Thin Privilege and clothing
My roommate is an artist and she sells her designs on t-shirts on Etsy. I help with her business, packaging orders and such. I’ve noticed this really interesting phemonon regarding the sizing of clothing.
Some etsy shops list each size of shirt as a separate listing. We only have one listing per design and ask the buyer to just specify in the buyer notes which size they need. We carry classic and fitted shirts in sizes small through 3x, so there’s a pretty wide range available.
Every once in a while I get an order that doesn’t specify a size. Sometimes it’s because the checkout was confusing, and in this case they always send an e-mail letting us know what size they need. But sometimes the person just never specifies a size.
So I contact the buyer and ask them what size they need. Every time I’ve had to do this, the size they want is a medium. EVERY TIME!
One of them even responded, “Oh, I didn’t realize I had to specify what size.”
That, my friends, is thin privilege. You don’t even have to think about what size the shirt is because YOU KNOW that it comes in your size. Medium is the default size. Of course the shirt is a medium, because that’s what size “normal” people are, right?
In contrast, we get lots of questions about larger sizes. Are they standard sizes? What are the measurements for an XL? Will it fit me if I wear a size 22? Can I send it back if it doesn’t fit?
Because when you are a larger person, finding clothes that fits you is RARE. Finding handmade clothes on Etsy that are anything other than a medium is even more rare. I can’t even count the number of times I’ve looked at a gorgeous screenprinted shirt and gotten really excited, only to realize that it only comes in a medium.
That’s why even though our t-shirt wholesale company charges us TWICE AS MUCH for “plus sized” shirts, we well all the sizes for the same price. So we make a little less on larger shirts, and that’s fine. If a company is going to charge by size, then a small should be less than a medium and a medium should be less than a large. But that’s never how it actually works. It’s “normal sizes” for regular price, and “fat sizes” for double. We’re not going to perpetuate that bullshit.
MMmmhm! I remember when we first started ordering shirts to print on and we realized that it was going to cost double for anything above a Large. I don’t know if we actually discussed it but I would never charge extra just so a customer of mine could get something that actually fits, especially when the small shirts cost the same as mediums, or larges, because you know it’s nothing to do with the actual fabric right then and there. And that is total BS, in my opinion.
I just really hate price gouging, for any reason, but this reason in particular is a thorn in my side. It’s mean and degrading and most people don’t even think about it. Just another reason that all of my shirts will always cost a fair and decent price no matter the size, because it’s the right thing to do. I wish big retailers, or heck even Threadless would catch on to this. There’s nothing quite so disheartening as being invited to a $5 t-shirt sale and then realizing it’s actually an $11 t-shirt sale for you.
