Rachel Pally and other Plus-size designer lines

It's always great when a well-known and respected designer also puts out a plus-size line. I appreciate having good fashion choices. However, this usually presents problems. In the case of many plus size lines, they are only carried online or in the FPS departments of large department stores. I'm thinking of brands like Calvin Klein. There are some really great, standalone Calvin Klein stores around LA, but as far as I know, NONE of them carry any plus-size items. This makes absolutely no sense when you step into a two-story store COMPLETELY devoted to ONE designer who you KNOW has a plus-size line, and they carry none of those items. It's almost like the designer wants the existence of the plus-size line to be a secret.

It's only available in the ghettoized "women's" or "encore" or "Salon Z" departments of Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Saks, or Macy's. (Oh, and you can forget about EVER shopping at Neiman Marcus.... to my knowledge they do not even HAVE such a department). These departments are usually near the department where you pay your bill or the employee restroom or the children's department or the china department. You know, the parts of the stores where the THIN people don't need to be nauseated by the mere existence of women weighing more than 200 pounds.

But back to Rachel Pally. Much has been made of the fact that Nordstrom carries the so-called White Label of Rachel Pally. I went to probably the largest Nordstrom in the LA area this past weekend (in Canoga Park at Westfield Topanga), and asked them where the Rachel Pally items were. The sales woman said they don't carry it in-store. WHAT?!?!?!?! It's prominently displayed on their website, but NOT in stores? This is worse than the ghettoized locations of the FPS departments. This almost seems like the designer or Nordstrom wants the existence of a plus-sized line to be a secret. I don't know about you, but as a larger woman, I am much MORE likely to NEED to try something on before purchasing.... especially if it's a new brand or designer to me. Sometimes I'm a 1X, sometimes I'm a 2X, and, yuck, sometimes I'm even a 3X. Usually a 2X, but you never know for sure. So, why, then, is it more than likely the case that it is HARDER to find plus-size designer items in stores? Why don't stores and designers get this?

Luckily, Nordstrom Rack always has some Rachel Pally if you dig for it. This makes me wonder where it is coming from - if seemingly, none of the local Nordstrom stores stock it. Returns by women who bought without being able to try on first, perhaps? I can only assume so, and here is my Rachel Pally-specific rant. Her clothes are NOT designed well for the larger woman. Yes, I bought one of her shirts, but I tried on EIGHT items of Rachel Pally. The other SEVEN looked horrific on me. So horrific as in I could not take them off fast enough. So horrific as in I would not come out of the dressing room to show my husband. Many of her clothes are jersey material, which is fine. That can be a great, draping, flattering fabric on the larger woman. But not the way Rachel Pally designs. Her jersey is cheap (which is shocking considering the prices of her garments - $168 regular price for a shirt) with unfinished hems. The material is also SUPER SUPER CLINGY AND ELASTICIZED. I don't know about your bodies, but mine is NOT PERFECTLY SMOOTH. Yes, fat does tend to fold. It's yucky, and I wish it didn't, but it's a fact. Therefore, when you design a plus size line, WHY is everything clinging to the body? Now some fabrics I can wear if they're clingy. I'm not objecting to form-fitting plus-size clothes. In many cases, they look MUCH better than loose, shapeless, burlappy sack-like clothing you see so many larger women wearing. But NOT when the clothes are made of cheap jersey cotton!

I applaud designers for putting out plus-size lines, but more consideration needs to go into it. They can't just be making the sizes of their "normal" lines bigger. They have to take into account the unique body issues we larger women present. I think Michael Kors does a good job of this. Even on the days when I feel my fattest and most unattractive, I can usually wear a Michael Kors shirt and feel reasonably decent in it. (I wouldn't object to slightly LONGER tops, though.... I am 5'10".) I wish all designers learned this lesson. Sigh. But I guess you take what you can get.