Is the customer always right?

It would appear that the demands made by BBW consumers are not limited to just complaining about apparel manufacturers, the debate rages in -of all places- the knitting community as well. Along the lines of the controversy generated by my post Tyranny of tiny sizes comes this debate on 37 Signals:

Over the past couple of days, I have been following a thread about sizing in knitting patterns. Apparently, plus-sized knitters feel that some knitting magazines are “ignoring” them by not providing instructions for making the items in larger sizes. One woman posts:

Well, then I bet you can see my problem with rack after rack of magazines that do not even admit to my size. I did not advocate for IK [Interweave Knits], Vogue, or any of the others to go over to utter plus sizes. I just ask that they size for us too. it won’t stop single-digit sizing, just add us.

Apparently, two magazines equals “rack after rack,” despite the fact that other posters have mentioned alternative magazines that do cater to larger sizes. She also ignores the fact that the magazines she mentioned do provide plus sizes for many of their patterns-just not all.

The story goes on from there so read Knitting complaints. In comments, Brad summarizes how I feel about the fine line that is drawn between being responsive to your customers and being forced to implement their every suggestion:

It’s amazing how many times customers make the assumption that inaction to a request or a suggestion equals ignorance to a issue. Or worse yet, a paying customer is always right. The customer is always right to comment, always right to suggest, always right to make a request. But if their loyalty is dictated by the positive and immediate reaction of the company; well, you can have that customer. McDonald’s says that the customer is always right; but this refers to a complaint about a received product or service…Never do they say that the customer is always right when some ‘paying’ patron requests a taco instead of a cheeseburger.

Still, if I’m not selling something you want, you’re not a customer. When it comes to sizing, you will never be able to please everyone so listen to people who are already buying from you, not those who say they would. Often there’s a product in the market already, they just don’t want to pay the price points. In other words, they want what you make already but in their size and at a price they’re willing to pay.

Considering the incredible investment and costs of developing another line be it BBW or something else entirely, that’s too much to demand of a manufacturer. It’s not possible to “grade in” the sizes for BBW into a regular line, the differences are too disparate and you have to make new patterns altogether. You have to develop another line. Some changes are so dramatic you can’t just grade those things in. BBW is one of those things that can’t be done with just a bigger grade. It’s a tough market to fit because as people get heavier, the differences between people’s bodies are all over the map. People’s bodies differ; in smaller sizes, it’s easier to deal with. In larger sizes, the differences are dramatically magnified.

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26 comments

  1. Alison Cummins says:

    RE McDonald’s: actually, I think this applies to tacos too. If the customer says they want a taco, then the customer wants a taco. If McDonald’s can’t provide reasonable tacos at a reasonable price point and somebody else can, then they will lose market share. Customers want what they want.

    McDonald’s still has to balance the evil of losing market share with the evil of adding tacos to their line and make a decision. They do, in fact, routinely decide in favour of tacos. (From various sources on the Net: You can eat a lobster roll in New England, McFelafels in Egypt, an egg-topped McHuevos burger in Uruguay, McKrokets in the Netherlands, a Teriyaki burger in Japan, vegetable nuggets in India and a McLuks salmon burger in Finland.) McDonald’s deciding against tacos doesn’t make the customer mistaken.

    And being disappointed when only the thin girls get pretty clothes doesn’t make the customer mistaken either. (Interestingly, Mode was a terrific magazine that promoted the idea that fat girls deserved to feel pretty; it was wonderful but had few advertisers and went under.) I’m mildly annoyed at times, but I sew and I can modify a knitting pattern. I can imagine feelings running much higher if I were not able to meet my own needs.

  2. Kathleen says:

    If McDonald’s can’t provide reasonable tacos at a reasonable price point and somebody else can, then they will lose market share.

    For the sake of argument, assume McDonald’s won’t sell tacos.
    Why should a company be compelled to grow? What if they don’t want that market share? Just because somebody has the capacity or ability to do it does not mean they’re obligated to do it just to meet someone else’s expectations of growth. McDonald’s is not going to go broke over tacos. If they go under, they have bigger problems, their bankruptcy won’t hinge on this one small product. Other manufacturers will similarly decline the taco market and for similar financial reasons -it’s not worth it to them in their market. Don’t you get it? They rely on another market entirely.

    I don’t want to make tacos either.

