Like other women who wear sizes over 12, I briefly panicked when I read headlines earlier today: clothing retailer ModCloth was getting rid of its “Plus Sizes.” What?! One of the world’s few sources for cute outfits for a wide range of sizes was giving its plus-size customers the boot? No, it turns out: they’re getting rid of a separate “plus” section on the website.

This echoes the way that physical stores are set up, with the smaller subset of styles that are made in petite or plus sizes segregated in their own section. Online stores often mimic this setup, but they don’t really need to.

Someone who wears an uncommon size can filter through the whole site for items that are only her size, not necessarily by starting on a separate “plus” section of the site.

This push didn’t come out of nowhere: it’s meant to promote ModCloth’s new house brand of clothing. ModCloth has been very successful selling stylish clothes in larger sizes, something that doesn’t seem to interest the rest of the clothing industry for reasons that are complex.

That’s why many of ModCloth’s suppliers don’t make their items in larger sizes. With their own label, they don’t have that restriction and can make the same dress in sizes XS through 4X. At a pop-up shop promoting the label, they noticed something that doesn’t really happen elsewhere in fashion: “women of all shapes and sizes, shopping together in one place, and even trying on the same styles.”

Sizes outside of small, medium, and large have moved to an “extended sizes” tab, which also includes sizes that are smaller, shorter, or taller than the standard small, medium, and large.

#StyleForAll: We’re Retiring the “Plus” [ModCloth]

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