An Open Letter To Forever 21, From A Fat Customer
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Today, I visited one of your Forever 21 stores near me. I know, it was wishful thinking even hoping that there would be a plus size section inside those 3000+ square feet, as so often clothing sizes end at L in your stores. But my best friend had some (Forever 21 plus size) jeans to exchange, and as you can see I'm a plus size fashion blogger, so I thought maybe I'd pick something cute out for myself. I spent $100 ordering things from your store online just last week, like I do most months. It's not easy to find affordable clothing for people my size, and though your size 3x is snug on me I can make it work, and 6 items for $100 ain't bad.
After we show the cashier the jeans that need to be exchanged (because they got holes in the seams within minutes of putting them on), I asked where the plus size section was. "Over here" my best friend says as she starts walking into a corner of the store that I thought was being used as storage. Ok, that may be a bit dramatic. I didn't think that part of the store was actually being used as storage, because I couldn't see that part of the store. Not from the sprawling glass windows outside the store, not from the cashier's station where perhaps there would be a sign that said "plus", not from the center of the store as it hid back behind the lingerie section (which does not carry any plus sizes). I was excited that there was actually a space where my 3x sizes were being held, though. I was impressed! Actual plus sizes in a Forever 21 near me! Better yet, a store clerk helped us find my friends jeans so we could exchange them. No problem.
Then we were left to "shop". It was, in a word, horrifying.
Your entire store is lit with beautiful cool white lighting, and the floors are shiny little tiles of white and gold. There's accessories on walls, and little treasures to be found all over the place. So please, tell me why the sweet hell the tiny plus size corner is dimly lit with yellow lights, no mirrors, and zero accessories on the shelves. In the Forever 21 near me there were entire hanging racks with only hangers on them. No clothes. But of course there were no clothes hanging nicely on the walls... they were all collected into an even tinier corner of the itty bitty room, shoved onto racks that were haphazardly placed so close to one another that nobody could walk between them. I thought for a moment "maybe I'm over reacting. Let's see... does the rest of the store look like this?". No. Definitely not. Even the most crowded sections of the store were clean and tidied.
Now, I am grown. I can do all my shopping online from my incredibly comfy couch. I know where to shop and I have a lot of knowledge about plus size brands. I love the shit out of myself, and have spent a lot of years breaking down the crap that I've learned about my body to realize that I'm totally worthy of cute clothes, just like every other person. Even my, super secure, grown ass, could not help but feel ashamed while I was shopping in your store. I knew exactly what was happening the second I stepped into that Forever 21 plus size section. I knew I was being pushed aside. I knew I was an after thought.
I'm not your target market though, am I? No. Your target is a bit younger than me. I know this because your target market often asks me to review your clothing, asks what my favorites from your store are. Your target hasn't had the time that I've had to learn what is so fucked up about society's attitudes towards fat people. Your target customer may not even have the luxury of being able to shop online, so that they can completely skip over the entire in-store experience. They're young women, who are just looking to feel pretty in some semi-trendy clothes that they can afford. That sounds pretty simple right? It sounds like something everyone should have access to, something anyone could find. It's not. Because stores keep shoving us in tiny, dimly lit corners very similar to your store's set up. So young women, your target audience, continue to feel forgotten, as if their existence isn't even worth the sales dollars.
It's not us, the consumer, who should be forced to feel ashamed when shopping in your stores. Your reckless disregard of fat people's feelings is shameful. You have got to do better than this. We deserve better than this. Year after year, plus size clothing sales increase, and year after year we are relegated to a tiny corner in your massive expanse of sales floor. I watch your plus size swimwear sell out every summer, while you neglect to include plus size clothing in any of your sales.
This is my open letter to you. Asking you to take the time to treat us with the respect and dignity that you treat your other customers. I'm asking you to take the time to make the Forever 21 plus size section reflect the same shopping experience that you provide our smaller counter parts. I'm asking you to help break the cycle of young women that feel ashamed of their bodies, help us to make more girls feel connected and supported by their communities. Create spaces that make people proud to wear your clothing. Bring positivity into your stores, instead of alienation.
I'm over the nonsense, and I know plenty of other women are too. Get with it.
Edited to add: Forever 21 followed up about their attempts to make the Forever 21 plus size section more inclusive. I responded in this article.
Love this letter!!! You need to send it to H&M too! I was shocked by the very, very small section of plus size clothing in the store is visited. Literally two half walls and two rounders, and that was it!!!
I could not agree more! The plus size section in the Annapolis, MD store is shoved into a tiny messy corner on the second floor. (It is a HUGE 2 level store, previously a borders book store.) The shelves are always bare, the tables have random things thrown all over them, and the racks are filled so tightly with hangers that you can't tell what is what. Despite the racks being full there are limited options. It's as if they take the ugliest reject items they have and put them in the stores. I've never bought anything online because I'm one of those ppl who need to try things on. I go in once every 6 months or so with the hope that "maybe it's different" but I am always disappointed.
