Ruby: Why weren't these great sources mentioned: Filene's Basement, Roaman's, Jessica London, Catherine's -- 6 stores in the Pittsburgh area?

Mackenzie Carpenter: Hi Ruby, I received plenty of email from readers wanting to know why I didn't mention their favorite store. For space reasons, I couldn't name them all, but maybe we'll run a list at some point of all the places where plus-sized women can shop in Pittsburgh. But that won't change the main premise of my story -- that at most department stores and "regular" specialty stores, larger women are treated as though they are invisible.

Monroeville: I'm thinking of dusting off my old sewing machine, as I used to make most of my own clothes when I was younger and slimmer. But I'm daunted by the prospect of trying to fit a pattern to my now-heavier figure. Anyone have any tips? I'm size 14-16 in store-bought clothes.

Mackenzie Carpenter: I wish I could help you, but I don't sew.

Ruby: Why does the article focus on Ross Park Mall? Macy's in Monroeville is a great source for plus-size clothing.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Again, I could have gone all over Pittsburgh, but time and space considerations limited me. I did feel that Ross Park was the best choice because it has what I believe is the best selection all in one place of plus-size clothing, which may not be saying a lot. There's Talbot's Petite Plus store, Coldwater Creek, plus the Kaufmann's women's department, which I and others have always felt had the most selection, although I suppose we could get into a debate about Macy's in Monroeville.

Ruby: What about Syms in Monroeville -- another great source?

Mackenzie Carpenter: Again, I could have just spent the entire article listing places where you can find plus-sized clothing, but I was trying to use the story to get "inside the heads" of the retail industry -- unsuccessfully, I might add, since very few retailers called me back. Let me add one more point: I received close to 40 emails and nearly a dozen phone calls from readers who felt positively about the story. But you might notice that in today's Magazine, there are two letters from readers who seem to feel fairly negatively about plus-sized women's complaints. While the second letter writer e-mailed me directly, prompting me to pass her comments on to the letters editor, the first writer -- who seems to have a real bias against larger women -- bypassed me altogether. However, they do not represent the vast majority of positive response we received.

MistyCapri: As an extremely heavily breasted woman, I find it almost impossible to locate in ANY local store a single bra that fits! I wear 46H-48G bras, which I purchase online, but it would be wonderful to find a shop nearby that caters to well-endowed gals such as me. Any ideas? Thx.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Hi, Misty, I wrote a piece not too many years ago in the Post-Gazette on this subject. Just do a search on the Post-Gazette web site using my name -- Mackenzie Carpenter-- and the word "bras" and the story should come up.

MistyCapri: Great! Thank you.

Mackenzie Carpenter: You are most welcome. Also try bountifulwomen.com for more insights, support for larger women.

Ruby: Has the lady who is considering sewing considered a personal shopper to help her out?

Mackenzie Carpenter: Uniquelyme.com has this service, I think, or can link you to other sources that do.

Cherubcrnp: I agreed with the article. The mainstream retailers are biased against plus-sized women.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Glad to hear it. I wish the CEOs of Federated and J. Crew and Banana Republic were reading this chat now!

Ruby: I don't agree with your premise. I have 3 large closets full of really nice plus-size clothes and get a lot of compliments. Go where they don't act like you're invisible.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Well, then we will have to agree to disagree. Avoiding places where they treat larger women with indifference, or worse, is not the answer. Confronting their biases is, IMHO.

Cherubcrnp: And Victoria's Secret. Don't they believe that plus-size women want attractive and alluring lingerie?

Mackenzie Carpenter: I don't know, but AlwaysForMe.com has great lingerie.

Monroeville: The URL for your bra article is http://www.post-gazette.com/healthscience/20010925hbra1.asp. Am reading it now.

Mackenzie Carpenter: OK, thanks for that!

Ruby: There is more than one approach. To make shopping a pleasurable and worthwhile experience, why waste time on places that don't meet your needs?

