Plus-size buyers defy rules of the industry

Since 2012, there has been a decline in the amount of junior-size clothing purchased and an incline in the amount of plus-size clothing purchased.

According to The NPD Group's 2015 Women's Special Sizes Study, in 2012, 81 percent of teenagers purchased clothing in the junior-size market; whereas in 2015, that number dropped to 73 percent.

While purchases in the junior-size market continue to drop, the special-size clothing market has been rising little by little since 2012. The percentage of 13- to 17-year-olds who purchase plus-size clothing has almost doubled from 19 percent in 2012 to 34 percent in 2015, according The NPD Group's study.

Special sizes include petite, plus, plus-junior, and plus-tall. Although there seems to be an obvious line between what is considered junior-size and what is considered plus-size, there are certain women who fall into both groups because retailers classify plus-size as size 14 and up while the industry classifies it as size 16 and up.

"You can be a regular-size and plus-size, (which means) you can be a plus-size on the bottom and a regular-size on the top, or vice versa," said Marshal Cohen, The NPD Group's chief industry analyst.

Many may wonder what is bringing on this change in the plus-size clothing market. Is this due to health-related issues or is it due to new fashion trends? The truth is that both have an effect on the special-size market.

According to Cohen, there is a larger population that is starting to fit into the plus-size category. This means that as demand for plus-size or special-size clothing goes up, retailers have to supply more of the products to accommodate demand.

"We have online that makes it much easier and more accessible to get the plus sizes," Cohen said. "(We also) have consumers who are basically saying, 'You know what? I'm not a skinny, stick-thin model and frankly, if I have to, I want to dress fashionably and I'm going to do it and I'm going to find a way to do it,' and 'even if I'm a plus-size, I still want to be fashionable.'"

The increase in supply and demand will have quite an effect on clothing markets from petite to plus-tall.

Consumers of plus-size clothing don't want to feel as though they can't wear the same prints or styles their friends are wearing. Instead, they want the freedom to wear what they want, despite what the industry tries to instill in society.

"I think the plus-size industry is going to have success and then that success is going to breed bigger competition," Cohen said.

For years, there have been "rules" in the fashion industry that make women of all ages feel as though they can't wear certain things because of their size. Women in the plus-size category are often told that they shouldn't wear bold colors or certain patterns because it doesn't look very "appealing." This is why consumers often find the clothing in the junior-size section completely different from the clothing in a special-size section; not because the sizes are different, but because the industry decides for itself what each size category should or should not wear.