November 21, 2023

OMG. I never thought I would see the day something like this would happen. There's a secondhand clothing store made SPECIFICALLY for plus-sized people. Kayla Erdmann is the owner of emFATic+, a clothing store in Wisconsin. “I think as plus-size women, we spend the majority of our lives trying to shrink ourselves into other spaces, and so I wanted people to be able to walk in the door and know that there will be clothes that fit and knew that they would be able to navigate the aisles easily and not be bumping into things.”- Erdmann. What's special about this store is that it serves people from XL-6X, sizes that can actually be hard to find. There's also easy navigation throughout the store, so no bumping into things, and changing rooms with more space to fit people. The chairs even fit people up to 800 pounds! 

Something else important to note is that the biggest sizes are in the front of the store. She felt like that was another major thing about being plus-sized is that their clothes are never on the main floor. She's actually very correct on that because sometimes I will not see an actual plus-sized section until deep into the store. Or it'll just be on a completely different floor, just as she says. 

Another nice thing that isn't directly related to the purpose of the shop is that there are different gifts like pride flags! There's also an area in the back made for book clubs, charity events, and sales parties. It holds about 20 people. Everyone's welcome there, even if you don't fit the actual sizes there. The other business owners, who are also women, on the same street welcome her with open arms. “She will not only be a great addition to all the women-owned businesses (on) downtown Tower Avenue, but a great spot for me to refer ladies to and vice versa. Kayla is a great gal and we welcome her with open arms.”- Angie Kiminski. She runs another clothing store called Angie's Closet. Colleen Lampton, owner of Weeping Willow across the street, loves Kayla and what she has going on. 

There are already a number of second-hand clothing stores in the area, but not specifically plus-sized ones. Kiminski said that she does carry plus sizes, but it's a small section. So it's nice to have something for specifically curvy women. It's not a consignment shop, but people are able to drop off gently used clothes. The only things they can't donate are jeans and fast fashion. I understand the fast fashion part, but even jeans? Well, I guess it makes sense because most places don't make jeans past a certain size and they don't want people to feel excluded. Also in terms of clothing and weight, I don't think most people are really over a 3X. But with that being said, I love this shop Erdmann is running. To be honest, I think there should be more stores like this. 

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