Plus Size Dresses

In my last article, we looked at designer lingo for plus size dresses Let’s take a look at some of the fashion terms that we can use to describe the waistline on a dress.  And it doesn’t have to be for plus size gals, but that’s what we write about here, so we’ll stay on topic as best we can.

If we start high and go low, we actually will run into dresses with no waistline first.  Also called a princess seam, this is dress with lines that run the entire length, from the shoulder and neck all the way down to the hem.  It is thought to produce a slimming effect, and is sometimes called an A-line as well.  I’m not so sure about the slimming effect of any cut, pattern, or garment, but that’s a subject for another post.

Moving along, we find plus size dresses with the empire waist.  This is a cut that has the waist just below the bust line, and is the highest of patterns that actually have real waistlines included.  It is very popular today, and creates an elegant look that goes well with lots of shapes and sizes.

A raised waistline falls lower than the empire, usually about an inch or so above your natural waistline.  More and more today, I see raised waistlines called empires, but it somewhat varies depending on how the dress fits you as well.  A higher raised waistline could be closer to en empire when worn by a different person.

A natural waistline, of course, is one that falls right on your natural waist.  Neither too high or too low, it is probably the most common, or at least has been unti lthe advent of low-cut everything.

This brings us to the drop waist in the world of plus size dresses.  This is a cut that falls slightly below the natural waist, and is a natural compliment to the raised waistline.  You have to be a little careful here, since this is a cut that doesn’t look good on everyone.  You have to have a specific body type to pull it off, and chances are you know if you can or not.

That sums up the standard cuts for dresses, but there is a bit more.  These descriptions have all been assuming a horizontal, straight line.  but that’s not always the case.  Waistlines can come in V’s, U’s, diagonal, and inverted V’s and U’s.  So if we pair up the line with the level, we can get some 23+ combinations that can be broken down in  these fundamental groups, and easily described.

Since this website is about ALL things related to plus, we thought it would be interesting to give a little history on what is probably the most widely recognized retailer of plus size designer clothing, Lane Bryant.  What most people don’t realize is that Lane Bryant is part of a larger corporation called Charming Shoppes that owns such stores as Catherine’s and the Fashion Bug.  Both (Lane Bryant and Charming Shoppes) have an interesting history and weren’t always in the plus size designer clothing industry.

The first public face, outside of the original Charm Shoppes store, of Charming Shoppes was the Fashion Bug stores which opened in the 1960’s. Considered pioneers of computerized inventory management and sales, Fashion Bug stores were wildly popular and expanded quickly all the way through the 1990’s.

In 2000 Charming Shoppes purchased Catherine’s Stores Corporation in an effort to firmly plant themselves into the plus size women’s clothing market, including plus size dresses, plus size outerwear, and plus size shoes. They followed this quickly with the purchase of Lane Bryant in 2001, adding the plus size powerhouse to its already successful Fashion Bug and Catherine’s dynasty. It quickly followed the Lane Bryant acquisition with the launch of Pettite Sophisticate, a store catering to smaller size women.

If we take a look at the company’s financial performance based on their stock price, we see that in 1993 they split their stock, and immediately afterwards saw a sharp decrease in stock price over the next three years (adjusted for split price). That brings us to 1996, a year when the Charming Shoppes successfully remade itself as a socially responsible company by helping women and children in need, focusing on women’s’ health issues, and brining attention to family and financial issues that women face. This program was championed by then CEO Dorrit J. Bern, and marked an immediate, sharp rise in stock price that lasted through the year.

Charming Shoppes stock price continued to fluctuate up and down over the next several years, but moved generally in an upward trend.  Plus size dresses were continuing to slowly climb in popularity.   It was seemingly unaffected by the acquisition of Catherine’s and Lane Bryant, and was in a holding pattern through much of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s.

In 2003 we see a sharp rise in the stock price that has continued through h2007 before seeing any decline whatsoever. This can be directly tied to the opening of the Lane Bryant website to internet sales, a move that brought an incredibly lucrative new revenue stream in for the Charming Shoppes Corporation. Sales have declined in 2008, one can assume in part due to the prevailing economic conditions in the country.

Compared to previous years, sales for the Charming Shoppes Corporation are down $265 million over the first two quarters. That’s 20% of their total sales. Not something to take lightly. Taken as separates, Lane Bryant is down $47 million, Fashion Bug is down $69 million, and Catherine’s is down $24 million. It’s possible that they’ll make up the difference in the second two quarters of the year, but historically they have had very few strong 3rd and 4th quarters.

What does this mean for the plus size fashion industry? Not much, but the Lane Bryant sales figures are a good indicator that there is quite a bit less demand for plus size dresses and plus size clothes so far this year. One can assume this is due in part to less disposable income due to the slowing economy and gas prices since none of the other large fashion houses has seen a comparable rise in sales.