Should Overweight Women Be Modeling Lingerie?
April 20, 2010
I came across a curious online survey recently A UK based retailer, Wickedelic Lingerie, found that 24% of the 500 respondents felt allowing larger women to model lingerie was promoting an unhealthy lifestyle.
Whether you agree or not, my website from time to time gets input from large-sized customers saying they wish we would display our products on models more their size. So, several years ago, we ran a test on one of our more popular bras where we tracked sales with two different images – half the time we displayed the image of the bra on an average-framed woman, and the other half on a full-figure woman. The results were signficant– the average model image generated more sales.
If you think about this, it really makes sense. I will buy an item I see displayed on a model that is smaller than me. But, I can honestly say I have never purchased an item when it has been shown on a model that is larger than I am. Take a look at these two photos of the same dress. Would you buy this dress if you only saw the model wearing it? Or would you buy the dress based on the display on the mannequin? I think most would agree they find the mannequin shot more appealing – unless they are the same size or larger than the model.


I don’t think this is discrimination. I think this is simple marketing. However, having said that, I have tried very hard to answer the need for women who wear larger bra sizes to see a model wearing a garment more to their size.
You may not know this, but the HerRoom site has alternate shots on a larger model (usually a 36DD) for bras that come in larger sizes. For example, look at our page for the Chantelle Fete Bra style 1960. You will see that we also show another image of a 36DD model wearing the same bra.
It is true that some bras have subtle design changes in the larger sizes. We make every effort to show the larger size on a fuller model, or at least mention the design change in our descriptions.
No one is here to judge. Yes, marketing is important, but we also want to satisfy all our customer needs. If anyone has a suggestion to improve what we are doing, I’m all ears!
Find bras that come in larger sizes at HerRoom in these departments:
Bras
Plus-Size Lingerie
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Posted by Tomima at 7:32pm
Tags: body types, Full-figure, plus-size
9 Comments »

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