Skinny people: blow me.
To continue from poppycat's small rant on the topic, I'd like to express my large amount of disgust with the clothing store Tightrope at Indooroopilly.
As some of you may know, I am something of a collector of jackets. If I see one I like and it fits over the abnormally large shoulders I acquired through swimming/rowing/gymnastics/eating like a pig while on prednisone for 18 months, I will buy it.
I spotted in their window a gorgeous tapestry/brocade pattern, tailored, mid-thigh length jacket. I drooled. I veered across human traffic to enter the store. (One advantage to having a walking stick is that people tend to make room for you.) The largest size on the rack was a 14. I tried it on, and was actually able to move my arms reasonably well, the T-Rex effect only coming into play at a later stage of arm-crossing than is normal. No chance in hell of it ever doing up over my chest, but there's no jacket made that will do that that doesn't make me look like I'm wearing a three-person tent anyway. Judging by the mannequin wearing it in the window, the only person capable of doing the jacket up would be suffering from a severe case of malnutrition as it was, so I figured this wasn't really a concern.
Thinking that maybe there'd be more in a back room or another store perhaps, I approached the sales girl and asked about getting a size 16 in the jacket.
Her response:
"Oh, we only go up to size 14." *vacuous smile*
*insert Rex's Patented Deeply Unimpressed Look*
Last I heard, 16 is now the national average size for women in Australia. This means, if I remember statistics class correctly, that half the women in Australia are size 16 and above. It seems to me to be very poor business tactics (at the least) to not cater to the majority of one's market.
I really really wanted that jacket, dammit. :(
As some of you may know, I am something of a collector of jackets. If I see one I like and it fits over the abnormally large shoulders I acquired through swimming/rowing/gymnastics/eating like a pig while on prednisone for 18 months, I will buy it.
I spotted in their window a gorgeous tapestry/brocade pattern, tailored, mid-thigh length jacket. I drooled. I veered across human traffic to enter the store. (One advantage to having a walking stick is that people tend to make room for you.) The largest size on the rack was a 14. I tried it on, and was actually able to move my arms reasonably well, the T-Rex effect only coming into play at a later stage of arm-crossing than is normal. No chance in hell of it ever doing up over my chest, but there's no jacket made that will do that that doesn't make me look like I'm wearing a three-person tent anyway. Judging by the mannequin wearing it in the window, the only person capable of doing the jacket up would be suffering from a severe case of malnutrition as it was, so I figured this wasn't really a concern.
Thinking that maybe there'd be more in a back room or another store perhaps, I approached the sales girl and asked about getting a size 16 in the jacket.
Her response:
"Oh, we only go up to size 14." *vacuous smile*
*insert Rex's Patented Deeply Unimpressed Look*
Last I heard, 16 is now the national average size for women in Australia. This means, if I remember statistics class correctly, that half the women in Australia are size 16 and above. It seems to me to be very poor business tactics (at the least) to not cater to the majority of one's market.
I really really wanted that jacket, dammit. :(