Where Else Do You Shop?

[Skeskali]

I'm originally from Atlanta, GA where fabulous fat women were the norm, not the exception (except for the Bodacious gals, of course! ). Because I'm from the States, I'm a little spoiled by having no shortage of great plus-sized stores to choose from.

When I moved to Canada 4 years ago, I was surprised at the lack of cute, stylish, sexy clothes in the Lower Mainland. I'm smaller now -- although still very curvy -- and even though my options have opened up a little bit, I'm still struggling with finding great fashion finds for fuller figures.

So my question is: where else do you shop (besides Bodacious)?

[Dee]

We go to the States!

[Skeskali]

Yeah, but that gets expensive, especially when you don't own a car.

[Shanu]

I live in Calgary, so I'm in a much worse shopping place than all of the Vancouver girls. In search of something other than Addition-Elle (every curvy girl in the city shops there, Penningtons (crap), The Bay, Zellers and Sears (nasty old lady crap), Wal-Mart (please) and Reitmans (too small crap in a skinny chick store where the sales weasels give me attitude)...I have started shopping on the Internet. I've had great experiences at Torrid (torrid.com) and Lane Bryant (lanebryant.com), where I can find things that are different than what everyone else here is wearing. Both stores ship to Canada (it usually takes 7-10 days) and the fit has always been great (just make sure to take your measurements). It's a good idea to think about ordering some things a size up if you're not sure, since it's easy to have stuff tailored to fit. Anyway, hope that helps. Happy shopping, everybody!

[Sonya]

I have had great sucess at the MXM store (which I think is affiliated with Addittion Elle), also I know it sounds grim but....I have found a few GREAT pairs of jeans at Walmart, their in store brand is called Bonjour. And another fun , but time consuming endeavor is Old Navy.

[me]

TEXT
I buy a lot of my clothes from Ricki's. I know they have lots of locations throughout BC and I love their selection of clothes. Allthough some of the stores I never seem to find anything i like, and some i could spend thousands of dollars if i had it! They have great stuff for work, like dress pants and blazers, but they also have casual stuff too, but i prefer the dressier stuff.
most of the clothes go up to size 18, but some of the stuff i've noticed goes up to 20 or 22 and they also have short, regular, and tall lengths for their pants. it's pretty reasonably priced and they are always having great sales too.
my personal faves have got to be their great selection of skirts though!

[phenom]

My entire wardrobe is from Pennington's downtown. I'm SOOOO upset they just closed. I can't believe in a city this size we can't keep these stores in business. Now I'm going to have to travel long bus rides to go shopping. Sorry, but Sears and the Bay only go to size 24, and I need 26 or 28.

[Skeskali]

What? They closed the downtown store? When? I know the last time I was in there, they looked a little "light" on stock.

This means that there are no stores (except for the Bay) that carry fashionable plus-size clothing downtown. Not all larger women live in the frickin' SUBURBS!

[Kobemax]

Hi - I logged in to see if anyone in Vancouver had found other fashionable places other than the fab Bodacious. Seems everybody knows the same places I do. Penningtons & Addition-Elle only have stores in the suburbs (although even the Lougheed Mall Addition-Elle has been closed), and I think their stuff is cheap looking. I do buy jeans there as they do carry plus size petite, I am a 16-18, but short! The Bay downtown does have a good plus size section, clothes from INC, Tommy Hilfiger, and other national brands. The Bay at Oakridge though has only crappy, unfashionable stuff for some reason. Everywhere I find that somehow manufactures think if you put on weight somehow miraculous your arms and legs get longer - I find plus sizes tend to be made for someone 5'8" or taller, so I have a real problem. When I was a size 8, I still had the problem of finding petite sizes in fashionable attire.
You can't win.

[kelly]

how come no one has clothes in 2x or 3x and maybe some in 4x....also some really great ethnic inspired caftans would be wonderful... i also never see rubenesque(sp?) on broadway mentioned...they are very pricey but do have larger sizes and lots of business attire... but for putting a smile on your face no one beats lorna and barb at bodacious!!!!!!

[clarice]

I've bought jeans and tons of going out tops and the Mantique on 4th ave. in Kits. They have a great selection of fun and inexpensive tops, skirts and jeans. They are always funky and the latest styles. The girls that work there said that the tiny waifer like girls are always jealous of the styles in the plus sizes.
Oh yeah you poor little things, you only have every other store to choose from.

[clarice]

I've bought jeans and tons of going out tops and the Mantique on 4th ave. in Kits. They have a great selection of fun and inexpensive tops, skirts and jeans. They are always funky and the latest styles. The girls that work there said that the tiny waifer like girls are always jealous of the styles in the plus sizes.
Oh yeah you poor little things, you only have every other store to choose from.

[Kelli]

So I want to try shopping around in the states, tried Bellis Fair, but was surprised at the lack of plus size stuff...where exactly do you guys shop, from here to Seattle, please let me know....thanks

[Jennifer]

The Bay downtown is a great source as well! They have some really fun new lines in.
Sears is touch and go but I like the Nygard (sp?) line, so I always check to see if they have suit jackets on sale there, sometimes you get good ones! And also check Reitmans, they can have some great casual stuff sometimes!!!

For the person from Calgary, try Laura Plus Size, really nice suits and casual wear. I got a killer suit jacket in there on boxing day! They don't have Laura Plus out here but I'm going to write and find out why!!

Oh, and Winners in Park Royal sometimes has Lane Bryant!! The one downtown is all crap!

[Rheannon]

Just wanted to let everyone know that Mantique has decided to stop carrying their plus size collection. I was at the newly renovated store on Granville today and was informed their manufacturer has decided to stop making that line.

Great. One less place to shop. Arg.