The Great Disappointment

If you follow @fatgirlclothes or @belovedendeavour on Instagram you will remember the bright retro dresses that I posted pics of that many people loved.

I ordered several in sizes 18-22 and had to send them all back to the supplier. Yup, every last one. Reason- extremely poor fit and they were badly made. I was SO ANNOYED. I saw these dresses at Moda in February and I was ecstatic to find bright, unique plus size dresses that I ordered two styles on the spot. The company I bought them from (who shall remain nameless) has been in business for many years and have recently started this new line of retro inspired dresses. I thought- hooray! I’ve not seen them anywhere else and they will look fab on the body. The range of fabrics was splendid too. I eagerly awaited their arrival like a child waiting for Christmas morning and I was sorely disappointed. The dress below is apparently a size 22 and it just about fits my size 18 mannequin. Not only that, look at the gaping bust. I tried it on a friend and a good 3 inches of her bra was left exposed at the sides.

Here is the Darlene Dress from belovedendeaour.com. This is how a good fitting armhole is supposed to look. It’s a size 18 dress on the same size 18 mannequin. If you visit the website you can see how well it fits my model. If you need further proof please see my previous post where the same dress is modelled by Hanna.

Look at this dress below. Do you see any proper bust shaping? Does this dress look like it could contain size 22 breasts? It’s as flat as a pancake. I’m not even going to mention the stripe imbalance.

Other quality control crimes…

Does it cost extra to press the seams after they’ve been stitched?

Why all the raw edges? Can I get some overlocking please?

I thought you were supposed to throw out the offcuts not stitch them into the garment? Also, why is there no straight stitch AND overlock? And does that seam look pressed to you?

It’s a lovely zip but why is it uneven?

There isn’t even anyone in it but the stitches are visible as they are not sewn at the correct tension.

Another uneven zip insertion.

More exposed stitches and rubbish seam pressing

I have waited until I’ve received my refund before writing this post in case the company in question try any funny business.  It’s another example of people trying to cash in on the fat pound without actually trying to make clothes that fit. How many times do you hear that you cannot just size up from a size 10 to a 22 and expect everything to work. If you are going to develop a plus size line you MUST cut the initial pattern to fit a plus body otherwise it JUST WON’T WORK. It’s sad because you all responded so well to the pictues when I posted them and I was confident that I had found a great new supplier that I could keep going back to. They were even willing to develop sizes 24 and 26 for me but if you can’t even get a size 18 right how are you going to perfect a 26? All this during the week that this article appeared on Refinery 29 where a blogger compares her experience of shopping for a plus size bikini in s straight size store and shopping for one from Swimsuits For All that are cut for a curvy figure. Fit is too important for retailers/ manufacturers to get it so consistently wrong. If you really are so unconcerned with creating clothes that fit your customers then just don’t bother having the line. If your primary goal is to make clothes as quickly as possible without any consideration for quality of manufacture then shut up shop. We can do without your insults and will take our money elsewhere.

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