Plus-Size Labeling Is Out of Fashion

There’s a makeover of sorts sweeping the fashion industry — but it’s not about what clothes look like. Instead, it’s about how retailers are talking about them.

ModCloth, the e-commerce site specializing in vintage-inspired fashions and accessories, recently announced that it’s removing the “plus” section of clothing from its home page, and is in the process of eliminating plus-sized language from its website. Shoppers will be able to find sizes for a range of body types all in one place on the site, or there will be a way for them to search for pieces that come in sizes above XL via a filter to be called “extended sizes,” which someday could also include petite, tall and other size variations.

“ModCloth’s mission is to help women feel like the best version of themselves, and we believe this is another way we can promote inclusivity,” co-founder and chief creative officer Susan Koger said in a statement. Koger, a Carnegie Mellon University graduate, started the company in 2002 with Eric Koger, who’s now her husband. Employees are based in Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Los Angeles.

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The online retailer conducted a survey about the experience and perceptions of plus-sized fashion. It involved about 1,500 women ages 18 to 35 in the United States who identify as wearing a size 16 or larger. About 60 percent of them reported feeling embarrassed about going to a separate store or department to find their size, the survey found, while about 65 percent said they’d prefer to find their size in the same section as all the other sizes.

Koger and the site’s “ModStylists” witnessed these findings firsthand at its recent pop-up shops in Los Angeles and San Francisco. In these temporary brick-and-mortar stores, styles in many sizes were displayed side by side, rather than in their respective sections, and the response from shoppers was positive. ModCloth also strives to carry styles that are available in many sizes. For...