Plus size teens and young adults had almost no choice in terms of chic and designer clothing, for many years. They mostly had to shop at 'fat' stores, and find the slightest conventional styles at the 'plus size ladies or guys' store. Though manufacturers and retail stores often referred to their plus size clothing 'teen friendly', actually the large floral print smock type blouses were not even much appealing to old ladies! It was then that the s/m/l frame of mind of designers finally realized that there are many men and women, and not just teens only, for whom s/m/l sizes do not fit. Those to be the worst hit were the plus size pre-teens. At their embarrassing growing age, pre-teens had no option but to buy long and loose-fitting baggy jeans, and they got them altered, they grew out of them quickly.

Swimming suits for pre-teens neither attractive nor properly sized and at the best the sizes were 14 or 16. The 1970s was the period of approval and aware that a standard size did not fit everyone, and jean companies began extending their line to size 18 and 20, with some stylish alternatives. In early 1980s, Richard Simmons came on the fashion scene and brought identification plus size women and men, as much as anyone else, desire some fashionable clothes in the wardrobe too. Still, it wasn't for another two decades that fashion actually embraced a teenage, young-looking plus size look. Times have finally undergone the required change! Realization has struck the fashion world that there is a market for young, trendy, plus size clothing, with the Internet having become the delivery medium. In fact, the internet has played a great role in forcing preferences on the fashion manufacturers, who are gradually realizing the existence of profitable business in this regard.

Though plus size teens are still short of variety at the mall, the scenario is bound to change with the ever increasing popularity of the online plus size teen stores. The waif model is taking on a more realistic body form, as fashion designers are designing their styles around 'normal' women, instead of a size 0, and making it bigger for their plus size buyers. The earlier view that plus size teens would rather not come out due to their weight problem, hence not needing fashion is being substituted with the understanding that with body acceptance an increased ability to handle weight issues comes along. Such a novel, encouraging way of looking at size and fashion will eventually help plus size teens feel better about themselves, both mentally and physically. It is obvious that the fashion world will welcome these new body types and retail potential, going on to enlarge their lines with plus size clothing made especially for plus size teens.

Shawn Kohan writes article on many topics including evening dresses and plus size clothes