Slim pickings for, er, fatties

I AM SURE we are all familiar with phrases like majority rules and catering to the masses. Both suggest there is a truth to the idea of there being strength in numbers. I'm wondering if the world of fashion got the email. Maybe the file was too big for their size 10 inbox and it was automatically relegated to trash mail.

With 66 per cent of us now deemed as overweight or obese, am I the only one pondering why fashion for plus-size people is so disproportionate to the figures?

Check out any clothes shop, for either gender. Whether it be a fashion boutique, department store or fashion franchise, you'll find most racks are allocated to the sizes that only 33 per cent can still fit into. It's madness and for the dimensionally disadvantaged among us, maddening.

Is this acceptable and who's to blame? Does it start with the designer determined to create for the ideal and perfectly proportioned body, or is it the fault of the store's fashion buyers, refusing to acknowledge the growing trend, no pun intended. Either way there is a huge gap in the market that is not being filled.

Two-thirds of a country's population is not a number to be trifled with. It may not be desirable from a health perspective, but it is what it is and it's time someone made a good business decision to stop limiting fashion to the walking dead bone bags of a bygone era.

This swelling majority needs to rise up and demand more from clothing manufacturers. The large need to take charge and let it be known they are equally worthy of wearing fashion well.

How much longer must the masses be content with a handful of racks sporting little more than shapeless mumus and gaudily printed potato sacks? Fat-shaming them into thinking they don't deserve to be taken seriously or have the right to feel good about themselves. Our main streets should be filled with fashion outlets specifically tailored for this large demographic, with names like Waisted, The Junk Trunk, Fat Sells and Hot'n'Heavy.

Why should life's largies be forced to buy anklets as bracelets and wear necklaces as anklets just because the retail fashion world is too ignorant and/or stubborn to adapt to this well-documented change in society.

How long will it be before we see a new franchise of accessory stores called Excessorise? Does no one want the dollars this whopping percentage of people have to spend?

As bizarre as it sounds, one could argue that logic almost dictates the overweight and obese spend so much on food largely because it is one of the very few industries that caters specifically to them.

Not nearly as bizarre as seeing size 8 and 10 shape wear, but it's out there because the size is deemed acceptable. What need would a size 8-10 have for shape wear, I ask you? I can only assume they are purchasing it in order to keep their skeletal frame from collapsing completely. But we have to remember we are dealing with a mentality that insists on making bras for the totally flat-chested, as well as those who charge more for a thong than they do for a full brief. It's that whole less is more message. They give you less and charge you more. Maybe the bone people fall for it because they are weak and delusional with hunger. Who knows, but I think it's safe to say the fashion world is screwing over both ends of the size spectrum.

At the end of the day, the figures don't lie. The plus-size form is the new norm and it's high time the heavyweights of the clothing world embraced the heavier weights of the real world by designing for them specifically.

For people supposedly famed for spotting what's going to be on trend, they have failed on a epic scale to acknowledge a trend that has been growing for years and is continuing to do so. Time to go big or go home.

-Kate Stewart is a politically incorrect columnist who does not suffer fools gladly but does suffer from the occasional bout of hayfever. Your feedback is welcome: investik8@gmail.com