Meredith
19th February 2010, 04:27
I've been lurking on this forum for a few years now, and I still remember the press that the British retailer John Lewis got a few years ago for using plus-size mannequins in its stores:
http://www.judgmentofparis.com/board/showthread.php?postid=2838#poststop
I don't know if the chain continued the practice or not, but the good news is that now, another British store, Debenhams, is set to use fuller-figured mannequins, and this time, they're going to be a size larger than those used by John Lewis. These will be a U.K. size 16, which is variously reported to be a U.S. 12 or 14.
There's a picture and a write-up about the story on the official Debenhams Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36586189@N06/4368122078/in/set-72157623335795207/) page:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2703/4368122078_e49d0f3dbf.jpg
There's also a good write-up about the initiative at the Express:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/159094/Debenhams-puts-UK-size-16-in-its-windows
Here's a nice passage from the article.
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of eating disorders charity Beat, supports the Debenhams trial for giving women a more realistic and attainable goal. She said: “Women often feel it is their fault that clothes don’t look as good on them as they do in the shop window, so we congratulate Debenhams on taking this initiative.”
The mannequins raised a smile among shoppers when they were unveiled yesterday morning.
“We’ve had lots of ladies saying these models make them feel better and lots of men saying they find these girls more alluring than the skinnier models, even though they are made from plastic,” said a shop worker.
That's why plus-size beauty is such a wonderful "cause." It unites men and women, with female customers deriving better self-esteem from seeing more naturally proportioned body shapes, and male patrons appreciating the sight of actual curvaceous beauty.
It's a fine move, and one would hope to see it replicated by all department stores, in North America as well as in Europe.
http://www.judgmentofparis.com/board/showthread.php?postid=2838#poststop
I don't know if the chain continued the practice or not, but the good news is that now, another British store, Debenhams, is set to use fuller-figured mannequins, and this time, they're going to be a size larger than those used by John Lewis. These will be a U.K. size 16, which is variously reported to be a U.S. 12 or 14.
There's a picture and a write-up about the story on the official Debenhams Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/36586189@N06/4368122078/in/set-72157623335795207/) page:
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2703/4368122078_e49d0f3dbf.jpg
There's also a good write-up about the initiative at the Express:
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/159094/Debenhams-puts-UK-size-16-in-its-windows
Here's a nice passage from the article.
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of eating disorders charity Beat, supports the Debenhams trial for giving women a more realistic and attainable goal. She said: “Women often feel it is their fault that clothes don’t look as good on them as they do in the shop window, so we congratulate Debenhams on taking this initiative.”
The mannequins raised a smile among shoppers when they were unveiled yesterday morning.
“We’ve had lots of ladies saying these models make them feel better and lots of men saying they find these girls more alluring than the skinnier models, even though they are made from plastic,” said a shop worker.
That's why plus-size beauty is such a wonderful "cause." It unites men and women, with female customers deriving better self-esteem from seeing more naturally proportioned body shapes, and male patrons appreciating the sight of actual curvaceous beauty.
It's a fine move, and one would hope to see it replicated by all department stores, in North America as well as in Europe.