  3. christy fisher says:

    Alison:
    People occasionally ask me to produce “bridal” or “swimwear”. I do not do those items in my line. Now if they complain to me about that..it doesn’t make them “right” and it doesn’t mean that I have to do those items.. Those items are “tacos” to me..and if I choose to add them later.. then that is MY choice..it is MY line . The squeaky wheel doesn’t always “get the grease”…nor should they.

  4. Carol Kimball says:

    Kathleen:
    “Often there’s a product in the market already, they just don’t want to pay the price points.”

    This is the heart of the matter. Or there isn’t a product, but they’re not willing to help pay for the cost of developing and getting it out to their limited group.

    We get this all the time (somewhat legimately, referring to the “Victoria’s Secret”-ing trend for lace and cleavage at the expense of durability, fit, comfort) from the shoppers for bras. “Why don’t you go to (such and such a store with a fitting expert)?” Indignant response: “I shouldn’t have to pay $75.00 for a bra when WalMart sells them for xxx!”

    Then buy a cheap one that doesn’t fit from WalMart. Duh.

  5. av says:

    Nothing makes me more crazy than trying on BBW clothes that were sized up from a designers average size line. I cannot tell you how many things I have tried on at Macy’s by a top name designer and the fit is terrible. Rarely do I buy anything from these top designers. I would rather shop at Lane Bryant, where clothes were designed for the BBW from the start.

    People also need to realize that a lot of styles are not flattering when taken from the average sizes and brought up to the BBW sizes. End users are always wondering why my one adult style is not available past a size 12. Well, duh, because it will not be flattering or else I would have done it. And even if I came up with a style to appease the BBW, my fabric choice would look like I was making moomoos.

    And the price issue I totally agree with and have learned the hard way. It does not matter how low you take your price, the discount shopper will still not buy or appreciate your clothing. They are buying for the utility of the clothing, not the artistry (for the most part).

  6. christy fisher says:

    I am curious about those who are doing children’s clothing. Last night I saw a special on overweight Americans (CNN) and they reported that 30% of our children are overweight and in 5 years the figure will climb to over 50%..and that they will be the first generation to live a shorter lifespan than their parents.
    With these figures, it has to also hit the “chubby” children, as well as adults. How are children’s wear manufacturers handling this? Do you see a “BBC” sizing on the horizon?

  7. Alison Cummins says:

    Kathleen,
    I didn’t say anything about compelling anyone. (Where did that come from?) But I don’t see anything wrong with experiencing disappointment and frustration and expressing same, and I don’t see why disappointed and frustrated consumers should [be compelled to] shut up.

    Christy,
    Your customers who want bridal and swimwear are right: they do want bridal and swimwear. You are also right: you don’t want to make it. Consequence: you will lose market share. Since losing this market share is exactly what you want, there is no problem from your perspective. That doesn’t mean your customers don’t want bridal and swimwear. They do. And someone out there is going to make bridal and swimwear and sell it to them.

    av,
    I’m with you about styling and fit. It’s never occured to me to complain that a knitting pattern isn’t published in my size. If it’s just a matter of adding more stitches, I can do that as easily as the publisher. But it’s more likely a matter of adding short rows, and only I know where I want those. And like, totally, a lot of the stuff in the magazines is simple styling in bulky yarn that is quick to make and looks good on the same thin young women who would look good in acrylic pile seat covers. Adding more stitches to those sorts of patterns isn’t going to make anybody happy. But still, the customer is complaining that she wants to be offered something pretty. I can sympathise.

    And because I can sympathise, I am just grateful grateful grateful that I am not dependent on a mall for clothing. Because if I couldn’t design and make my own stuff I would be out there whining away with the rest of them and being blasted with hot waves of Kathleen’s ire.

    (And yes, a lot of it is disguised whining about money. If I wore a 32B I could get colourful little bras for $20 and be happy with them. Because I’m a 38DDD, I would need to spend $80 to $200 for same. If people can’t whine about money what can they whine about?)

  8. battlepanda says:

    It’s interesting that you mention the practical difficulties in scaling up fashion patterns for plus-sized women. I had always assumed that stores won’t do it because they want to keep their clienteles exclusive. And I have a hunch that the “grading in” problem, difficult though it undoubtedly is, would probably get resolved if it weren’t for the additional stigma attached to stocking large pants and getting a reputation as a place where big girls shop.

