Clothes shopping is a chore: Plus-size men’s experiences of clothes shopping in the United Kingdom

Abstract

The body positivity movement has called for greater inclusion of diverse body types within the fashion industry. Although a growing number of high street womenswear brands now include plus-size ranges and employ curvier models to represent them, UK menswear is still trailing far behind. Fashionable clothing for larger men is scarce, and the lack of research literature on the clothes shopping experiences of UK plus-size male consumers reflects this gap. The current research is the first study to explore male plus-size consumers’ experiences of clothes shopping in the United Kingdom. Semi-structured interviews were conducted online with ten plus-size men, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to generate two key themes. First, the ‘we struggle to fit in’ theme explores plus-size men’s problematic experiences of fitting into shopping environments, fitting in with their peers’ shopping experiences and fitting into clothes. The second theme, ‘we little care about what we wear’, identifies how the men dismissed clothes shopping, fashion and appearance concerns and identified gender differences as a means to justify these actions. Together, these themes demonstrate that plus-size men experience clothes shopping as a chore. Ultimately, we advise menswear brands to use these findings to facilitate a more welcoming, supportive and enjoyable shopping experience for plus-size men.