Most American Women are “Full Figured”

Most American women wear a size 12 or larger. If you’re one of the 68% of American women who wears a size 12 or larger… then this experience is not uncommon for you.

You walk into a department store and you see incredible business suits displayed as you walk into the store. You walk up to the display and check to see the size displayed on the tags. Yep, it’s a size 6 and there are plenty of single digit clothes on the racks. Unfortunately, you’re a size 16 so you keep walking to the ‘plus size’ department.

While almost 7 out of 10 of us are “plus size” you wouldn’t know it by the typical department store layout. The plus size department is usually devoted to an incredibly small area within the typical department store. Only sunglasses get less floor space in a typical department store.

There, in the isolated area for womens plus size clothes, you’ll find an odd assortment of sweat shirts and evening gowns within inches of each other. The options for plus size clothes are limited to say the least.

If you’re lucky, you may happen to find a professional looking plus size business suit crammed amongst the knit pants with elastic waists and the gawd-awful huge floral prints.

When luck shines upon you and you do happen to stumble upon an outfit suitable for the office, grab it immediately and mark the day of the week and the time, because you’ve obviously discovered the day when the merchandise arrives and is put on the floor.

That’s what infuriates me about trying to find professional plus size business attire.  I know that I’ll occasionally get lucky and stumble into a department store just after a new shipment has arrived because I’ll actually find a decent selection of clothes to wear to work.

I’ve tried to the whole “Gee – I’ll think about it” only to go back – sometimes hours later – to find the rack picked clean – like a week old animal carcass on the Serengeti Plain.

That’s why I’ve begun shopping online for plus size business attire. Check out the Business Woman’s Guide to Dressing Professionally for more tips on how to look professional at any size.