A woman has gone viral on Instagram showing how brands are failing to provide real plus size items that fit.
Katie Sturino, from New York, has been calling out major retail brands including Zara and Club Monaco under #MakeMySize for making supposedly plus-size items that are too small to fit curvier bodies.
Sharing pictures of herself trying on clothes supposedly made to fit a size XL or bigger, which have been collated by Bored Panda, she revealed the items actually barely fit her body due to vanity sizing.
From size 14 tops too small to fit her chest to pairs of jeans not going over her thighs, Sturino highlights the fact that the brands are doing the bare minimum when it comes to their plus size offerings.
Fashion blogger Katie Sturino calls out brands who offer size 14 and plus that are too small on Instagram. In this snap she shows these size 14 jeans by Frame do not fit her thighs
Other women have been encouraged to share their experience. A woman showed that this Cotton On dress, which she picked in a size she thought would fit her body, did not have enough room for her breasts
In some pictures, she showed that the issue impacts men also, depending on the brand, calling out Abercrombie and Fitch for advertising an ‘inclusive’ initiative, while failing to make items available in bigger sizes.
She inspired other people to do the same, and has even gathered the attention of some brand, who promised to do better to answer the needs of their clientele.
After growing frustrated with sending most of the clothes she ordered online back because none of the sizes fit, Katie decided to document how difficult it was to navigate sizing while shopping.
She particularly criticized vanity sizing, a retail strategy that sees size 6 items being labelled as a size 2 to stroke customer egos, saying it promotes a mentality of ‘thin only.’
In this picture, Katie called out Club Monaco’s size 14, which did not fit neither her cleavage for her frame
Snapping herself in the fitting room of a Ganni store, Katie revealed her frustration at the fact she could not move in their clothes
In jeans from Paige Denim. Katie admitted that she applauded the work of the female-founded company, they could have done better to offer more sizes
The influencer called out the brand Ganni for only catering to small sizes, and showed their items barely fit her bust
Katie called out Tory Burch for this floral dress. She admitted the brand had done a lot to be inclusive, but needed to push their efforts further
Katie remarked that the issue also happened in the UK, where brands like LK Bennett also offered size 14 that did not fit
Katie also said that some sportswear brands, like Helly Hansen and Marmot offered size XL and XXL that were more adapted to the bodies of size 10
In her posts, Katie calls on brands to do better and offer bigger sizes that are actually adapted to the measurements of size 14 and bigger. Pictured in a dress from Diane von Furstenberg
In some instance, the dress sizes are so small that Katie is unable to move in the garments she tried on. Pictured in a Sandra dress
The influencer showed that the issue affected men as well. She called out Abercrombie and Fitch for advertising ‘inclusive’ sizes but not following through with items that did fit size 14 and more
Some ‘plus size’ items Katie tried on were so small, they could not even fit both her arms and bust
Katie called out Canadian brand Aritzia for carrying no size bigger than the size 12, and revealed their stock for plus size items were extremely limited in store
Pictured here with fellow body positivity campaigner Hunter McGrady in items from Joie, showing the store’s biggest items would not fit them
This jumpsuit from Club Monaco was so small, Katie could not lift it above her waist.