One Size Does Not Fit All

Brandy Melville is a trendy clothing store where teens are the primary marketing audience. At Brandy Melville, multiple sizes are nonexistent; instead the clothes are "one size fits all." However, only a few females can manage to walk out of the store with clothes that fit properly as some of their clothing is equivalent to as small as a UK size 2. (Coen, 2017, para 2) Unfortunately, the company fails to realize that their policy is simply untrue for all customers, and is a harmful idea to teens who are unable to fit.



Eliza M Dumais, an author for the Observer even took the liberty to measure the clothing to determine the size equivalent to Brandy Melville's and found the truth behind their sizing chart. Dumais found that the vast majority of skirts and jeans are only capable of stretching one size up from their original size 0. Shirts also don't manage to fit many as "a tank available in over 11 different colors and prints, is 19" in length with an 11" bust. These fabrics are thin with an impressive threshold for stretch, but even a 35" bust, according to Victoria's Secret, is only the bra size equivalent of a 34A." (Dumais, 2015, para. 4). Obviously, "all" people are not a size 0-2-- by offering only "one size fits all" sizing, Brandy Melville rejects a large group of female consumers by neglecting to offer a variety of sizes. Last year, almost 31 percent of teens admitted to praying for the ability to fit into Brandy Melville's clothing everyday, and even avoided eating because of it (Goodkind, 2014, para. 3). A Daily Mail article even featured an anonymous girl who stated "Nothing makes me want to be skinny more than the fact that everything at Brandy Melville comes in one size aka tiny" (Coen, 2017 para. 6). The store is also destroying self confidence within much younger audiences as 80 percent of 10 year olds are fearing the idea of becoming "fat" (Goodkind, 2014, para. 3). Due to this, the target demographic strive to lose weight just to satisfy the store's standards of beauty. They aren't doing it to better themselves but to fit an ideal picture of what society thinks as one even said "I need to lose weight ... all the clothes from Brandy Melville are one size ... I want to lose weight to be able to wear Brandy Melville dresses." (Coen, 2017, para. 3) Majority of the girls try to lose weight unhealthily by starving themselves instead of working out and maintaining a healthy diet. (Goodkind, 2014, para 3) We should not encourage girls to achieve universal standard body types or pretend that everyone should look alike.



Additionally, the brand only advertises using models with similar attributes which usually consists of a tall, skinny, long blonde haired "California girl". These models are often discovered through social media based on whether or not they fit Brandy Melville's criteria of the perfect customer. A former employee even stated on Glassdoor.com that "Pay is only based off looks, girls will be paid anywhere between 9.50-14 if they are pretty enough" ("Horrible Work," 2015, para. 2). Store managers are trained to hire girls if and only if their physical appearance were deemed worthy enough. Having such a popular store dominated by one particular appearance can heavily impact girls and open doors for insecurities. "Regular teens aspire to one day be one of these Instagram girls, or at least look like them. Diehard fangirls treat the Brandy Melville girls like Internet celebrities" said fashion blogger, Justina Sharp. (Bhasin, 2017, para. 14) Walking into a store and seeing that you may not have the slender body or long wavy hair to compliment the blue eyes can cause people to presume that diversity is bad.



It is crucial that we put a stop to this "one size fits all" policy immediately as the brand continues to grow and tear down the confidence of young girls. Although they claim to not intend to damage self esteem, Trisha Paytas was a fair example as to why that's not the case. According to the model she had only stepped foot inside the store before "I was told 'I would not fit anything' and that I wasn't allowed to try anything on because 'I would stretch the clothes out" (Bhasin, 2014, para. 20). By creating this petition I hope to influence Brandy Melville to be more inclusive with their sizes at their stores, such as alternative stores like american eagle that ranges from 00 to 18 and incorporate clothing branches suitable for all. Unlike Brandy Melville they understand that it's important to embrace the differences in our society instead of destroying them because in the end we all are equal and significant. Instead of appreciating people's differences the Italian brand promotes body shaming with this exclusive sizing policy, as it paints a universal image that they feel everyone should be carbon copies of.