Date:    Thu, 18 Jun 1998 13:54:25 -0400
<br>From:    Wendalyn Nichols <wnichols[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RANDOMHOUSE.COM>
<br>Subject: Re: RE>Plus Size Singles
<br>
<br>Anyone with large female relatives would be familiar with "plus size" - it
<br>was being used during my brief stint as a department store clerk in 1979.
<br>Normal sizing for juniors is odd numbered (5-7-9-11-13 etc.) and for women
<br>is even numbered (6--8-10 etc.).  Women's sizes go on up into the thirties
<br>and forties, but junior sizes don't; they normally go to 15 as a maximum.
<br>Plus sizes are a way of making teenagers feel they're not wearing an 18 or
<br>20 by labeling clothes differently beyond the 15 cutoff.  Different
<br>manufacturers did it differently, but the most common way was to use 1+,
<br>2+,3+ etc. which would really have corresponded to 17,19,21 etc.
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>Grant Barrett <gbarrett [AT SYMBOL GOES HERE] DFJP.COM> on 06/18/98 02:05:59 PM
<br>
<br>Please respond to American Dialect Society <ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU>
<br>
<br>To:   ADS-L [AT SYMBOL GOES HERE] UGA.CC.UGA.EDU
<br>cc:    (bcc: Wendalyn Nichols/Trade/RandomHouse)
<br>Subject:  RE>Plus Size Singles
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>I have a, uhh, rather large younger sister, and I'm pretty sure my
<br>brother and I made fun of her when I was a kid (let's say more than 15
<br>years ago) for the "plus" size clothing. One of the retailers had a
<br>size called "pretty plus" and we changed it to a "fatty plus" which
<br>sounded much better when we taunted her.
<br>
<br>I'm so ashamed.
<br>
<br>Grant Barrett
<br>gbarrett[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]dfjp.com
<br>