On September 25th, Nasty Gal announced in an Instagram post that they are extending their sizes.
The popular shopping website announced this huge new drop by saying, “Confidence, fearlessness, and individuality make up the core of who we are, but size inclusivity was not always part of the conversation. Safe to say, we were overdue for a change.” The line is modeled by Alessandra Garcia Lorido, someone I stalk on IG almost every day. This new collection includes all of the jackets, jeans, and flowy tops of our fall wardrobe dreams, and it’s safe to say I was more than excited to get onto the website for the very first time.
If you’re anything like me, you’ve always been a little envious over your straight size friends shopping this super stylish site.
Nasty Gal is one store I can remember hearing all of my favorite YouTubers and even my closest friends talk about, and I frequently checked up on them to see if there was anything on their site I could maybe squeeze into just because I wanted to own something from them so badly. Once I heard about their extended sizing, I texted all of my friends and let my twitter followers know that this was a really big deal. I was even more excited because extended sizing has been popping up pretty frequently amongst my favorite stores recently. Madewell and Reformation, two stores I also longingly browsed, now have extended sizing. I feel like I’m getting lucky, but I can’t help but think that stores should do this from the get-go. But, I’ll take what I can get.
Once I got onto the Nasty Gal website I was even more excited.
The new pieces weren’t grandma clothes or altered versions of straight size clothes. They didn’t say, “Here, go to a completely separate section made just for your bigger body!” I was scrolling the website just as anyone would. As someone that is used to heading right to the plus size area, it means a lot to me when I’m included in the regular shopping experience, not put in a totally different category. There were clothes in my size that are actually my style.
Every trendy piece of clothing that I’ve seen Urban Outfitters offer to my friends that I thought I would never own was right in front of my eyes begging to be bought. My eyes went right to a black lace-up blouse that I have never seen in my size and I went to put it into my cart immediately.
However, I was taken back when I saw the extended sizes weren’t extended by much. I realized they only offered up to a size 18, and yeah, that would just about fit me, but what about girls bigger than me that also got their hopes up by this big launch? A size 24 is pretty standard to go up to in a plus size range, and I was disappointed when I saw this collection didn’t do that. It makes sense, because Nasty Gal is obviously new to the extended sizing game and doesn’t know how it’s going to sell. A lot of companies do this when they’re just starting to sell bigger sizes because they don’t know who is going to buy their clothes, and from a business perspective, it’s probably a pretty smart decision. But from the perspective of a woman that just wants to fit in with her extra stylish besties on a Saturday night, I would be a lot more pleased if this line included more sizes.
While I am so excited to see my size offered on many (affordable) pieces my closet has been waiting for, I can’t help but feel a little guilty for purchasing since I know there are still girls still missing out.
I have faith that Nasty Gal will soon release more sizes as they told People Magazine, “Please stay with us as we hope to introduce an even greater range of sizes in the near future, allowing everyone to enjoy our brand.” Until then, I am staying thankful that more and more brands are recognizing how important it is to carry more sizes. It is big brands such as Nasty Gal that will encourage even more companies to extend their sizing. Everybody and every body deserves to experience fashion and look amazing.