Asia's 'big' shopping problem
Even though countries like China are "getting bigger", being plus-sized can be particularly demoralizing in Asia’s cosmopolitan cities, where weight-watching is practically a national pastime. “You switch on the TV in Singapore and it’s all about slimming programs, slim is good, slim is beautiful,” says Erica Sim, 30, owner of shopping portal Big n Beautiful. She has dreadful memories of Singapore’s Trim and Fit (TAF) program, which forced diets and exercise on students deemed overweight. “It was so embarrassing to be skipping rope in front of my friends who were enjoying their break-time snack.”
Erica laments the limited clothing options for larger Asian women. “If it’s available, it’s at a non-affordable price. If it’s affordable, the design is ugly; very aunty-ish.” To make matters worse, some shop assistants are downright cruel to customers. “We have swapped and shared horror stories of curvy ladies entering boutiques and being turned away with a curt comment, or getting unfriendly stares and jeers,” write Candy Chow, Daphne Aw and Wendy Chow of Big On Attitude, a Singapore-based web shop for “bold, beautiful wear.”
Quite a few foreigners, who are not considered large in their home countries, suddenly run into difficulties when buying clothes. Owen Rosa, 33, is a business developer who has lived in Japan for over ten years. At 6 foot 1 (183 centimeters) and a muscular 200 pounds (93 kg), he’s given up on visiting local shops. “Sometimes, the clerks will ask me to try something on, but most of the time I can’t even put it on all the way. It would always create a feeling that foreigners are not wanted in Japan.”
The good news: Asia has a growing number of choices for large and tall shoppers -- as well as communities that celebrate plus-sized beauty.
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