Tell Me: What's the Worst Trend You've Seen?
Wednesday December 3, 2008
A comment from a reader got me thinking about the bad side of plus fashion-- stagnant trends and major no-nos. It might be the holidays (fun! fun!), but focusing on bad trends isn't gloomy when you consider that we're all trying to help each other look our best. Here's what reader Eliana had to say:
[...]I’ve been cyber shopping and have noticed a new fashion trend that bugs the heck out of me and wondered if you might know where it comes from. The trend that annoys me is the new folds in dyeing & screen printing thing that is everywhere suddenly. They take a perfectly lovely garment and then fold it and screen print it. Then they open up the folds and the once folded part are not printed it. I have seen tons of things I would really love to buy if they were fully printed.Here's your chance to share what trends really bother you (perhaps the same as Eliana?), and also to mention what you want to see more of around here! Let me know below--and then I will share my favorite trend with you soon.
Comments
It’s not so much a trend that is my personal peeve – it’s an ongoing problem: baggy, shapeless cuts in plus sizes. Just because a garment is larger, that’s no excuse for cutting that doesn’t fit ANYONE and makes anyone wearing the garment look sloppy and bigger.
Although personally I’m not a huge fan of the plaid trend.
Accents, yes; skirts, yes. But allover plaid is just too busy for me.
I agree with reader Eliana in your article that the whole folded screen printing technique that makes the screen print look cracked, old, and distressed looking though it is a new garment with a newly minted screen print bothers me too. The whole distressed clothing trend in general of generation Y and the millenials puzzles me. Paying more money to have your new clothes look old, used,and battered puzzles me.
I agree about the baggy clothing. Sometimes you pick up a plus size fashion catalog featuring those well proportioned tall sized 14 women. Even they look frumpy and fat. Not every large sized woman is shapeless. Some of us are downright hourglasses! But you wouldn’t know it by our clothing.
I agree about the baggy clothing being unflattering – although things seem to have been some improvement. At least some of the new plus websites with baggy clothing have stopped carrying prints that resembled that of circus clowns. Brightly colored patterns if they are your thing, and I apologize, but it is not my thing – and honestly clowns kind of scare me. ;D
For me it’s the bat wings jacket, trapeze dress, baggy clothes, and the fact that a size 24 is not the same size 24 in every store. It’s upsetting when someone goes to like a Family Dollar or Maxway and get a really nice outfit (a rare find but possible) and it’s a 3X and it doesn’t fit!!!
Oh, thank you so much for putting my comment so out there. Not to sound like I do nothing but complain, but since you asked…I just bought 2 pairs of jeans from Roaman’s, both the same size (18). One fits just fine, the other I couldn’t put on even if I held my breath and laid down flat on the bed. Same pants. Same size. Huh.
I totally agree with you. Plus Sized clothing is losing all of its flair. More and more often I find shapeless or oversized clothing marketed as “PLUS”…. Just because some women are bigger, it doesn’t mean we cant dress sexy and show off our beautiful curves. I own a plus size boutique and I buy a lot of goods through Julie Ann Apparel, they have a really wide selection of gorgeous plus tops, and get this… they actually look like they are meant to be worn not like a table cloth or a fabric mishap…
I am so glad you asked! I am continually amazed that the designers of plus size clothing consider certain styles as appropriate and attractive. For instance, as mentioned by someone else, bat sleeves and then raglan sleeves, full skirts, cropped jackets, stodgy styles, and personally worst, for me, plus size petite clothing is difficult to find. If I buy a size 22 women’s jacket, the shoulders are drooping, there is too much fabric around the sleeves where they meet the bodice, the sleeve are too long and overall I look like I’m wearing clothes 3 sizes too big. Also, many petite plus slacks aren’t tapered properly so despite the fact that I don’t have to hem the slacks I need to have them tapered unless I want to look as if I am swimming in baggy and unflattering slacks. It’s been said before, baggy clothes, no attempt to refine the silhouette, more boring and unfashionable clothes as opposed to flattering and up-to-date (not trendy) styles. If you plus size gals are unhappy with the clothes available in your size, think about your petite plus size sisters. If I find something that fits properly I wear it A LOT!
These comments are so interesting to me as a store owner, so thanks to Meieli for starting the conversation and all of you joining in!
Regarding “clown prints”, it’s been an eye-opener for me to find that it’s not necessarily those prints that make fashionable women frightened – it the fabric! Cheap fabric combined with bad cuts is a recipe for disaster.
When I offer great fabric and cuts in colorful prints, buyers love it. I’ve confirmed with some designers – like Anna Scholz and Abby Z – that color and pattern are a huge appeal to their sophisticated, confident customer. I’m trying to add some color and pattern to my own wardrobe as a result and I’ll let you know how it goes!
As for petites, at 5″3″, I get it! Are there any designers who make clothes you love for fit and fashion? I’ll try to add them to my store if possible.
Robyn
Powersuits, to my mind are plain ugly. I can live the rest of my life without hearing another “woman weightlifter” comment. I cannot think of one woman who was flattered by that style.
Any savvy office worker can dress well, and look great if she wears clothing that fits correctly, is a good color for her, and wears a minimum of accessories.
We are not on this planet to support the fashion industry. They are here to sell us clothes, and meet our needs! Heresy I know, but true nonetheless. Cordially, Nehmah
What irks me the most about plus size fashion, that I have not seen mentioned, is that department stores tend to put the Plus Size department right next to Maternity. It would be nice to find my fashion size as a continuation of the regular misses fashions, not as an afterthought on a totally different floor.
Here is another – use plus size manikins rather than regular size manikins wearing plus size outfits held together with a million straight pins. This presents a phony look and does not show our pride and beauty.
FYI My favorite store is Avenue – I like everything in the store, and can pick up anything off the rack in my size and know it fits, is cute and reasonable priced.
Cheap is cheap–hate that slimy polyester that feels like a plastic bag in hot weather.
Love the NYD jeans and sometimes find them at Nordstrom’s and on line. Don’t order much from catalogs anymore since the sizing is inconsistent and it is really difficult to find a nice cotton dress that fits. Love Chico’s stuff but it only goes to size 14 or so in skirts. What to do??
I know this is an older post but…I absolutely agree with Kathy A!!! I hate when I am wandering around a store’s “plus” dept. and I have to watch out or else I might buy a maternity shirt without knowing it. I think it’s offensive, actually.
On a similar note, my least favorite trend are cuts that make you look pregnant! I agree that loose clothing is comfy, but so many plus blouses are cut very much like maternity styles.
Maternity wear! I love that one; I have to write an article on that. I have picked up a few maternity tops in my time, too, and have even accidentally tried them on and thought they looked awesome. Then I feel weird.
Great thread! I just don’t get the babydoll or tunic plus capri leggings. Could there be anything that would make one look shorter and wider?
Proportipn is everything, and that doozy is a nightmare!
Happy and healthy holidays to all!