Earlier this month, Lululemon Founder Chip Wilson shared his opinions regarding why he thinks women’s yoga pants don’t work for every woman. His reasoning basically centered on blaming women and not the fabric; that the sheerness and pilling that occurs stems from how a woman uses the pants, the rubbing of her thighs and how much pressure is put on the pants.
Many were outraged, bothered and just simply thought that his comments were ridiculous. One person, Tony Posnanski, whose blog “The Anti-Jared” details his own weight-loss journey, decided to conduct his own investigation into the world of women’s yoga pants and ended up seeing how inconsistent women’s sizing truly is. He wrote about his experience and afterthoughts in a great article for the Huffington Post, titled “Dear Lululemon: I Am a Plus-Size Woman Who Has Never Ripped a Pair of Pants“.
Tony is a size medium in men’s clothing but as he wrote in his Huffington Post article, in women’s sizes, he is far from a medium. Tony, who weighed 420 pounds in 2008 and has since lost over 200 pounds, shared his experience in the article in such a heartfelt and genuine manner that we had to talk to him ourselves and see what his thoughts are on retailers offering plus sizes, the inconsistencies of women’s sizing, body image and more.
We were inspired by what Tony had to say and hope you will be, too.
PMM: What made you decide to do your own investigation into women’s yoga pants?
Tony: I read an article on the comments Chip Wilson made. I thought they were ridiculous so I told my wife I was going to try on a pair to put it to the test. My wife told me I would never fit into a pair of Lululemon yoga pants. I live about 45 min away from a Lululemon store, so I went to Target instead and tried on a pair of size 12 yoga pants, which is the largest that Lululemon makes for women. I could not ever come close to fitting in them. So I wanted to see what size I really was. I went to a “Avenue Plus” atore and asked a sales associate. She told me I was a size 20 and proved it by putting clothes up to me.
PMM: After your experience with women’s clothing, you said in your Huffington Post article:
“There is a double standard for men and women. Chip Wilson is way wrong about his pants. They are made wrong; it has nothing to do with the thighs or the hips.”
What do you think needs to happen next for retailers like Lululemon to get it right?
Tony: I think there needs to be some accountability. If the founder is being asked about his pants having issues, then there is a problem with the pants, not a one off. I think that retailers need to fix issues with their clothing rather than blame the people who buy their clothing.
PMM: Lululemon isn’t the only retailer to not want plus size customers shopping in their stores. What are your thoughts on retailers offering all sizes? Should retailers offer plus sizes or do they have a right to be selective?
Tony; I think the big issue was that Lululemon was having issues with people that ALREADY fit in their pants. Should retailers offer different sizes? Absolutely. Women sizing is ridiculous! How can you be a size 12 in one thing and a size 18 in another? It makes no sense. And it does have a lot to do with body image as well. When I heard I was a size 20…and I have not shopped in a men’s big and tall store in years (I was once over 400 pounds) I was bummed. But there are women who are a size 12 and run marathons. Who are healthy and who work out every day. Should retailers be selective? Well, first let them truly define what “plus” is since it is so broad.
PMM: As a plus size woman myself, the part of your article that really resonated with me was the following:
“Yet if I was a woman I would have to shop at “plus-size” stores. I would be too large to be a true “plus-size” model. I would be looked upon as the problem for obesity instead of the solution that some see me as.”
The issue here is deeper than women’s clothing. It’s about body image and how women are portrayed in the media. What inspiring words do you have to offer plus size women everywhere now that you have gotten an idea of what we go through and as a someone who has lost over 200 pounds?
Tony: I am truly honored to be interviewed for PLUS Model Magazine. But I think women are beautiful with or without the plus in front of them. I think that women sizing is not correct and that women do have a much harder time than men adapting to clothing sizes. But I will say that we are getting better as a society. And I think we do have many more beautiful women who are role models….all different sizes.
Exactly! Thank you Tony for sharing your thoughts with us and we applaud you for being vocal on this topic that is not talked about enough. We hope retailers everywhere are listening.
You can check out Tony’s entire Huffington Post article by clicking here.
You can learn more about Tony and his inspiring story plus interact with him on his Facebook page by clicking here.
To check out his blog “The Anti-Jared”, click here.
What do you think about Tony’s experience and comments? What are your thoughts on women’s sizing? Please leave us a comment below and let us know what you think.