What does Lulu Lemon have against fat people?

I have no problem with the sizes LULU carries, as there are many stores out there where their XL is a joke. My problem is the price, but that's cause I am cheap. Luckily, I work in a second hand store, so I can get LULU's cheap. I have a few in my closet that are goals. Personally, i like the athletic wear from Walmart, they go up in plus sizes and don't cost an arm and a leg.

ALSO I JUST WANT TO SAY ONE THING FOR EVERYONE WHO THINKS "FAT" PEOPLE CAN'T WEAR SPANDEX.

BULLSH!T!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

WORK OUT THOSE SPANDEX YOU GUYS. IF IT FEELS GOOD DO IT. Wear your SKINNY JEANS in a size 16+, wear your cute little leggings with your boots and adorable tops!!!!

TALL GIRLS (AND BOYS HAAAAY) WEAR YOUR BIG 'OL HEELS AND WERK.IT.OUT.

It's ALL about HOW YOU WEAR IT : WITH CONFIDENCE.

If the "skinny" folk are the only ones offended with your SPANDEX WEARING-that's really TOO BAD FOR THEM. Drives me freakin nuts when people limit their fashion desires because of their physical shape.

I think EVERYONE looks GLORIOUS NAKED!

EVERYONE HAS THE RIGHT TO WEAR SPANDEX OOOOK?!?!?!

Could it perhaps be that as a business their goal is to make money? The target market for a company sells exercise clothes would be people that exercise, and I'm guessing this group tends to be a more fit group.

Demand for exercise clothes is most likely higher from more in shape people, there for supply will be great for exercise clothes that fit in shape people

This! It's a business and part of that is supply and demand. Bigger people are on average probably less likely to buy tight workout clothes. It was probably a business decision not to spend the money on producing a product that is not going to sell as well.

It's a business, like others have said. If the market demands are there, I'd bet my *kitten* they'd be selling it. No business is going to take a loss because some niche feels left out, and they shouldn't be forced to do so (unless it's a safety issue). I want a Rolex, but I'm not in the income segment they market to..... and I don't feel that they somehow have an obligation to accomodate my wants.

OP - I'm giving you a virtual hug right now.

I do agree with the comments and opinions that as a company, they don't have any obligation to sell their items in different sizes / styles / etc. They're a private company, and as one commenter put it, they can cater to the group of their choosing.

BUT - OP, I %100 sympathize. It's disheartening, it's frustrating, it feels unfair and even cruel. I totally hear you! It majorly sucks that this seems to be a common theme. There are some golden companies that do cater to ladies who need bigger sizes though, and well worth hunting down.

This is a great column in general, and I remember the author writing about this a while ago - http://www.marieclaire.com/fashion/tips/plus-size-activewear?click=main_sr#slide-1 she shares some good go-to companies.

I always swore that I would boycott them when and if i fit their stuff...but I'm buying it because it's great quality.

Their sizing does run big. I wear and 8 and I'm no where near an 8 in any other clothing. In my opinion in some cases the size 12's could fit someone that wears a 16-18 depending on how you are proportioned.

You are correct that it is hip to be seen in LuLuLemon. Where I live everyone parades around in it even if they are not going to workout! LOL The stores are always a zoo!

I get a kick out of how high their men's sizes run though.

I do feel they discriminate, but it's their choice if they don't want their labels seen stretched on body's it shouldn't be unfortunately.

many retail shop that don't sell Plus sizes have employess that will look at you a little strange when you are in there.

You are not alone. I will never forget the day that I took my daughter to Victoria's Secret to look for some panties and bras, and as I was searching the racks, some petite young lady came up to me and said, "Can I help you ma'am?" I just answered that I was looking for a particular bra, and before I had a chance to explain what I was looking for (for my daughter), she said, "Well, we don't sell your size here." I was horribly offended and embarrassed. Not that I shop at VS for myself; I know they don't carry my size. I go to Lane Bryant for that kind of thing, or Hanes outlet. But really - to spit that out without having any idea what I was doing and just making assumptions based on my size.

It's a business, like others have said. If the market demands are there, I'd bet my *kitten* they'd be selling it. No business is going to take a loss because some niche feels left out, and they shouldn't be forced to do so (unless it's a safety issue). I want a Rolex, but I'm not in the income segment they market to..... and I don't feel that they somehow have an obligation to accomodate my wants.

Well said

Honestly, I would write a letter of complaint to their head office.

I get the business model that it isn't cost effective to keep the 'fringe' sizes in the stores, but being heavy and short - I HATE buying anything without trying it on. So, I particularly hate purchasing clothes on-line. I have (for the most part) come to terms with that fact that I have to just deal with it.

I am ecstatic that NIKE in the last year+ has started making and selling plus size workout gear.

They carry a small selection in the employee store, so I have been lucky there. I think the stores for the general public don't carry as much if any, so even there most people would have to order on-line. The sizes aren't too far off though. The 2X shirts I bought a while back, that were too tight at first fit well, to almost loose now. My 3X yoga pants are definitely too big now.

I used to get all my workout stuff from Just my Size, and I think several stores carried that brand.

Good Luck!!

