cw fatphobia / capitalism || I just remembered a post about how the size of clothes didn't rly change, just the number attached to it and wondered: Is it everywhere around the world that more is charged for clothing when the number is above a certain point? It is where I live (Not any of the Americas), which gives reason to think that this is the other reason aside from diet culture why clothes get their size-number reassigned, yes?
I can't speak to this topic w/ a ton of authority, but I can definitely agree there are soooooo many ways that capitalism and fatphobia interact when it comes to clothing sizing, prices, and discrimination. Oh also, capitalism X fatphobia X sexism specifically too, because a lot of clothes intended for men will use measurements as a size (ex "36 inch waist") while clothes intended for women have an arbitrary number attached (ex "size 10.") Here are just a couple of examples I know off the top of my head: 1. "Vanity sizing" --also called "size inflation" this is where certain retailers have increased their sizes over recent years. The idea is that when you go shop there, if you can assume that the average customer is very invested "the thin ideal" mindset and carry inherent fatphobia within them, they'll get excited when the jeans they buy from the vanity sized retailer is a smaller number than other stores. For example, someone may usually wear a size 12 but at this store they're a size 8, so it makes them happy and they feel like they're a better person for the lower number. So basically, the experience cheats a little to leverage the customer bases' inherent fatphobia to gain and retain more customers and maximize profits. Retailers like Gap, Loft, and Old Navy are the ones I usually hear accused of this. 2. "Exclusivity sizing" --This is when a retailer engages in the opposite of vanity sizing...this describes brands that have made their space in the market by being specifically known for being ONLY available to people in a very limited, small size range. These type of retailers happily give a big "FUCK YOU" to the entire concept of plus sized clothes or an inclusive approach to their customer base. They are looking to repel fat people and attract people who enjoy not being aligned w/ fatness. They can take two approaches I've seen. The first is where their sizes are actually smaller than other places (I often think of Hollister or American Apparel). The second is where the size range is so narrow that it IS the store's brand. Their whole business model hinges on exclusivity, like the old 5/7/9 stores that most folks who remember mall life in the 90s will well recall w/ me.
For these retailers, their customer base gains loyalty and profits are extracted from them by association with being able to fit into the clothes where again, thinness is positioned as BEST. Whether the customers are consciously aware or not, they are buying into an exclusive club of thinness when they shop at these places. I kinda made up the "exclusivity sizing" term/label here, but identifying this concept is not mine.
3. "Size inclusion"--These are retailers who are turning all of this on its head and offering as wide of a size experience as possible. Many of them, like Yitty and Universal Standard, also throw out traditional sizing schemes and invent their own, where a larger body is considered the "normal" one for their customer base. In my assessment, this one is the newest iteration in how clothing retailers gain profits by tinkering w/ size because I can't recall it EVER happening before the past 5-10 years, but I could be wrong. Of course, this approach is also the least fatphobic, but it's not any less capitalistic in nature. Their goal is to still project a brand that makes money off of the market. They're just betting that in 2022, their size inclusive approach will appeal to a certain target demographic who cares about this topic and wants to spend their money with likeminded companies. (Which on that note, if a thin person wants to act as an ally to fat folks on the topic of clothing size access, one quick thing they can do is immediately start buying clothes ONLY from a company that is size inclusive. It'll not only put your $ toward a source that fat people can also access to help sustain it; it'll also real quickly teach you a lesson as an ally about how hard it is to find quality items in like a size 30. And YES the companies that offer clothes in those sizes are often quite expensive.) Anyhoo, I probably didn't answer your question, but there's a wordy reply on what this all brings to mind for me. It's super fascinating but also extremely frustrating to behold.