    I’m in an interesting situation because I have no problem finding clothes in the U.S. as a size 8, but am basically on the cusp of not being able to find any cloths in Taiwan, where my family is from and women are much slimmer (quite often unhealthily so). I have gotten quite good at assessing a store’s decor, price-level, and even location and figuring out from those factors whether or not they will stock clothing in my size! Don’t tell me it’s all about grading issues — a lot of it is signalling, pure and simple. They want to send the message that small, skinny fashionable women shop at their stores, and the best way to do it is by shutting the bigger sizes out. Makes perfect business sense really.

  9. battlepanda says:

    Alison,
    That thought occured to me too — if you are knitting your own clothes then presumably you think of yourself as a creative person, and does a creative person really need the pattern to spell out where to add the rows to make the garment bigger?

    There is a lot of creativity going on by girls who are frustrated that people don’t make the styles they want in the size that they want. I think that is a positive way to channel that frustration. But not everybody is a seamstress.

    Of course, there are stores selling fashionable cloths to larger women (like Lane Bryant). But many larger women want to shop where everybody else is shopping. It’s not about the cloths, it’s a desire to be included and be mainstream and not shunted off to another store.

  10. Natty says:

    Maybe we should stop thinking about how to cater to the increasing overweight population and figure out how to stop the weight gain. Its unhealthy! If the lifespan of the next generation are shorter, then there is something gravely wrong with the situation. Granted, there are other factors, such as environmental issues, but the ability of our body to deal with a lot of detrimental effects of the polluted environment we live in is directly effected by our body’s condition. Even those with conditions that lend to weight gain can control their health and their weight to a pretty large extent. I am on medications that make me gain weight, yet I still eat healthy and work out to control my weight, and I do very well at it. Anyway, I guess my point is that this really isn’t an issue of fashion companies catering to the overweight population as much as it is an indicator of a problem. A lot of manufacturers develop clothing for a good size body, an ideal body even(obviously a very subjective term). Maybe they have it right?

  11. battlepanda says:

    Hmm…
    So maybe the problem with why Americans weigh so much is because we don’t get lectured enough about weight gain? Or or maybe it’s because we don’t idealize extreme skinniness enough. Hey! Lets go around castigating fat people for their own good! Maybe that will finally help them stay off the ding-dongs and ho-hos.

    Basically, Natty, I have this theory about aesthetics: controlling for a few constants like youth, clear skin etc. etc…what is rare is beautiful. Back when people are eking out a living working the fields, thin and toned was not considered beautiful…I doubt many of the nudes Rubens painted could fit into anything available at Banana Republic. Similarly, pale women used to be considered beautiful because it was a sign that they were rich enough to stay inside and eat bonbons, and now tanned women are considered beautiful because it is a sign that they are rich enough to go laze around at the beach. Heck, there are even some who suggests that blonds evolved because the pale hair mutation made them stand out from the crowd from a mate-selection point of view.

    Thin is considered beautiful now because it is really, really hard to get to the gym and stay off the junk when you live in an affluent society. If all of us could be thin, then we’d all find something else to obsess about.

    Sorry for going kind of off-topic here. Bottom line: yes, very obese people should lose weight for health reasons. But no, more stringent aesthetic standards are not going to make it happen.

  12. Natasha says:

    Well this issue is near and dear to my heart. The knitting that is. I work in an upscale (meaning expensive) yarn store where oour speciality is custom patterns free (w purchase of yarn for projects) we dont have alot of plus sized ladies ask for this bc they think we are not capable of making large sizes (hellos?) or that we are not capable of rescaling an existing pattern. With knitting grading is alot easier than in flat pattern. So if you dont seek out a service when it is available I dont really think you can complain about the “tyranny of sizes’

    Though bbw knits use more yarn which the owner of the store likes =D

  13. Jeff says:

    I can’t recall ever having seen the two words “blondes evolved” together. Isn’t that an oxymoron?

    Right. I understand. Yes, I’m better than that. I was just trying to be humorous. Don’t write.

    I am pleased that Kathleen has practical yet not so common business sense to go along with the practitioner insight and experience here. I would not be coming here if she did not. I wish we discussed more of it. In fact, we are, in this thread. Sort of.

    If I pull into a gas station needing diesel and they only sell regular, I am NOT a customer and, they are NOT losing market share. Let’s get this straight for the sake of arguement. Am I right to complain to them? No. Not really. They staked out their claim in the market as the last gas station between here and Tucomcari. They don’t carry diesel, though they wish sometimes they did. But they can’t. It takes another lisence and there just aren’t enough diesel engines driving this highway to justify the investment. However, more and more “potential” customers seem to be asking for it. Would they empathize? Probably. They send them to Bob, he has diesel and is 78 miles west. They are Bob’s “customers” who just happen to be in the “wrong place.” Sadly, for the driver, diesel is something he “needs”.

