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In the last few years we have definitely seen an upswing in the quality (cool-ity?) of 'plus-size' fashion. Slicker, trendier and younger designs have been making its way into our closets as retailers and designers started catering to the needs of women. All women.
Shows you how easy inclusivity can be. There will be a lack of variety and a significant gap in the market for as long as people fail to register that people have this need.
To the point of 'plus-size' jewellery. Accessories are always categorised as one-size-fits-all; when this is really (apart from earrings) not the case.
Recently, I was made blatantly aware of said fact when I attempted to put on a beautiful gold choker that I ordered from Los Angeles (off Instagram nonetheless, I know I’m SUCH a millennial).
I couldn’t. It just wouldn't fit. And ha-ha I know it’s a choker, but I didn’t pay good money to turn blue in the face.
Sure, chokers are perhaps the trickiest, but what about bracelets, rings and necklaces? If you consider a very tall vs a very short person wearing the same pendant necklace, the pendant won’t hang the same on these two individuals.
And some of my friends have struggled with bracelets and ring sizing in particular.
So, when Manrepeller.com recently featured 'plus-size' jewellery from an 'plus-size' inclusive brand called Universal Standard, something clicked. And it was not my choker's clasp - because, again, it simply won't close!
Manrepeller.com says that Alexandra Waldman, co-founder and creative director of Universal Standard, told Mic that for a long time curvy women were taught that their size was problematic and that they were unworthy because of it. Unworthy of having nice clothes and jewellery, purely because they weren't petite and slender.
And as with most forms of prejudice, Waldman nails it right on the head when she says the following to Mic, "I think that unless you are a person experiencing it, you don’t know it’s a problem".
It is a problem. Mainstream jewellery doesn't always fit.
Image: Mango
This is definitely an untapped market, as upon Googling this foreign concept as it pertains to the South African context, I only found 'plus-size' jewellery sold on Mango.
Time to tap that (market) boys and girls. Tap it hard.
