band tees and "reverse vanity sizing"

In American society, there is an overall desperation to be thin. Stick-thin Nicole Richie and Mary-Kate Olsen grace the covers of US Weekly, and there seems to be a new fad diet every month. However, the average American woman tips the scale at 155 lbs. at 5’4. To satisfy the consumer, many stores have inflated their sizes-bigger women can fit into the small size they’ve always wanted with little effort on their part. Some designers have added sub-zero sizing to accommodate this trend. One notable store that hasn’t, is Hot Topic.
Gaining its notoriety from the mall-goth subculture, Hot Topic sells a variety of merchandise ranging from movie-licensed merchandise to the famous mallcore “uniform”. The most notable merchandise is the plethora of band T-shirts that always seem to be at a Hot Topic store. However, I have come across a problem. Now at 5’5 and 130 lbs. (give or take) I have never considered myself tiny. Depending on the store, I usually wear a 4 or a 6 (but then again, they’re probably vanity-sized) and a Medium in shirts depending on how it runs in the shoulders or bust. While band shirts are traditionally male, I have noticed the difficulty in finding my correct size. Even more noticeable, is that while they run up to 4XL (Extra Extra Extra Extra Large, or Quadruple Extra Large), they do not have equally small sizes. Actually, I have only seen Smalls on rare occasions. My Cradle of Filth T-shirt is a “Small”, and it is anything but small on me, let alone fitting correctly. Hot Topic has “Youth Medium” and “Youth Large”, which are the closest to small sizes for the female shoppers.Now why is Hot Topic so reluctant to have small sizes or mark the smallER sizes that they do have as small? I do realize that most of the bands that I listen to are foreign and/or obscure, and I do not expect a store as mainstream as Hot Topic to carry them. However, I have noticed that bands even as commercialized as say, Good Charlotte do not have small sizes. I can accept that I am not in the core demographic for black metal T-shirts, but for even the most mainstream of bands? After being disgusted at being unable to locate multiple band shirts (which is already a chore because only a few death or black metal bands sell merchandise at Hot Topic, and it is anything but regular), I sat down and pondered this dilemma. And then it hit me! Hot Topic is owned by Torrid. In case you are not familiar, Torrid is a plus size store. However, it’s not your mom’s plus size store-Torrid has a younger, edgier vibe. It’s actually a pretty nice store. Hot Topic seems to be more sympathetic to plus-size women than the “average” girl. Or maybe I’m just a whiner? I don’t know, I could understand and accept it if the store manufactured equal amounts of equal sizes, but had a higher range. (00-26 or so) Yet Hot Topic refuses to mark their small sizes as “Small” and “Extra Small”. Would it really make these people feel bad to see extra small Cannibal Corpse shirts with that flesh-eaten guy on it? I am not even that small, and when the sizes are too big for me? While anorexia is a serious disease, obesity is as well. People should be happy with their body type, but curvy and obese are completely different things. By not carrying smaller sizes, Hot Topic sends the message across that it is ok to be fat.
By reading this, you’re probably thinking “This girl is such a bitch. She must hate overweight people”. I don’t have a problem with fat people. Hey, if you want to be overweight, go ahead. But when it impedes my ability to buy clothing that is already difficult (borderline impossible) to locate, then I will be angry. And think of it this way, at the rate in which Americans keep getting fatter and keep pushing the vanity sizing lower and lower, Hot Topic will do the same. They’ll start carrying 6XL and 7XL, and the smaller sizes will become “Youth Extra Large” and “Youth 2Xl”. Or maybe I’m just paranoid. But please Hot Topic, make me some band tees that fit.

back view of my CoF shirt that runs from Youth Medium to Quadruple Extra Large.

-by Tight