    As a certain “style” is only something you “want”, given that clothing is considered by western societies as “positioning” goods, you are simply standing in the wrong place, as it were, to complain at all that a certain knitted pattern was not produced with you in mind.

    So, is the “customer” always right? Phh! Only if she is screaming alone in the woods. This whole economy is based on scarcity and differentiation. These types of discussions are great, in fact, they very much belong here, as this blog concerns fashion and the conception and production of such goods and services but, this particular subject should serve to reveal just one thing – opportunity! Nothing is worth celebrating more.

    This is Jeff. I forgot to log in.

  14. Cathy Hay says:

    It’s such a tough one and I’m on both sides. My experience with making plus size bridalwear to measure supports your statement, Kathleen, that plus sized women can come in a dizzying range of different shapes.

    However, mine is also the shoulder that my partner cries on in the fitting room at Marks and Spencer. After a salad and the gym (yes, really, and she’s still big), we shop: we cross a sea of bras of all sizes and colours, hundreds of square feet of it, we find maybe two bras of the correct size to take into the fitting room, and neither even comes close. Cue self-esteem crash and my latest lecture about it all being the store’s fault, not hers, please stop crying. Honestly, to this size 10 it’s a real eye-opener.

    Even if a woman wants to conform, diet, exercise and so on, (a) it may not change her size significantly and (b) she still has to wear clothes in the meantime. Guess it’s a NIMBY issue – not in my (company’s) backyard; don’t look at me; we don’t have to cater to you if we don’t want to.

    But Demi still needs to wear bras. Perhaps this should be not so much a problem as a very complicated opportunity? Is there a genius in the house?

  15. Mike C says:

    A lot of companies would really like to capture a piece of the plus-size market.

    We tried to put together a small collection last year of fitness/yoga/active wear for 1x-3x and were forced to give up.

    A modest nine piece collection ran the risk of sinking the entire company if we got it wrong. And, given the complexities in sizing there was almost no way we could get it right with a nine piece collection.

    The market is compelling so we’ll revisit it someday when we can better manage the risk but for now, we had little choice but to abandon the effort.

  16. christy fisher says:

    Alison queried:
    “I don’t see why disappointed and frustrated consumers should [be compelled to] shut up.”

    It is RUDE of anyone to project their frustrations on someone who is not to “blame”. I see a lot of demanding, whining people out there who seem to have a sense of entitlement. Does that make them “right”? Heck no. It makes them rude.

  17. Esther says:

    Christy Fisher above asked about the children’s clothing and the weight issue. I have worked in the children’s special occassion market for many years. I know the statistics say there is an increase in weight gain for children too. However, I have not seen an increase in requests by customers to increase the size of our clothing. If anything, the requests are along the line of making swimsuits in addition to our Communion line.

  18. Kathleen says:

    Allison wrote:
    and being blasted with hot waves of Kathleen’s ire.
    I reread what I wrote and agree it came out more negatively than I intended. I value your input, errata and contributions. Please accept my apology.

    (And yes, a lot of it is disguised whining about money. If I wore a 32B I could get colourful little bras for $20 and be happy with them. Because I’m a 38DDD, I would need to spend $80 to $200 for same. If people can’t whine about money what can they whine about?)

    In all fairness, the higher cost of these bras is due to cup size, not girth. I don’t think I’ve ever found a bra in my size (32DD) for under $45 (on clearance). The costs of engineering bras in this market is not cheap, particularly if you want one that fits decently. It’s actually easier to find the larger cup sizes in larger band sizes than the reverse because fewer skinny women have that much breast tissue. While I wouldn’t say it was inexpensive, it was easier for me to find a 38DDD when I wore that size -and that was 20 years ago- than it is to find my size now. I hate to say this but I think the only reason why choices have improved in my size is due to skinny girls getting boob jobs.

    Then Christy wrote:
    I am curious about those who are doing children’s clothing. Last night I saw a special on overweight Americans (CNN) and they reported that 30% of our children are overweight and in 5 years the figure will climb to over 50%..and that they will be the first generation to live a shorter lifespan than their parents. With these figures, it has to also hit the “chubby” children, as well as adults. How are children’s wear manufacturers handling this? Do you see a “BBC” sizing on the horizon?

