We’ve still got a lot of catching up to do, but brands are definitely getting better at realizing that all women do not top out at size 10. One of my favorite brands for chic classics is Vince; this satin slip skirt is kind of subtly sexy, and the blue is just so good. I do wish Vince went higher than size 3X, though.
11 Honore is a luxury style commerce site for extended sizes, and they’ve got their own in-house brand that’s pretty great. This wide-legged jumpsuit just looks so easy and cool.
Ava & Viv is an in-house Target brand that traffics in well-executed basics, like this cardigan, which is very well-priced and pretty cute too.
Universal Standard reminds me of Gap in its heyday: they offer cooly classic pieces to mix and match as you wish. This button down comes in a few good colors, but I dig this black one.
Pretty much everything at Old Navy is offered in sizes up to 4X; I’m especially fond of this shirt jacket, which comes in several good colorways.
Dia & Co offers slightly trendier pieces like this sweet and stylish dress.
Mango’s extended sizes selection is pretty robust and goes up to size 20. This shirt dress just looks like the easiest thing to throw on when you don’t know what to wear.
Girlfriend Collective offers activewear in sizes up to 6XL. These leggings have a nice, high waist.
Beyond Yoga also offers workout wear, and extends to size 4x. This hoodie just looks so comfy and roomy.
Eloquii goes up to size 28 and a lot of what they stock is on the younger and trendier side, but there is also a lot to covet—like this cool vest, the likes of which I have been craving.
And finally, Madewell is for sure the best place to look for denim—they go up to size 28 and have so many fantastic offerings, like these straight leg jeans, which have such a good dark wash.
Thank you! I’m a big fan of Universal Standard and have purchased winter coats, jeans and basic dresses from them. And I applaud the Old Navy, Gap, Athleta, J. Crew, Madewell, etc. for expanding. I know there have been some complaints that anything over a 16 not being available in stores, but since I do most of my shopping online anyway, it’s less of a concern for me.
Now if more companies made women’s shoes over a size 10 (and stores actually carried them) I’d be happier. Even Birkenstock has limited their widths for women’s designs lately. I’m ok with wearing the regular width men’s styles, but sometimes a big footed girl still wants to wear something shiny.
Seconding. I wear size 12 in women’s shoes and the only good thing I can say is that I’ve never had the problem of too many pairs to choose from.
11 / 11.5 here! In the past, I’ve had decent luck with J. Crew, Loeffler Randall, and Tamara Mellon, plus Nordstrom, N. Rack, and Off Fifth generally; wear men’s 10 in Allbirds tennies; also love M. Gemi, whose 42s fit me well: https://mgemi.com/.
P.S. Anyone else here from SF? As a Peninsula kid, by age 9 wearing a size-9 shoe (and growing) – – which was a full size above the highest available size *anywhere* back in the ’70s – – my mother used to bring me quarterly into the City, where we found lots of options at a shop called McBee’s Shoes for Women in Hard to Find Sizes. (It was decades before it occurred to me to wonder whether the *shoes* or the *women* were of hard-to-find sizes.) Encountered the most fascinating crowd there — a mix of tall college girls, hat-wearing Black women, and drag queens. Quite an eye-opening experience for a suburban 4th grader … (-:
I’m always glad to hear about brands I didn’t know about! Especially since I think Madewell has fallen down on the extended sizing collection recently. When I look, it seems like all they have are jeans and activewear. Very little of the cute stuff.
I checked out their dresses. some are cute, but not always the greatest color choices. not all of us look great in ochre.
Another absolutely fabulous collection of clothing choices,Kim! You are just so great at this! That vest and trouser combo is just a yes!!
That Dia and Co. dress is just about perfect. Also, Girlfriend Collective’s garments are made from plastic post-consumer waste, so double yay!
Old Navy for the win in the casual category! Models show clothing in three different size choices, items are usually available in the same fabrication throughout the sizes, and returns can be processed in stores, like any other purchase. It’s nice to be treated like any other customer.
Wow, another great post! Thanks, Kim!! I liiiike those snake pattern boots.
I do find however that when brands use XL, XXL, and maybe XXXL it’s not truly plus size. The fit is just different. There’s also LLBean, LE, Able, and Nordstrom’s house brands. We need more!
I mean, Vince’s extended size range consists of a grand total of 20 items, and Nordie’s selection of 11 Honoré has 30.
Thanks for this post, Kim. It seems worth highlighting that these are all high street-to-budget brands, except for 11 Honoré, whose very limited selection is usually pretty disappointing. Actual luxury brands down to higher-end mall brands are abysmal at offering anything for above-average customers. The cultural association between weight and poverty in Europe and the US remains very strong.
And XL, XXL, and XXXL means very different things across brands. In some brands, XXL is 14 or 16 whereas in other brands it is an 18. And then of course the measurements for these are very different as well. Tradlands, Nettlestudios, Big Bud Press, Hilary MacMillan, Wray NYC, and Elizabeth Suzann also have extended sizes in a variety of types of styles. Rachel Antonoff also makes limited styles in extended sizes.
Kim, as ever, thank you for covering plus sizes!
It says Madewell jeans go up to size 28 – that doesn’t seem very big?
Gaby, the jeans are probably sized 0-28, not waist size where a 28 would be like a 4 or a 6. It certainly makes it confusing!
These are great, Kim, thank you! I was just sitting here the other day thinking I wanted a vest and wondering if that was crazy.