NEW YORK (AP) — Maria Giorno has nothing against long
gowns with high waists and flowing fabric — dresses that are designed to
camouflage curves on plus-size women.
But the New Jersey high
school senior had no interest in buying a loose-fitting style for her
senior prom, even though it was all she could find in a size 16 or so at
nearby stores. So many stores, Giorno said, "never have anything that's
a little more sexy or a little form-fitting, or anything like that for
my age."
Clothes shopping for plus-size teens can be frustrating
in general, but shopping for a dream prom dress can be a tear-inducing,
hair-pulling morass of bad design and few options — especially for girls
who want a dress that hugs the body instead of tenting it.
"It's
like people kind of assume that's what I want and that's what I like.
I'm 18. I really like the way the tight dresses look," said Giorno, who
plays roller derby and hopes to study music education in college.
his undated image released by New York City Glitz shows Maria Giorno, 18, a high …
She
finally found one that didn't make her look like a bridesmaid — or
worse, mother of the bride — at a boutique: a V-neck black lace "fit and
flare" style with an open back and pleats above the knee for dancing
ease on her big night.
This undated image released by New York City Glitz shows Maria Giorno, 18, a high …
Consignment shops and organizations that
collect donated prom dresses for girls in need also say they can't get
enough plus-size gowns. Shop owner Kristen Harris went on a mission to
collect them after a teen left her store empty-handed and in tears.
Harris was tagging stock at her just-opened Designer Diva Consignment
Boutique in Abington, Mass., when a plus-size teen shyly approached the
ball gowns.
"I said, 'Hey hon, what size are you looking for,' and
she said 22, and that's when I felt like someone had just kicked me in
the stomach, because I knew I didn't have anything that size," recalled
Harris, who desperately pulled some smaller sizes in stretch fabrics for
the girl. Moments later, the teen was crying in the dressing room.
So
Harris began begging on social media for plus-size consignment and
hunted down her young customer through Facebook, offering a private
appointment and free dress from about 40 she'd collected. "She was so
sweet," Harris said. "I just couldn't get her out of my head."
Operation
Prom, which offers free donated dresses to girls in need in eight
states, has also had to hunt for plus-size dresses. Noel D'Allacco,
founder of the decade-old project, took in about 7,000 gently used
dresses and new ones from corporate partners last year, but only about
700 were size 18 and up, she said. The shortage of donated plus-size
garments forced her to purchase some.
"We are going crazy trying
to get plus-size dresses," said D'Allacco, in Bronxville, N.Y. "We have
this problem, unfortunately, every year. A lot of times we get plus-size
donations and they're not appropriate for a 17-year-old. They're for
your grandmother to wear. It's difficult."
Online options for
plus-size prom dresses have proliferated in the past decade. But
shopping that way for an already difficult fit, along with restrictive
return policies, can feel risky. Giorno was not comfortable searching
for her dress online, yet many retailers carry few to none in stores and
on trend for teens. Many designers don't bother making them in larger
sizes, prospective customers say.
Sixteen percent of women's
clothing sold in the U.S. is size 14 and up, according to the market
research group NPD. But the plus-size women's business has "pretty much
been ignored by the big stores," said Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief retail
analyst.
The shop in Pine Beach, N.J., where Giorno found her
dress, called New York City Glitz, makes it a priority to stock trendy
plus sizes. "There's not that much made," owner Cat Hutton said. "I have
companies that I deal with that only carry up to a size 16."
David's
Bridal, with about 300 stores around the country, estimates half of the
company's prom-worthy choices come in sizes 16 to 22, with interest in
those sizes growing every year, said Marissa Rubinetti, a senior buyer.
"They
do struggle. They may fall in love with something they see online and
they don't have the opportunity to try it on and buy it," she said.
A
decade ago, the company carried a fraction of prom dresses up to size
22, Rubinetti said. Southern stores, particularly Texas, have a higher
demand, she said. Stephanie Mekhjian, manager of David's Bridal in Fort
Worth, Texas, estimated 20 to 25 percent of her prom customers wear
sizes 18 to 22, including some who travel 100 miles or more to shop
there.
J.C. Penney sells plus-size prom dresses online only and
offers just three styles. Target does not sell, in its brick-and-mortar
stores, dressier styles appropriate for prom in any size, but the
company does sell them online. Other retailers restrict all plus-size
clothing to websites.
"Manufacturers are starting to create more
plus-size prom dresses but they are just not as readily available as
traditional size prom dresses," said a Penney spokeswoman, Sarah
Holland.
Phyllis Librach in St. Louis, Mo., knows the heartache of
the dress search as both a mother and a dress designer who specializes
in plus sizes for special occasions. She started her business 10 years
ago after her daughter, now 29, was that curvy girl in tears in search
of the perfect prom dress. They finally had one custom-made after the
teen refused to buy a white wedding gown and dye it for prom.
Librach
now designs and manufactures her own styles, including prom dresses
sizes 14 to 40, which she sells on her site, Sydneyscloset.com, and
through about 125 boutiques. She started out in the business buying
inventory from others, but switched to producing her own after
contacting a company that planned to knock off a gown worn by Queen
Latifah at an awards show.
"I wanted to place an order, a very
nice order, and they said, 'We're not making the dress in any size
larger than 14,'" Librach recalled. "I said, 'Let me understand this,
you're going to knock off an evening gown worn by a plus-size celebrity
and you're not going to make it for plus-size women?' So I got angry, I
got frustrated and I said, 'Damn it, I'll make it myself.' That dress
sold out."
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