I’m a size 24 and can’t find high street clothes that actually fit

Remember when weekend plans didn’t revolve around pilates or Instagrammable eggs? Two decades ago, the most exciting way for me to pass my time was the teenage ritual of hitting the shops with friends, perusing rails of clothes and bonding over fashion. Except the experience was different for me – as a curvier teenager, the best I could hope for was an oversize silhouette or something stretchy I could squeeze into. Now, although progress has swept the world at supersonic speed, on the high street almost nothing has changed.

I can buy a car with a double tap of my phone, answer the doorbell from the other side of the world and have an AI personal assistant set up my day before I’ve hit snooze on my alarm. However, the simple act of walking into a shop and buying a piece of fashion-forward clothing that fits my size UK 24 body remains elusive.

That is not to say there hasn’t been progress in plus-size offerings on the high street, but the bar is desperately low (we are talking ‘butterfly-printed tunic’ low). The average dress size in the UK is 16 – a stat I am sure you already know – and yet demand for brands to supply extended sizing is pressing. Even where brands have deigned to meet demand, it has been half-hearted.

The rhetoric is clear: just be grateful there is something. But where is that something to be found? While Marks & Spencer, H&M, New Look and River Island all have larger sizes online, I have dug into their in-store rails and there is nothing in my size. On the rare occasion I might find something, it often looks the same in every store: plain shirting, simple black trousers, jeans where the shape of the shopper has not been considered, and a scattering of floral dresses that are, for lack of a better word, naff.

None of the trend-led pieces are available to the plus-size shopper – trust me, I’ve looked. You aren’t privy to the exciting designer collaborations – most pieces in Victoria Beckham’s 2024 collection with Mango only went up to a UK size 12 (despite Mango offering clothing in up to a size 26).

I have worked in the fashion industry as a writer and features director for over a decade; I’ve sat front row at countless shows, interviewed designers, models and celebrities. It is my job to dress well, to be seen in the new collections and must-have high-street pieces. But how can I do that when the options available to me are so sparse?

I have had to teach myself the codes of brands: I know that Cos is generous, and that sometimes the knitwear in Arket comes up large. I know there could be one dress from an & Other Stories collection in a trapeze shape, and that Mango might have an elasticated skirt that works. Do I want to wear any of these pieces? Not really. But that isn’t a privilege I am afforded with this body.

There are some brands that have always had my back, Asos Curve being one of them. Not all of it is to my taste, but Asos also excels at smart tailoring, easy everyday pieces and occasionwear dresses.

I contacted several high-street retailers for comment on their extended sizing offerings. Ironically, only Asos responded. ‘We want to delight our customers with the best possible edit of new trends and versatile, elevated staples for every day – our standout categories for Asos Curve are reflective of the season’s trends.’

For this feature, I headed to London’s West End to see if anything had improved. My bar was low – maybe, just maybe, there might be one thing to put a pep in my step, and I’d walk out of a store with a piece I loved. 

A VIEW FROM THE CHANGING ROOM 

ZARA

A wave of anxiety rushed over me as I stepped in to Zara’s busy Covent Garden store. I headed to the changing room with a few items in the biggest available sizes (which were not the largest sizes it said these pieces went up to).

I picked structured sweatpants disguised as smart trousers I knew wouldn’t fit, a dress I dreaded pulling over my body and a cape (right) I thought would be the only item I could possibly leave with. The cape did not excite me, the print was uninspired and I couldn’t imagine how I’d wear it. The sales assistant knew the result before I even walked into the changing room, wincing as she handed over a tag for the clothing. I left, feeling embarrassed, with nothing.

H&M

Although H&M no longer stocks its largest sizes in the physical stores (a selection of simple pieces online do go up to a 4XL), the brand used to have a small extended-sizing selection at its Regent Street flagship shop. I headed to the sizeable Oxford Street branch and found a handful of things that I thought might work: a slip skirt, a chunky knit and an of-the-moment utility jacket (right). I tried them on. The jacket didn’t do up, the knit clung to my body in a way I would never wear and the skirt was a hard no.

M&S

While Marks & Spencer has certainly upped the style stakes recently, and has one of the better size-inclusive offerings, that is really only apparent online. In store I struggled to find any of the more directional pieces above a size 18. This lovely butter yellow set (right) in a size 20 was the biggest I could find. 

I was on the cusp of walking away with a bomber jacket, had it been just that one size up (it was a 22), and I thought I would give the size 20 dress a go, knowing a smock would be generous. Not bad, but not something I was burning to wear.

NEW LOOK 

Its online Curve collection is somewhat basic but more extensive than your average. In store, however, I couldn’t find a pair of jeans or trousers above a size 16. I squashed myself into a sporty pair (size 16) in the hope that elasticated might equal roomy, but what I needed was jeans and not another athleisure piece. That endeavour was to no avail and the largest top I could find was this cardigan (right), which, frankly, looked god-awful.