    This is something I’ve been watching too and I’d say a definitive yes (to BBC market). Before I was a BBW, I was a BBC. At age 10, I weighed 50 lbs more than I do now. My weight was the reason I started sewing in childhood. Thirty five years ago, there wasn’t much in chubby girl sizes (that’s what they called it then). I can only think that the increase of overweight kids is going to make obesity more acceptable -if anything through the weight of the majority (no pun intended!). Personally, I was fat because I’d never really tried to diet. Everybody said it was close to impossible and that I’d only regain the weight, so why bother? It wasn’t true for me, not the genetics argument either (everybody in my family is obese).

    The reality is, obesity costs all of us. Out of every health care dollar, 75 cents goes to treating conditions related to obesity. Smoking costs 10 cents and everything else is 15 cents. I’m not saying we shouldn’t let up on smoking but considering the costs of obesity, we should do more about it (and fat-bashing frat boys is not it). Somehow I think we’ve got to move from acceptance to compassion and support. My heart goes out to any person battling weight problems, I lived it. However, I disagree that thin people are only thin because they can afford gym memberships and good foods. Low fat foods are low cost, become a vegetarian! That’ll help. To lose weight, I sold my car and bought a bicycle, I was too poor to join a gym. While being mean about it isn’t going to help, somehow obesity has got to become just as unacceptable as smoking. Until then, I don’t think we’ll see any changes in American habits. I think the first thing to do is turn the situation around from being a position of helplessness. People need hope and love, not disgust and apathy. People are very mean to fat people so yeah, it can make you a little defensive with a tendency to justify your weight problems to yourself. We have to move away from putting people in that position.

    Battlepanda wrote:
    I have no problem finding clothes in the U.S. as a size 8, but am basically on the cusp of not being able to find any cloths in Taiwan, where my family is from and women are much slimmer (quite often unhealthily so). I have gotten quite good at assessing a store’s decor, price-level, and even location and figuring out from those factors whether or not they will stock clothing in my size! Don’t tell me it’s all about grading issues — a lot of it is signalling, pure and simple. They want to send the message that small, skinny fashionable women shop at their stores, and the best way to do it is by shutting the bigger sizes out.

    I’d totally disagree with this. Taiwanese manufacturers aren’t doing anything other than meeting the best bets of their market, same as here. Size-wise, you’re not typical so it’s not to their financial advantage to cater to you. Signaling has nothing to do with it. As I’ve always said, a size “medium” ballerina tutu is going to be sized differently than a size “medium” in western wear. You might want to read some of my past posts on fit and sizing starting with The myth of vanity sizing, there’s a whole series on this.

  19. Gigi says:

    Every retailer can’t be everything to everybody, period. If I wanted a taco why would I go to McDonald’s when I can go down the street to Taco Bell? Not that I’d eat at either place but you get my drift. I just don’t see what there is to complain about as long as our needs are being met somewhere. There are plenty of things that I can’t find at the mall (bras, for one). I am perfectly happy to take my business to a specialty store that understands and caters to my needs.

  20. Josh says:

    Personally, I was fat because I’d never really tried to diet. Everybody said it was close to impossible and that I’d only regain the weight, so why bother? That’s just not true. People *can* lose weight regardless of genetics (everybody in my family is obese) and keep it off. I’m proof enough of that.

    I went through a fat phase all through my late teens and one day decided I was going to start exercising, not really to lose weight just to get healthy. It worked and I lost 50 pounds and have been exercising for 12 years now? WOW. I use to could eat anything I wanted and a few years ago gained 50 pounds back and was the fatest I’ve ever been. The exercise stopped working. So I had to step it up and watch my eating. When you get into your 30s you can’t eat like you did when you were 21. And I took off the 30 pounds and am slowing trying to get off the other 20. I believe in moderation. Eat tons of vegetables and fruits and try to stay away from junk food. Who dares post their fat pictures lol? I’m in!

  21. Diane says:

    You have to ask yourself how such a great country like the USA turned into a country with so many social problems, especially in terms of health and obesity. I have a book “California Fashion” with a fantastic picture on the inside cover. There are 8 models (including Jill St. John, Barbara Eden, Stephanie Powers) wearing swimsuits (circa 1960s) and the striking thing about them is they look healthy. They have real thighs and not sticks for legs! You’ll remember this is before Jane Fonda came on the scene with aerobics. Nobody worked out then and obesity was rare. McDonald’s just started expanding their stores and Taco Bell was a newcomer. The quality of our food has been in serious decline even to the point of poisons such as aspertame.

