HEARD on the GRAPEVINE!

Have you heard?   Britain's increasing demand for plus size clothing has seen the emergence of Taking Shape from here in Australia, launching their opening of 30 high street shops, apparently right throughout and across Britain.

From the little I know about plus size fashion in the UK, I thought they had a very good stable of suppliers, in many instances (and in my humble opinion) of higher quality fabric and design that many offered here in Oz.

However, Taking Shape has decided to give the market a run for its money and it will be interesting to see the results.

For that matter, encouraging inter-country trade, I'd like to see more European including UK stores come across to Australia, as well as some of the better known American stores.

We at RoseMary's NoteBook© believe that plus size fashion should be good quality, good design, be made from good fabric, have good sewmanship, and be affordable!   The fact that more women are becoming categorised as plus size (those who used to be size 14 as considered "typical" are now seen as plus size) means the market is bigger - for if sizes 14 through to 26/30 are all plus size, then that market must be extremely profitable, due to potential volume of sales.

Yet because much of the plus size rag trade garments here are made off-shore (and cheap) we don't get value for money.   Nor, sadly, do the people who actually sew the garments (you've probably seen recent documentaries on the rag trade situation in India).

Perhaps it's time for tailoring to come back as a profession - it would surely fill a void.