Mackenzie Carpenter: Actually, I don't spend a lot of time torturing myself at J. Crew or Ann Taylor ... but as a reporter, it's my job to confront them about an unfair situation.

Cherubcrnp: I agree. ... Avoidance is not the answer. We all know that Lane Bryant, Catherine's and so on do a good job of providing great-looking clothes for us. But the mainstream designers act like we don't exist.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Agreed.

Ruby: Catherine's also has great lingerie.

Mackenzie Carpenter: I've heard a lot about Catherine's. I'll have to check it out.

LB Girl: Hello. I just wanted to say that I used to work for a plus-sized clothier, Lane Bryant, in fact, and even they are making their clothing a little too young and not professional. Half of the items I purchased there, I was not able to wear to work!

Mackenzie Carpenter: I agree. Lane Bryant used to be much more my kind of store -- I have some great silk pants that I still treasure -- but in the past few years they've gone a bit overboard with the "fashion forward" beaded fringe look, et cetera. Apparently that's resulted in declining sales for them.

LB Girl: You know, if you are looking for bras, Catherine's Plus Size store has a ton of them in the larger size. I'm in the same boat as you, Monroeville!!

Mackenzie Carpenter: Lane Bryant has them too. ...

LB Girl: I always thought it was geared more for older women, but I am 29 and have found many cute things in there -- and the bathing suits that are in there are Delta Burke and about 30-40% less than a department-store price.

Mackenzie Carpenter: That raises another sore point that I didn't address in my article: Plus-size clothing is usually priced 20-30 percent higher than regular-sized clothing. Another outrage ... and maybe one day, another article!

LB Girl: I think the main reason is that they are gearing too much to the younger crowd -- most of the customers I had in the 2 years I worked there were kids! Teenagers and college students.

Mackenzie Carpenter: That's fine, but can't they go to Torrid? Lane Bryant was, I thought, geared towards 30- and 40- and 50-somethings, many of whom need professional clothes for work. As I note in my article, the only real movement seems to be at the teenage end of the spectrum. Older women are given ... if you'll pardon the expression ... the bum's rush.

Ruby: I'm in favor of occasional confrontation, but we need clothes now.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Well, you sound happy with what you have, which is nice.

LB Girl: Lane Bryant only has swimsuits online -- not in their stores.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Which doesn't make sense, at least in late May.

Cherubcrnp: On a positive note, I am glad to see that not all plus-size clothing is confined to polyester blends. I remember a time when that was the only choice. And there are now more choices for youthful styles. I don't want to dress like my great-grandmother.

Mackenzie Carpenter: I wish they had more silk, linen and cotton. Not to mention clothes that fit better and weren't so "boxy."

Cherubcrnp: Oh, I know what you mean about Lane Bryant. ... I want fun clothes, but I don't want to look like my 22-year-old niece.

Mackenzie Carpenter: They may be changing their tune after repeated years of falling profits. Gap stores experienced the same problem.

LB Girl: The bras at LB only go to a certain size, and if you buy the F cups online, they are not a true F cup -- if it is larger than that, you are better off going to Lady Godiva in Penn Hills Shopping Center!

Mackenzie Carpenter: That's a good tip.

LB Girl: Even in the days of Kaufmann's, I could go to the Downtown store on my lunch hour, check out the clothes and the unbelievable selection and come out of there with a great bag of name-brand items and be able to use the coupon. ... Those days are gone!!

Mackenzie Carpenter: Yes, but Kaufmann's Downtown was one of the worst offenders when it came to segregating the women's clothing department way, way up and back behind some other department on the fifth or sixth floors ... far enough away so that regular-sized women wouldn't have to look at them!

Monroeville: Speaking philosophically, it seems like the free-market model is failing here. Manufacturers and retailers should recognize the buying clout of the increasing plus-size market. There are real profits to be made by treating us with respect and selling what we want.