    BBW is a market that wouldn’t exist if not for profit driven, socially unconscious corporations. Our Maker gave our bodies shape with an underlying muscle structure and if we lose that shape it’s because of what we’ve done to ourselves mostly through ignorance.

    People, follow Kathleen’s example and take back your power. Be healthy and demand clothing with style, beauty and comfort because a natural, proportionate shape is your birthright.

  22. Alison Cummins says:

    Oh Kathleen, no need to apologise! If I didn’t think you were the bees knees I wouldn’t be here. People whine. Other people become impatient. I don’t always understand completely, but if I scratched everyone off my list who ever whined or got ticked off my list would be pretty damned short. It certainly wouldn’t even have me on it.

    Christy made the point that DE’s take consumer whining and kvetching personally. Not being a DE, this had never occurred to me. So I learned something and got some insight into the origin of those scorching blasts of ire. What’s to apologise for there?

    Oh – and bras – I was just using them as an example. I don’t mind wearing dowdy beige nylon tit-restraints, and I can find good quality ones easily in my size at around $65. It’s the pretty little confections suitable for public or private display that I would have to pay lots of money for if I wanted them to come with sufficient engineering to include function, whereas someone with small breasts (no matter what her band size) can wear cheap, semi-disposable stuff put together without a lot of thought for anything except style and colour. My comments were not about plus-size in particular, but about the left-out-of-the-market sizes/shapes generally. Sometimes they just take more engineering for a similar result, and will cost more. So the consumer has much more invested in the particular item than she necessarily wants to: how come my neighbour can pick up a bunch of colourful tanks with shelf bras and wear them all summer for cheap, but I have to have special expensive bras with ugly straps and then pay more for nice shirts that cover the straps? And I don’t even particularly *care* about my shirts? I only care about $50 worth about my summer wardrobe, but I have to pay three times that. My neighbour cares $50 worth and pays $50. For instance.

    Cathy,
    We discussed this earlier in an //fashion-incubator.com/mt/archives/push_manufacturing_bras.html. Kathleen said, “[P]ush manufacturing subverts the fit feedback loop resulting in entropy of fit. Unfortunately, it seems that VS [Victoria’s Secret] has the power to drag other bra makers down with them, dramatically increasing widespread consumer dissatisfaction. Still worse, bra makers have successfully projected fit responsibilities back to the consumer and I think that’s dishonest. If you have a problem with your product, own up to it and fix it. If you can’t fix it, you should not encourage your customers to blame themselves; that’s karmically risky.”

    I suspect that Demi is having this problem: the acres and acres of bras she gets to “choose” from are just cheap and flashy stuff that is easy to make, and the expensive and dowdy suffers by comparison and becomes unprofitable to produce and market. And Demi is left crying in the fitting room.

  23. Big Irv says:

    I know the statistics say there is an increase in weight gain for children too. However, I have not seen an increase in requests by customers to increase the size of our clothing.

    Esther,
    This is because parents are taking their kids to shop at adult clothing stores. You know you might have a problem when your 10 year old boy is wearing a 42″ Short.

  24. Esther says:

    I know that is what they are doing! Some customers would bring us a dress that is obviously too big and for a totally different body type and have us alter it down. Ha!

    Out of a run of 200 dresses we would have requests for maybe 5 plus size girls dresses. Those 5 dresses weren’t enough for us to include plus sizes in our sku’s. We only did the custom dresses as a service for very loyal customers.

  25. Donna Johnson says:

    Wow! I’m so excited this topic has created so much interest! Here’s all I know: I’m 5’3, a size 14, and at 49 I can run (a lot) farther than, my 5’7, size 8, 21 year old daughter can and I can kick her booty but good at anything involving physical strength and endurance. My doctor says I’m far heathier than average, and I believe him, because I feel it. Folks, I’m not the only one. And frankly, I’m not here to judge people on their weight. I have better things to do. Eat what you want and I’ll do the same.

    Here’s the kicker: I LIKE GREAT CLOTHES AND CAN’T FIND THINGS I LIKE IN MY SIZE. I’m sorry, but that messed up. That’s why I’m creating a new line of 14-24 tops (sportswear hopefully to follow) which will be available soon online with free shipping and returns (you’re right, they’re not cheap). These clothes are beautiful, flattering, comfortable and wearable and I’m working hard to get the best fit possible. Classic with a nod to trend, and a little bit of sporty thrown in here and there. STAY TUNED!

  26. Donna Johnson says:

    How funny, I just realized this conversation is six years old. Oh well. Everthing old is new again, eventually.

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