You should send them a letter via facebook, email, twitter, etc. I really like the clothes at RW & Co. but they do not sell petite sizes (I'm only 5'0'') so I many of their items are too long. When I asked a clerk if they had a petite section she said they did not but that I should voice my opinion to the company because MANY people would like that option. She continued to say that because of customer opinions, the company launched a plus size section. So, I wrote to the company and they told me, due to popular demand, they are considering it Maybe LuluLemon needs to hear from the customers

^^^ this. Its a possibility that they just don't sell many plus size workout clothes, thus it wouldn't be good for their business to keep them in stock. Perhaps you can order them online? When it comes down to it it's a business trying to make money, if something doesn't sell well it wouldn't be smart to carry it. And if it sells well it wouldn't be smart not to carry it.

Oh I could go into a whole rant about women's plus size clothing, and the clothing industry in general. Plus size men have it easier, and I don't care what anyone says. I have no idea why the clothing industry is so prejudice against my money. Isn't my dollar as good as a size 12 dollar?? If I get to the point that I can no longer shop at Lane Bryant I will make sure to keep purchasing from her sister companies and give them my hard earned money for clothing. I will probably go back on my word, but I would make it a point to only bUy from stores that dont discriminate from size. Sadly that means no Dolce and Gabana or Prada. Oh well guess they dont want my money. GRRRRRRRRRR!

I could say the same about clothing for petites, and you can just forget it if you're short and small(especially if you aren't built like a boy). Why would anyone think that giant paisley prints and monstrous flowers look good on short/small people? I have to generally buy more expensive clothing to find nice looking clothes that fit half way decent.

Near as I can tell, the fashion industry's job is to drive everyone BFN.

Isn't that the truth according to the fashion industry you are supposed to be 5'10" and weight 110lbs.

They probably don't sell larger sizes because they just wont sell them. It doesn't make sense for every shop to carry large sizes, especially expensive workout gear. The people on MFP are not the majority of overweight people — we are the minority, who want to lose weight. Lululemon probably doesn't believe they will sell enough larger seized clothes to make up for stocking it.

You are correct that it is hip to be seen in LuLuLemon. Where I live everyone parades around in it even if they are not going to workout! LOL The stores are always a zoo!

I get a kick out of how high their men's sizes run though.

I do feel they discriminate, but it's their choice if they don't want their labels seen stretched on body's it shouldn't be unfortunately.

THAT'S NOT FAIR! I guess no one said life was fair though. How come it's cool too see a burly sweating hairy heavy man in Lulu wear? Why would it be horrible to see a heavy woman working hard and trying to get her body healthy? Makes me want to buy the clothing and stretch my size 28 lard into the pants just to make it uncool! MWAHAHAHAHA evil fat lady plans coming together.

I had a similar 'experience' with MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op)... a popular outdoor clothing/gear store here in Canada. It's one of our favourite stores, as we have purchased the majority of our backpacking/wilderness camping and canoe equipment from them.

I am a tall, buxom, curvy woman, and generally take a size 16. At the time, I was looking for a waterproof shell jacket for our back-country canoe expedition. I can't convey how frustrating it is to walk into a *huge* outdoor department store FULL of awesome clothing, only to try on coat after coat with NO near-fits at all. Mens sizes go up to 2XL but oddly enough women's clothing does not (the largest I have seen in the women's dept. is an XL which does not fit true to size - fits more like a 12/14). Online there are some XXL sizes, but only a few pieces with very little selection. Why is that? I shudder to think that it's because the company thinks plus-size women do not participate in outdoor activities.

I asked one of their staff if there were any XXL clothing and they pointed me to the men's section. Embarassingly, I had to resort to trying on men's 2XL jackets, and while they "fit", they were obviously made for a man's shape and looked absolutely ridulous on my shapely woman's frame. Even my husband was frustrated when he saw the ridiculous sizing in the women's dept. and tactfully mentioned it to one of the staff members - who basically shrugged us off in a very snotty manner. We left the store very disappointed.

Also as a side note, we noticed that most of the larger sizes (L, XL) were always 'sold out', with only S or XS left on the rack, so there is obviously a demand for the larger sizes!

I came home and wrote a letter to the company. To their credit, they replied quickly with something to this effect:

"While MEC has a mandate to support our members in achieving the benefits of outdoor activities, we need to do so in a financially viable manner. Under our current business model, we are not able to offer as wide a range of sizes and colours as our members would like, as the inventory costs of doing so would be unsustainable. Our Buying department continues to consider options for better meeting the fit needs of members at either end of the size scale. We appreciate the trust that our membership has in MEC and our members’ desire to shop with us rather than the competition – it does however saddle us with “large shoes” to fill. For example, Eddie Bauer operates 370 stores and does over 1 billion in sales whereas MEC operates 15 stores and does 250 million in sales; we also choose to place a lower margin (or mark-up) on our goods at 34% as compared to 43%. It can be taken as a compliment that we are compared to the large US clothing retailers but, at this point we just to not have the volume to offer the range of sizes they do. "

Perhaps such is the case with Lulu Lemon and other such stores. If you wrote them a letter you would probably get a similar reply (if any at all).

I look at it this way ... by not offering sizes that fit more demographics, they're hurting their own sales.

Give someone else your business - they obviously want it more anyway!

THIS!!!
In my case, Eddie Bauer ended up getting my money - got an awesome waterproof jacket and it fit perfectly!