Aug 9, 2011
Lane Bryant used to call their target market “chubby” in ads
I’m not sure when these first two ads are from, but the last one shows that Lane Bryant used the word “chubby” to describe their clientele until at least the late 70′s.
“Chubby Teen Shop” … Wow.
Let’s assume that Lane Bryant’s marketing department wasn’t rude or stupid and that the word “chubby” (and “stout” in other ads) simply changed over the last few years…a lot. Doesn’t it make you wonder what is said without notice in advertising now that will raise the eyebrows of our grandkids in a few decades?
* * * * *
Yes, just like it was PC to call black people “colored” or “negros” didn’t offend anyone back in the day. Something we say now will be non-PC one of these days!
That teen doesn’t look very chubby to me…. and 30″ waist?!?
Agreed. And agreed.
what about the
“plus sized” models today, they don’t look very plus sized to me. They look like average 8-10 sized women. That doesn’t seem very plus to me.
Actually, in the catalogs like Roaman’s, Woman Within, Lane Bryant, and others, the models are NOT plus-sized. I remember one tried using size 14-16 models in ads and the catalog for a season, and the public backlash was tremendous. Not just average people, but women in the target demographic were very upset at seeing the larger models.
Apparently, us BBWs want to pretend that the right outfit will make us look svelte.
The result is that we can’t really tell from the pictures how a garment will drape or hang on our bodies.
Calling Tracy Turnblad . . . .
My mother-in-law recalled another version of curious sizing: “chubette”
Then there were the “husky jeans” at Sears….
Yea but husky for boys sounded a lot better than chubbettes. Both were still are in the 70′s
Chubbette is the barren wasteland I shopped in as a child/teen.
Lane Bryant doesn’t name their clients anymore instead of ‘chubby clothes’ they specialize in ‘plus-sizes’. I think that’s pretty safe. Chubby’s not too bad though, I still enjoy a game of ‘hi, my name is chubby’ with my niece. No harm done.
Right! I never held it against Bess Marvin that she was “pleasingly plump.” And it was totally okay that George Fay had a “boyish figure.”
An elegant ad for a more civilized age.
That kid isn’t a 30″ waist. She’s thinner than me and I’m not even a 30″ waist. Must really have made the kids feel bad if they were calling that drawing “chubby.”
Sears also had chubby sizes, which is what my mother bought for me. The beginnings of my body dysmorphic disorder…
Bless you. I get it. (and got it back as a child, too)
Everybody, including kids, was thinner. Just look at school pictures from the 60′s. (if you’re old enough, like me, to have them)
Obesity rates were much lower then.. But the population density was much lower in America as well. Also Didn’t have the over saturation of processed fats and sugars like in today’s market..
Not only were processed fats and sugars in foods much lower but even more important – portion sizes were smaller. There was no such thing as “supersize” at Mickey D’s. If you stopped at a gas station and bought a soda out of the vending machine, it came in a glass bottle and was no bigger than 10 oz. No Super Gulp there. The term “muffin top” didn’t exist because muffins weren’t made in humongous sizes that puffed over the top of the muffin tin.