Why stores are cutting back on plus-size clothes

Why stores are cutting back on plus-size clothes
Here's a story I found today on financialpost.com
This one brings up so many issues for me as a retailer and manufacturer of "plus size" (their term, not ours) clothing. I can't help but find it annoying that it's the same old arguments being dragged out of the closet over and over. I especially find this paragraph ridiculous...

Cost is also a factor. Because they require more fabric, larger sizes are more expensive to manufacture. "The cost of clothing is disproportionately in the materials and not the labour, due to the shift in production to low-wage countries, which means that it is going to be more expensive to produce clothing for large-sized women, and more resources will be tied up in garments on the racks," notes Susan Ashdown, a professor in the Department of Fiber Science & Apparel Design at Cornell and a leading researcher on improving apparel fit. Imagine the fury that would greet prices that went up with dress size.
First of all, what's the difference between a size 0 and a size 12 in fabric usage? Quite a lot actually. To suggest that we can only "Imagine the fury..." if prices went up with dress sizes is so insulting. The cost of clothing being manufactured does go up slightly as the amount of fabric increases in larger sizes AND in smaller sizes. Don't you think that the average price is decided upon in small sizes and a size 0 is cheaper to make than a size 12? And furthermore, let's be clear, larger women DO pay more for their clothes already. Imagine the fury!!
We are all paying the "fat tax" when we shop, being told that we have to pay more and then receive less styling so the sizing fits more people makes me feel less than special, how about you?
There's a lot of food for thought there but I still can't help wondering why, if they are trying to be respectful, the photograph accompanying the article is of a larger woman, obviously working out in work out clothes including under boob sweat stains and tight clothing and yet they cut off her head so you can't see her face.Why not show her face and give some dignity to the larger woman's image?? I think her body looks fit and strong but what is the photo trying to illustrate?
I am so sick of these type of photos that are used with every single "news" story concerning larger sized women.
Read the article for yourself and let us know what you think.
Use the comments section below.

Shared via AddThis