For Samyra Miller, shopping for her size-24 to 26, or 3X to 4X-in stores isn't just daunting; it's damn near impossible. Just ask the 26-year-old's 2.3 million followers on Tik Tok and Instagram who double-tap the videos chronicling her searches in Los Angeles to find anything that fits and looks good. We tagged along on a recent Sunday, spending five hours shopping at three popular malls: Westfield Century City, the Beverly Center, and Beverly Connection. Ten stores later, the haul was unsurprisingly light.
We start at Nordstrom. At the Skims section, an employee assures her that all styles are available up to 4X. Then, she tracks down a pair of employees who direct her to the Topshop and Free People sections, telling her the ASOS line that Nordstrom previously carried—which had more plus-size options—is now … gone. After going through several racks, she grabs one of the first XL items she sees. “Now this is the kind of thing I would go up to and be like, Will it stretch?”
A Free People denim jumpsuit catches her eye: “This is cute!” Alas, there’s nothing larger than an XL.
Things found at Nordstrom: two different Skims bodysuit styles in a 2X. She doesn’t buy either.
Miller spots a Free People store in the mall and goes in to ask about the jumpsuit she saw at Nordstrom. Employees tell her the largest size the shop typically carries is XL. They can ship her larger sizes that are available online, but the jumpsuits only go up to XXL. (She can fit into a 2X, which is larger than XXL and commonly mistaken as the same thing. “I don’t wear an XXL. I’m just lucky I can squeeze into it,” she says.)
Things found at Free People: zero.
At Zara, an employee says the largest size in stock is an XL but that Miller can order larger sizes online, where many items go up to an XXL. She’s out the door in 90 seconds.
Things found at Zara: zero.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Early and Often: David Freedlander - Momentum vs. Machine The Trump and Harris campaigns battle it out for every last vote.
WIth two weeks left to go, the contours of the 2024 presidential election are clear: Both campaigns need voters who usually don’t vote, and Kamala Harris needs to bring the Democratic coalition, including its Trump-curious members, back home.While the Republican side plans to spend the remaining days of the contest trying to lure low-propensity voters to the polls, the Harris team will attempt to persuade voters of color to return to its side and will try to increase numbers among white voters in previously red suburbs.
Drowning in Slop - A thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI garbage-and it's only going to get worse.
SLOP started seeping into Neil Clarke's life in late 2022. Something strange was happening at Clarkesworld, the magazine. Clarke had founded in 2006 and built into a pillar of the world of speculative fiction. Submissions were increasing rapidly, but “there was something off about them,” he told me recently. He summarized a typical example: “Usually, it begins with the phrase ‘In the year 2250-something’ and then it goes on to say the Earth’s environment is in collapse and there are only three scientists who can save us. Then it describes them in great detail, each one with its own paragraph. And then—they’ve solved it! You know, it skips a major plot element, and the final scene is a celebration out of the ending of Star Wars.” Clarke said he had received “dozens of this story in various incarnations.”
The City Politic- The Other Eric Adams Scandal The NYPD shot a fare evader, a cop, and two bystanders. He defends it.
On Sunday, September 15, Derell Mickles hopped a turnstile, got asked to leave by cops, then entered the subway again ten minutes later through an emergency exit. This was at the Sutter Avenue L station, out by his mother's house, five stops from the end of the line. Police said they noticed he was holding a folded knife. They followed him up the stairs to the elevated train, asking him 38 times to drop the weapon.
Can the Media Survive?
BIG TECH, Feckless Owners, CORD-CUTTERS, RESTIVE STAFF, Smaller Audiences ... and the Return of PRINT?
Status Update
Hannah Gadsby's fascinatingly untidy tour through life after fame and death.
A Matter of Perspective
A Matter of Perspective Steve McQueen's worst film is still a solid WWII drama.
Creator, Destroyer
A retrospective reveals an architect's vision, optimism, and supreme arrogance.
In Praise of Bad Readers
In a time of war, there is a danger in surveying the world as if it were a novel.
Trust the Kieran Culkin Process
First, he nearly dropped out of Oscar hopeful A Real Pain. Then he convinced Jesse Eisenberg to change the way he directs.
The Funniest Vampires on TV
What We Do in the Shadows is coming to an end. Its idiosyncratic brand of comedy may be too.
