Earlier this week (or last week? it's all starting to blur) I was trolling twitter for
interesting links. Jane Pratt
(xojane.com) listed a few topics she wanted her staff to write about. Well I’m
not on her staff (but like their content) and clicked through to a One SizeFits All Buzz Feed video on You Tube.
I gather that One Size Fits All Stores are popping up all
over. In this video, women of various shapes and sizes try on a few different garments.
The obvious conclusion, that doesn’t even require watching this video, is that
one size does not fit all. That’s not all that interesting to me but a few
things about this 4-minute segment were.
First, while there may not be a universal size, there is a
universal feeling when something doesn’t fit us. Whether it’s because of our
height or our weight (or just because) when something doesn’t fit it doesn’t
feel good. I'm not sure why we don't blame the clothing more but that would be logical and balanced. This video captures that feeling that we usually experience alone
and shares it. Forget about not fitting, I’ve had moments of being physically
trapped in dresses and had to contort in weird ways to free myself. Tell me I'm not alone.
Second, these women were awesome. I focused so much more on
their comments and the ridiculousness of trying to fit one skirt to all these
different bodies than I did on their actual bodies. I found this proof that
awesomeness and humor trump weight and size.
And finally, something I live by, “the hoodie is the MVP”.
Of all the clothing, the hoodie made everyone feel good (and look good). Well
not everyone, the tall, skinny girl felt her torso was too long for the hoodie.
But if there’s someone I’m not going to feel badly for it’s the tall and thin
girl. Isn’t that fair?
What do you think of one-size fits all? Any dressing room
disasters you want to share? Do you love
a hoodie?
Totally with you on being trapped in a dress. The worst is when it's in a dressing room and you haven't bought it yet (and probably won't due to the trapped nature of it). That is one scary feeling.
ReplyDeleteI hate the idea of a one size fits all store. Unless it's a scarf you need more than one size. Forget that it makes us all feel bad when something doesn't fit (which it totally does, even if that's not rational), that just isn't practical. I'd rather pay a little bit more and have clothes that fit properly.
I read about this recently - specifically a store for teen girls that is one size fits all and is bucking the trend of other teen apparel stores like American Eagle and Abercrombie; this store's sales and profits are going up while the others are on a continuous decline. I don't get it. Teens are even more self conscious (I would think) about size and it's impossible for a one size fits all business plan to work long term.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I've had more than my fair share of dressing room panic attacks when a flash of horror comes across my body as I think I may never get out of the dress or top I just tried on! How can it be so hard to get it off when it went on so easily? One of these days I know it, I'm going to have to ask some poor unsuspecting dressing room attendant to help me out.