This week saw the launch of River Island Plus and if you follow any plus size bloggers on social media you’ll see that the launch caused quite a stir. River Island is a high street brand that many people have lusted after and so it’s a range that has been a long time coming.
Here’s What I Would Have Spent – River Island Plus
I felt bitter sweet about the launch, like I often do with ranges like this. On one hand it’s brilliant to see another high street range offering more options, on the other hand it’s a range that stops at a size 24 – again.
One of the saddest things for me was the excitement of other bloggers that were able to try on their clothes. Perhaps its a touch of the green eyed monster but I couldn’t help but feel disappointed that more people weren’t talking about the lack of size choices. Of course if I was a size 22 I would be excited that another option were out there, but I would like to think that I would still be waxing lyrical about how many people are excluded from such a range!
Anyway, I digress…. As per usual with #HeresWhatIWouldHaveSpent I wanted to tell the brand what I would have bought should I have been able to shop with them. There’s a few others on social media doing the same thing today so feel free to check out the tag on Instagram and Twitter.
Would I have bought all of these? Probably not. Would I have bought some? Yes! Would I have liked the option to add RI Plus to my list of retailers when looking for a new outfit to buy in the future? ABSOLUTELY!
River Island Plus
Talk of the new RI Plus range on social media soon led to discussions about how much the River Island range missed out. With Lauren from Pocket Rocket Fashion pointing out the items she would have bought from the straight range, should they have extended the sizes on those
As you can see, she found plenty that she would have spent her money on – if only River Island actually wanted her hard earned cash.
Diana followed suit, with again plenty of ways she’d have given River Island her money if they accepted it!
It’s an interesting debate – why do so many ranges stop at a size 24? How do they decide which items to include?
I have asked brands before if their research shows that they SHOULD do this – IE they sell much, much less at a size 26 or is it just because 24 is on the more “acceptable” side of plus size? As yet I have been unable to get an answer!
So RI Plus; #hereswhatIwouldhavespent and I am not alone. In my opinion you are really missing out by excluding me and others like me!
Debz xxx
Debz Louise is a plus-size blogger based in Yorkshire. Behind many nationwide campaigns such as #WeaAreTheThey & winner of Best Blogger at the UK Plus Size Awards, she talkas about life as a plus-size 40-something woman in South Yorkshire.
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