So true,OMG!You always manage to express your idea in the best way.I support you so much in this,I mean here in Moscow we don't have plus size section neither in Forever 21,nor in H&M and we don't have Torrid which is really sad because it means that nothing in the stores would fit me.So I shop online all the time and get clothing pieces of high quality from Torrid (My size is 14-16) but when it comes to Forever 21...Well,I hardly fit their jeans and they were almost tore when I took them off...I think it's an actual problem that we,plus size girls,have less options that the skinny ones and the clothing of our size usually do not frame our awesome bodies how it should!
I think they may have heard your pleas! At least so in my forever 21 in Vancouver. I walked in to the store and headed back to the usual hole in the corner section you all are talking about and damn near had a heart attack when I saw the plus size section had moved......To the front of the store!! I was shocked. Plus the section was bursting at the seams! A lot of clothing!
Though where I'm located has a huge plus section it's full of xl and 1x. Not only that you have to go up three sizes to fit something as simple as leggings! I'm like so you only go to a 3x but last year I bought the same pair and I was in a 1x are your clothing getting smaller ? I have a bad enough time with tops and even plus size stores do not sell my bra size. I need to write an open letter to lane Bryant. I am also confused about their sizing and why they can't go up in cup size. I'm stuck going to Nordstrom if I need one atm and paying $80 plus. Don't get me started on forever 21 tops. And I have something called thighs make the clothes fit over them. Same for lane Bryant. Thanks for such an honest letter. Oh and my plus section is upstairs and has a section of its own though straight bigger sizes are mixed it. (Wash DC)
I came across this today, and I absolutely love it! I'm probably much older than you, so I know that this has been an issue all of my life! Us fifty plus women, didn't have the social media were we could actually reach out to these companies and hopefully make a change! I'll be sharing this on our fan.
Thank you Valerie! You bring up a great point about the over 50 crowd! I LOVE that the younger generation can connect and get representation via social media if needed.
Thank you so much for this! I went into the Forever21 store a couple of months ago and could literally find nothing that looked even a little bit good on me. I decided to give them another shot today. It was a terrible experience. It took me forever to even find the plus size section, as they had moved it since my last decent into the hell that they are. There were no signs to indicate where it was, so I just wondered around until I finally found it. In a corner. The rest of the store was clean and tidy, but the plus size section was completely destroyed and it was so hard to even find my size in anything. It was just sad. Once I was able to find my size and then walk across the store to fitting room, nothing fit right. It didn't fit my body AT ALL. I'm sure some people are able to find clothes there that fit them well, but for me nothing that I actually liked suited my body type at all. This is why so many plus size women have to go online or to specialty stores and spend a fortune! My friends always have something to say about how much I spend on clothes, but I'm not a size 2. I cant just walk in somewhere and have it fit right. If I could buy clothes that fit me right for $20, I totally would, but I usually can't. I'm onto a whole other issue now lol. Just wanted to state that I totally, wholeheartedly agree with you about Forever21 and to thank you for all of the body positivity. Keep up the great work!!! 🙂
Oh thank you for writing this! I'm an older "fat girl" who has been shamed her whole life. I've dieted and starved myself forever, so that I could literally fit in to the norms. Now that my metabolism and values have shifted I shop entirely in the plus section. When I do come to a place where the section and the people shopping there are enticing I tell the people working there that I feel respected for who I am. The salespeople usually look at me like I have three heads, sadly, but I have to say it out loud anyway. It is so rare.
Girl, I went into Forever 21 in Perimeter mall yesterday and the plus size section was horrible. Mind you it was 11:30am on a Monday not a full day of being open then messy.
Just reading this and wanted to share my own experience of f21. Not only are the plus size clothes located in the basement which is absolutely disgusting the staff themselves are extremely rude and fatist. Because of recent weight loss, I can now fit into some of their clothes. On two occasions whilst being served I was made to feel horrible, the first staff member looked me up and down then commented on what a pretty necklace I was buying subtext because you obviously won't get into the clothes. On the second occasion, I actually overheard a member of staff comment she's too big for them anyway in an undertone. Isn't it my business where I shop and what size I want to buy? The clothes fitted perfectly but that's not the point, no one should make you feel bad like that, it's bullying,
There's such a market for plus-sized clothing. Forever 21 should branch out and open plus-size outlets in major cities and go from there (nothing in the store but plus-size clothing)! They would most likely sell out of everything that's fashionable. Forever 21 -- test this recommendation.
I think that's an awesome idea. They should test it out with pop-up stores, but I think that if they look at the success other brands have had doing the same thing, it's totally an awesome idea!
