Wow, there are few things that can break my writer’s block quite like brands and influencers claiming that certain clothing brands fit plus sizes and have plus size offerings. The brand in question today? Abercrombie.

Abercrombie, a hater of fat people and plus sizes for all known time. Has now “expanded” some of their sizing to include, what some people are claiming to be plus sizes. It took me a total of 30 seconds to find out that that is absolutely not true. They offer some items in sizes XL-XXXL, and only SOME. I filtered their tops by size and there were sixteen (16) options for XXXL vs 866 options for Small. 866 vs 16……… I mean. This has got to be some kind of joke right?

First off, before I even get into the lack of options, let me explain, for what feels like the millionth time, straight sizing is different than plus sizing. An XL, XXL, and XXXL are all smaller than their respective 1x, 2x, 3x in plus sizing. Plus sizing is quite literally a different sizing mechanism than straight sizing. So no, Abercrombie does not offer plus sizes. They literally don’t. Not metaphorically, not that they don’t have a lot of options, they quite literally do not have anything on their site that is offered in a plus size range.

Now, let’s get back to the laughable options available. I genuinely did not expect it to be as bad as 866 to 16, but here we are. It’s just laughable at this point, that anyone would even try to pass this off as inclusivity. And that anyone would fall for it. But here we are.

The tik tok in question, talks about how she could barely fit into anything at Abercrombie at age 15. Okay, same, except not same because I couldn’t fit into anything at all at Abercrombie, not even barely, at age 15, but that’s not the issue here. Mik, the creator, goes on to say that Abercrombie flew her out to be apart of their fall shoot and she says that Abercrombie went from one of the reasons she struggled so much with her body to now fitting her body… And that it now fits plus size bodies. My jaw was on the floor when I heard that honestly. Because how can you in the same breathe mention your body issues were caused by a brand also say that that same brand now fits plus size bodies when it very clearly does not. The delusion in this video is fucking absurd.

I take HUGE issue with these so called “midsize” models claiming space in the plus size and body positivity movements when they are not the ones it was built for. I wrote about this in length a few months ago, but with the emergence of influencers like Mik and Remi Bader – people who I had followed and supported at one point – I start to lose more and more patience. I am so incredibly happy that brands are using models that have more diverse body shapes and sizes, and I’m ecstatic that women who are larger than a size 4 are getting facetime with the world. However, I cannot help but be concerned with how these size 8-10 models are just perpetuating antifatness, all under the veil of inclusivity. They frequently post clothing form brands that do not offer plus sizes. They work with brands that claim to offer extended sizing, and usually do not go past an XL or XXL. They are applauded for being real and unique, but at the end of the day they are not helping the body positivity movement. Anyone larger than them is still on the outside, still out of the “norm.” And frankly it’s fucking annoying.

If you are someone who does not wear plus sizes, take note of the brands you are supporting and buying clothes from. Pay attention to how you speak about clothes around your fat friends. For the love of fucking god don’t tell them to shop somewhere if that place doesn’t actually offer plus sizes. Don’t tell them to follow a fashion influencer when the only brands they show are straight sized. Support brands that offer plus sizes and actual extended sizing. Pay attention.