How is size 14-16 considered plus size........

So, recent research about manufacturing in Australia lead me down the rabbit hole of plus size women's clothing🤓

I dug into the details and it seems that the average Australian woman is a size 14-16 (SMH 8.4.2023).  This is up from size 12 when I was studying Fashion Technology what seems like a lifetime ago.😉 I started studying when I was in year 2🤣

So, if the average is size 14-16, why do many prominent brands only manufacture up to size 12? (SMH 8.4.2023) And the fact that really blew my mind- only 6.3% of Australian clothing retailers sell plus size clothing! That is, anything size 16 and above🤯(Refinery 29). On a side note, if only 6.3% sell plus sizes, how many of those garments are made in Australia? I would think this would be a tiny percent🤔💭

Now, there are quite a few rants I can go on here but I'll try to control myself! 

1. Since when is size 16 plus size? When we purchased our new mannequins to show off our plus size clothing, size 16 was the largest we could buy. I was really hoping for a size 20, at least.
2. So we know that many brands only sell up to size 12 and only 6.3% sell plus size (size 16 and above). What then happens to the gap of women in the middle. How are all the "plus size" women being clothed?
3. If size 14-16 is the average woman, why isn't the average woman being catered for? And also either end of this scale? 

Now, I must say that I've always been a size 12, so I readily admit that I have not had to deal with this problem as much as most. I also know somebody that owns a clothing business, so my garments are cheap and readily available 😉

But this situation is absolutely crazy!

When we transitioned our business from contract sewing to manufacturing our own range many years ago, I always knew that I wanted to cater for all sizes, particularly larger women. Looking into these statistics, I think we're on the right track! Our size range has always been sizes 8-24, but we have recently extended this size range for some styles to include size 26. All lengths of yoga pants (and their value bundles) and all sleeve lengths of our tunics (and their value bundles) are now available in all sizes 8-26 🥳On a technical note, the reason we don't make all our styles in size 26 and above, is that the grading rules we use change once going past size 24. It's a bit like the difference between grading children's sizes and women's sizes- the rules are different.

Anyway, frustrated rant over!

Jocelyn