Hi Corissa! I'm Jei! I stumbled upon your post today, when I entered "Visual Merchandising" into my google search. My goal, was to see the work of other stores to better improve my craft, but I gained much more knowledge than I was after. I'm grateful. Let me start by saying first, how sorry I am for your experience at one of our stores. I apologize to you and the rest of the women who left a comment behind, for the way that you felt leaving. As you may have already guessed, I am employed by Forever 21 as a visual merchandiser. The visual integrity of the store and all its departments are the responsibility of our team. Though this was unlikely our store, I can agree that this is a problem at most our stores and with other companies as well. I am also, plus size. While at our store we work extremely hard to make every corner of our store look phenomenal, even still our brands (men's and plus) do sometimes get the short end of the stick. We are under so much pressure just with our regular merchandise with a new major project happening almost weekly and having only a small window of time to complete sometimes major moves, that our energy can often times be exhausted by the time we reach plus. This is no excuse, and it can be improved by learning to better prioritize and organize our time. Which again, is why I stumbled in here in the first place and why, I am glad I did. It is my goal to better myself, it's necessary in order to improve your shopping experience. So, thank you for sharing your story, it's definitely taught me a lot. Feel free to reach out. I'm at "TheRealJei" on Instagram.
Xo
Thanks for taking the time to respond to this, it means a lot to me and I'm sure it means a lot to people who visit your store as well <3
It is also hard trying to find running clothes and running bras in plus sizes. I guess they assume if your plus size you don't need exercise clothes. Being short and overweight is a challenge for me. Everything is too long, crotch hangs down to my knees, tops are cut too low and sleeves are way too long. It's very frustrating. I agree the plus clothes are shapeless and ugly. I want to wear cute clothes. And what's up with the jeans with no front pockets or very little pockets so it won't fit a phone, or keys in them?
A few years ago, a friend of mine penned a complaint about a manager at one of the stores where we lived. All of the F21 stores in that area had plus size sections except for that one and the manager was very fatphobic. Wouldn't even hire anyone above a certain size. She ended up getting replaced by another manager who brought in a rather decent section that was located in the middle of the store. Then I moved and I hit the jackpot. The store where I live now has a huuuuuge plus size section. It takes up, easily a good 1/3 of the store. They have a really large plus size markdown section, and it's kept neat and clean and stocked. The staff there are super friendly, too.
My only problem with their plus sizes now is that a lot of them are really short or need more fabric in the breast area. I sometimes have to go up a size just because of my boobs and then it's a hit or miss if it fits elsewhere. Their waist lines seem to sit awkwardly too, compared to other plus size stores such as Torrid.
Thank you for this, I was just on the Forever 21 website, trying to find a plus store near me. The default store locator no longer has a "Plus" checkbox and doesn't seem to work anyway (no stores found near me?!?).
I found an older store locator--which told me my local store does, in fact, have a Plus section! Just called them to confirm. I told them I walked RIGHT PAST me their store on Thursday, since there was NO indication in their front window that they had my size! They are losing money!
Hi everyone,
Im not really sure this is the right place to ask this, but I am a plus size woman from the UK visiting Las Vegas in November this year.
The offering of affordable plus size fashion in the UK is small, with perhaps only one or two stores selling on trend fashion pieces, The rest may sell a style for an older person ( I am 36).
Does anyone have any pointers for good plus size shopping in Las Vegas. We are there for 5 nights only but I was hoping to grab some clothes for winter.
I have been told that Torrid may be a good store to visit?
There's only one Forever21 in Pittsburgh that even has a Plus section in-store -- it's a small section, they don't carry everything they do online so most of the time I have to order online. And every time I go in there they are using that section as the 'stock' area so you have to push wheeled racks out of the way or sometimes cannot even access the clothes you might want to look at. It's always a mess and it's as if they don't give a crap and are just selling Plus because they feel like they have to -- disgusting.
Thank you for posting this. It has been a long time since I've felt ashamed of even asking if there is a plus size section, here in the stores of Puerto Rico. Only one store had a visible plus sign but the area was disorganized and with limited merchandise. What a shame. We deserve more as customers.
I know this is an old post, but I just wanted to say that as a woman who is a size 12 (in between "normal" sizes and plus sizes) that forever 21 pisses me off so much. Their "normal" stuff consists of xxs, xs, m, and very few larges with NO xl in store. But the plus size section is normally too big for me. so, I either have to size down or size up.
I literally typed in google "why did forever 21 remove plus sizes from stores" and this story popped up right on top.
I went to Forever 21 in Glendale CA this past Saturday with my girlfriend. I was hoping to find a little cute something for Easter. I walked the whole store, as from past experience they tend to move around the plus size section (surprise surprise!). I didn't see anything anywhere, until I saw two other plus sized girls hovered in a corner. I'm not exaggerating when I say there was one rack with random items and a piece paper that said 0x-3x scribbled on it.
I turned around and told my girlfriend "let's go". She said she was sorry because she saw my demeanor change. I felt so ashamed in that moment to be plus sized.
Their website comes off as very body positive towards plus women yet rarely can I find a decent item in store. I shouldn't feel embarrassed to want to look pretty but this becomes the norm in store shopping.
This is obviously an experience that is not unique!!! I'm so sorry you had to feel any kind of shame or uncomfortable-ness because of a store being a jerk! <3
@fatgirlflow, just went in their store today and I’ve just recently started shopping in plus sizes and it was also my first time being there so when the highest size was large in everything I looked at I went to the bathroom and cried. I’ve never felt so bad about my body before and I’ve never had a store be that bad on big sizes. Is it completely ridiculous and I hate that so many other people have experienced that.