Where are the plus sized clothes in a thrift shop?

Thrift shops or vintage stores are getting a lot of hype presently in Bangladesh. Personally, I love seeing people thrift shopping and truly admire the fits they put together. However, as a person whose shoulders aren't exactly a size 14 and whose waist isn't a "perfect" 36, I can't help but notice the disappointing lack of plus size friendly clothing in the online boom of Bangladeshi thrift shops.

If we look closely into these marketplaces, it can be observed that most of their clothes, from dresses to pants, are suitable for petite females who have smaller waist and bust sizes. It seems impossible to find clothes in L or XL, let alone XXL, even for men.

Similar circumstances are seen in the case of thrifted shoes. To find shoes for chubby feet in Bangladesh is like finding rare gems.

Unavailability of and inconvenience about clothing create difficulties for many people. Clothes for plus size men and women cost much more than regular clothing as they are found mostly in exclusive stores. Not every obese person can afford high-end clothing, so it is clear that plus sized people with affordability concerns face various issues while shopping.

So, why exactly is plus sized apparel so hard to find in thrift shops?

To answer this question, the first thing that pops into mind is the lack of plus size clothes in the overall clothing market in Bangladesh. In spite of holding the third position in the world garments manufacturer ranking, the garments in Bangladesh are not quite accessible for all types of bodies.

The big brands which import our manufactured clothes are not plus size friendly, except for some aspects of their business which are performative. As a result, among the clothes that are left behind to sell in the local market for us to wear, finding plus size fits can be very hard.

Therefore, when plus sized people do buy outfits that fit them, perhaps they do not consider donating their clothes because they want to wear that outfit as long as they can. If you want to donate your clothes to a thrift store, it cannot be in a worn out condition which means the lack of availability is the reason why pre-loved plus size clothes are given away for thrifting so rarely.

In addition, thrift shops in Bangladesh have little diversity in general and not all of the clothes are pre-loved in these shops either. This is mostly because people often confuse reselling products with thrifting as well as think of thrifting like distributing winter clothes to charity. As thrifting is a newly emerging industry, the condition may improve but keeping in mind the matter of body diversity, local thrifting really needs to reinvent itself soon.

Nadeemah always wraps her head around what she's going to eat next and thinks that the glass at her bedside table is half- full. Say hi at nadeemahafrose13@gmail.com