Fashion options expand for heavier kids

Johnnette Holliday hated having to wear clothes "for old people."

The 16-year-old couldn't fit into teen-girl fashions; she had to buy plus-size women's outfits. One day, to her horror, she and a cafeteria worker wore the same shirt to school.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh,' " said Johnnette, of Germantown, Md., reenacting her cringe. "She had gray hair. It was not cool."

Designers and retailers are listening to frustrated young consumers and parents, selling age-appropriate clothing for large-and-youthful shapes.

As of 2002, 16 percent of youth aged 6 to 19 were overweight, according to federal statistics. That's roughly triple the proportion in 1980.

Big names, including J.C. Penney and Old Navy, have expanded their sizes for youth. Countless Web sites have joined the game, from the polished pages of www.alloy.com to the homespun links on www.jeenybeans.com. Torrid, an exclusively plus-size shop for teens and young women, will have 122 locations by the end of the month; it started with six in 2001.

Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group in Port Washington, N.Y., said larger apparel for kids, "husky" boys in particular, in department stores in the late 1960s-early '70s faded as retailers feared singling out heavier children.

But for the past three years, Cohen said, there has been double-digit sales growth in the youth plus-size market, sustained at 18 percent in 2004 and the first eight months of this year.

"The parents are frustrated, because they're dressing their 8-year-olds in clothes for 13-, 14-year-olds," Cohen said.

Ellyn Satter, author of "Your Child's Weight: Helping Without Harming," said success at the clothing store instills confidence.

"If misery made people thin, there wouldn't be any fat people," said Satter, a Madison, Wis., dietitian and therapist. "Accepting a child's weight does not mean that you give up on parenting."

Penny Archibald, 41, of Goodland, Kan., embraces that message. She and her daughter, Taylor, 10, are both 5'2". Mom weighs 120 pounds; daughter is 170.

Archibald has taken Taylor to several specialists to manage the girl's weight and self-esteem. She and her daughter exercise together; their belly-dancing video is a favorite. Taylor visits a therapist every two or three weeks.

Until this summer, shopping had been "very discouraging," Archibald said. "For [overweight children], when you leave the store, they're in tears. And, as a parent, you're in tears, too."

Archibald searched the Internet for alternatives. She found Jeeny Beans.

A woman whose nieces had trouble finding clothes created the online store for plus-size girls in 2001. Last year, Hudsonville, Mich., couple Al and Jan Venema took over the business. Its made-to-order fashions are girly: floral party dresses, embroidered jeans, fuzzy fleece tops.

The right sizes can help.

"They make me feel like an equal," Taylor said of her Jeeny Beans wardrobe, which includes jeans, skirts and tops.

Retailers appreciate the power of that sensation.

"Fashion is one of the factors in peer pressure," said Daphne Avila, spokeswoman for J.C. Penney, based in Plano, Texas. "It's one of the things kids use to fit in."

Old Navy, a brand of San Francisco-based Gap Inc., began displaying roomier versions of its kids' clothes last year, starting with basic styles, such as five-pocket jeans. The offerings have branched into the store's trendier trademarks, including cargo and capri pants.

For teens, the focus is generally on girls, who see shopping as a social event.

"I don't think that clothing is as important to teen guys," said Michael Wood, vice president of Teenage Research Unlimited, in Northbrook, Ill. "For a lot of guys, their moms still buy their clothes."

Wood said that Torrid, based in City of Industry, Calif., with locations across the country, has been at the forefront of plus-size style for teen girls: "A lot of retailers have followed suit."

The company began as a pilot project of Hot Topic, a chain of stores for young men and women that sells edgy wear on the darker side of fashion — lots of black. Focusing on teen girls and young women, Torrid stores are sleek and trendy, with sheer, ruffled tops, stretch denim skirts and sequined accessories that would dazzle teen girls of any size.

"The bottom line is: A young person wants to look just as cool as their friends," said Torrid President Patricia VanCleave.

On a recent shopping trip to Torrid in Bethesda, Md., Johnnette browsed the racks, able to find whatever she wanted in her size. She doesn't have to look like the cafeteria lady anymore.

"Now, people at school will say, 'Oooh, that's a cute outfit. Where did you get it?' " she said. "I like that."