that does not mean it fits a size 14 the way it should. Even making a size 6 or 8, is still too skimp and too short. The product still aims to fit someone who is smaller and thinner all around. Being average now a days doesn't feel like it is enough. I feel like I have to be someone I am not when looking at these models and shopping at these stores, especially when summer comes around.
PINK, is great for yoga pants or bras, but when it comes to bathing suits, well thats a different story. I have never worn a bikini and never will. I don't feel comfortable in one, that's just what it is. Even though women who are much larger than myself wear them, I never will. PINK makes such cute bathing suits and I wish I could wear one. They have american flag ones, ones with slits on the bottoms, ones with cute sparkles on them, BUT they are all bikinis and small skimpy one pieces. To see the advertisement of the bathing suits on these stick figure girls, is terrible. They only tailor their bathing suits to fit those girls with skinny stomachs, skinny thighs, and small butts. HELLO are you kidding me!!!! That's just not realistic!!!!!! Why don't you make bathing suits for all shapes and sizes? Why can't us bigger girls buy bathing suits from PINK? At LEAST make some cute tankini's that are going to fit a size 8 person (with a little more weight on them) and make them feel comfortable.
I'm not saying I don't love my body because I do. I just think it is unrealistic to show models who are a size 2 wear these skimpy tight clothes, when most girls now a days are not a size 2. If these stores, such as American Eagle or PINK, are going to make a larger size to "fit" larger girls, then the WHOLE product needs to be larger, not just the waist size. There are many things these stores could do to fix this issue. They could get more realistic and make clothes that actually fit a larger person in the right way. They could have average women as some of their models so that when an average sized girl sees the Ad, she feels more comfortable in her own skin. I not only speak for myself when I say I am discouraged when shopping because of the sizes of the clothes, but I speak for all the girls out there who won't speak up. It is time all of the popular clothing stores start to be more realistic when designing their products. It is time these stores think about the bigger built girls, because why shouldn't bigger girls be able to shop at these stores as easily as smaller girls do?
