Jo Walker is comfortable with her weight, but still finds clothes shopping a traumatic experience.

Hi, my name is Jo and I’m a size 18. Apparently saying it out loud (or in print) is the first step to solving a problem. Except I don’t think I have a problem. In fact I’m almost completely happy with the way I am. But it’s that almost that concerns me. I’m not talking about a self-image issue, but more of a logistical nuisance brought on by my size – the frustration of clothes shopping.

About a month ago I set out to buy an outfit for a friend’s wedding. I wanted nothing too particular, just something flattering, and feminine that I would want to wear again. First I went to John Lewis and found not one item in my size that didn’t look like a tent. At Selfridges it was the same story that continued through the many landmarks that validate a shopping experience in London (Marks & Spencer, Next, Dickens and Jones and River Island). No luck in any of them.

After three days of breathing in, squeezing in, shedding tears and uttering colourful language, I finally found something suitable. I came away from the sorry experience with a very expensive top from Ghost, a pair of trousers from Rogers and Rogers, an ‘outsize’ high street store, and a hang-up about future clothes shopping.

The traumatic process set me thinking. If that experience can upset someone as happy with herself as I am, how does it affect people who are far less content with their bodies? We hear daily how the health and self-esteem of children and adults are ground down by media images of ‘slim, beautiful people’ but I believe personal experience can do far more damage.

Think back to being a teenager again. You’re already self-conscious, not as slim/beautiful/wealthy as your friends, and all you want to do is be like them. One weekend everyone is invited to a party, and you decide to buy a new outfit that will dazzle them all. You set out with a smile on your face, and then you can’t find anything that fits. You end up with the usual ‘fat girls’ clothes’ – an absolutely heartbreaking feeling. Or perhaps you don’t have to imagine this scenario at all. Maybe this is how you feel every time you go shopping.

After my shopping trip, it crossed my mind to shed the weight, although I’m not usually driven to do it. I wonder whether everyday occurrences like this can be a contributing factor to the development of eating disorders and negative body image. After all, what most people want – whatever their size – is to look good, feel good and fit in, and clothes go an enormous way towards helping us feel this way.

The problem could be partially solved if manufacturers and designers actually made clothes for all sizes (gasp, horror!). And, if even couture artists don’t want to go this route, why can’t the high street and department stores stock them? After all, 47% of women in this country are apparently size 16 and over – so why isn’t this reflected in any mainstream consumer clothing choices? Countries like the US and Australia now think outside the proverbial ‘size’ box, so why shouldn’t the UK follow? Great though shops such as Rogers and Rogers and Evans are, the fact that they are separate entities alone screams rejection. Shouldn’t all clothing shops provide clothes for all sizes?

Since I’m a realist I know this issue won’t be resolved overnight, so the next time I go shopping I plan to go armed with exactly what I need to get me through a long, exhausting afternoon of rack rage: a cream cake and some comfortable shoes.

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