Lane Bryant Catalog: no style, but low prices!
I flipped through a Lane Bryant catalog the other day and was appalled at what I saw. Lane Bryant is a plus-size retailer for women. The models in the catalog were not plus-size. Technically, they might have been plus-size for models, but they were hardly plus-size women–I’d say about size eight, a good deal smaller than average, which is about size fourteen. I found the same situation on their home page; those models are NOT 14W and up.
Then I found something quite curious. The Lane Bryant catalog is–bafflingly–not affiliated with the Lane Bryant stores. Both websites note this prominently.
According to the website for the catalog,
In business since 1901, Lane Bryant brand has become the acknowledged industry leader in women’s special size apparel. (Lane Bryant Catalog is not affiliated with Lane Bryant retail stores.) We offer a complete wardrobe, including shoes and intimate apparel in a wide range of styles, colors and sizes — all at value prices.
According to the website for the stores,
Lane Bryant is the most recognized name in plus-size clothing, and our emphasis on fashion�not merely size�makes us a style leader. Lane Bryant stores are not affiliated with the Lane Bryant Catalog.
Interestingly, the Lane Bryant Stores site uses both larger models and larger mannequins than does the Lane Bryant Catalog site. The Stores site focuses on fashion and style, with impressive and attractive selections. It features fitted and sexy clothing, encouraging a celebration of size.
In contrast, the Lane Bryant Catalog site has bland clothing at bargain prices. The Catalog site depicts a great number of shapeless items, which look even more baggy because of the less-than-plus-size women who are modelling them.
I do not currently wear a plus size, but I spent many years of my life hovering above and below a size 14. I have long been disgusted with a fashion industry that uses the term “women’s” as a synonym for plus size. All women are demeaned by this usage. I am discouraged that special sizes like petites and plus are often put in different parts of a store than are the “regular” women’s clothing sizes. This unnecessary segregation, which usually only makes sense to a store’s merchandisers, sends a further message of alienation. That Lane Bryant Catalog, “the acknowledged industry leader” in plus-size women’s apparel, uses non-plus-size models and features such unappealing choices adds insult to a past series of injuries. I would not support a retailer like this. Instead, I’d head to the Lane Bryant stores. They seem to be about celebrating one’s size, not hiding it. That’s a good shopping philosophy for all women, of any size.
December 23rd, 2004 at 9:20 am
Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I realized that about the catalog–the women are skinny, and the ugly clothes don’t even look good on *them*, so how are they going to look on real plus-sized women? OTOH, sometimes the retail chain has really flattering, well-made clothes. They do charge through the nose for them, because it’s a specialized market. The quality has vastly improved in the last few years, and the styles and colors vary a lot, so that sometimes I love everything in the store and other times nothing–which is good because then the women who like what I hate have a chance to buy.
December 30th, 2004 at 11:28 am
that is totally disgusting. i don’t know what in God’s name the catalog people are thinking…as a photo shoot producer, i know that samples often only come in “regular” sizes - i.e. 2-4-sometimes 6, but as a company that markets itself as the fashionable destination for plus size merchandise, that’s a complete mistake.
i’m sure there was a good reason for it, and it has nothing to do with not adoring what i, personally, consider regular-size women, but still…ouch.