Mackenzie Carpenter: They should recognize it, but I do believe that many people in the fashion industry -- especially in the upper echelons -- are horrified by the notion of a size-22 woman walking around in Donna Karan. It just goes against everything they know and feel comfortable with. And even overweight women are to blame -- in surveys, many have said they don't want to look at pictures of heavy women modeling clothes. There's plenty of denial to go around.

Ruby: Lane Bryant Stores have definitely declined in terms of what they carry, trying to appeal to younger and casual clientele. I use their account for catalogs from Roaman's and Jessica London. Syms is a great source for professional plus-size apparel.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Well, that's good to know. ... I'll have to stop in, although I don't really like their black ceilings and fluorescent lights. It's not the most pleasant environment to shop in ... but beggars can't be choosers.

LB Girl: I remember the days of my mom wearing those horrible pants and tops that just NEVER wore out since they were that polyester! I'm glad we are out of that!

Mackenzie Carpenter: Yes!

Cherubcrnp: Isn't that the truth. ... That horrible polyester! No shape or style!

Mackenzie Carpenter: Or ... my own personal favorite ... the faded denim pedal pushers in J.C. Penney's plus size department. No thanks.

LB Girl: Another place I go for a lot of clothing is Grove City, to the Liz Claiborne/Elisabeth store.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Yes, but it's a bit of a haul... still, that's good to know.

LB Girl: It's just too bad Casual Corner closed -- their August Max Woman store was great! And their Annex store in Grove City had great deals! Although I hear Lane Bryant has bought their space in the outlet mall. ... I wonder when that is going to open.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Remember, too, what Lynette Lederman said in her story -- Dale's Maxima in Squirrel Hill is a good place for both upscale and some more moderately priced clothing. She just raved about the place.

Cherubcrnp: That is great to know. ... Isn't there a store in South Hills Village or somewhere out there that is along the lines of Maxima?

Mackenzie Carpenter: I don't know, but if anyone wants to weigh in, feel free...

Ruby: I am more than happy with what I have -- I even have several leather suits (not black ones). I'm a size 20-22.

LB Girl: Very true about the segregation at Kaufmann's -- but at least they had selection, which is more than Macy's has in Ross Park -- my office at work is bigger than their Women's department!

Mackenzie Carpenter: I actually think Ross Park has promise... but they need more professional clothing and less sportswear... too much denim and not enough silk!

LB Girl: You know, when I was in Catherine's I was SHOCKED that they actually had TRUE plus-sized mannequins AND posters of models on their wall.

Mackenzie Carpenter: Well, let's hope we can all change our attitudes towards heavier people. ... I'm sorry, but I think the skinny women in Hollywood are NOT attractive to look at. If only we could consider a model like Emme the ideal for more women.

Ruby: Maybe it's me, but I don't care what regular-sized women want to look at. Kaufmann's Downtown has some great sales in the plus-size department on the 5th floor. Has anyone tried their Ideology line?

Mackenzie Carpenter: I don't care what regular-sized women want to look at, Ruby, but I do want to have the same selection of clothes that they do. I've heard Ideology may be discontinued by Macy's, although I could be wrong.

Cherubcrnp: I would like to see that in the Waterfront ... more silk!

Mackenzie Carpenter: Absolutely.

Mike M: Being a guy, I never understood completely the problem plus-sized women faced until I was out with my wife the other day looking for a trendy outfit for an upcoming party. We must have spent a good 4 hours looking, and in God only knows how many different stores. We were even in plus-sized stores like Lane Bryant, and even they told us to go online to get the outfits. I mean, it is outrageous. If stores can have clothes for plus-sized men, why can't they do it for women as well?

Mackenzie Carpenter: You sound like a great husband, Mike! Actually, my husband is just as supportive.

Monroeville: Waxing philosophical again: Do you think that maybe one reason some of us are starting to get uppity when we encounter less-than-optimal selection and service is that we used to be slimmer and grew up expecting better than what we're getting now?

Mackenzie Carpenter: Well, here's a confession. I come from a family of four girls. We were all pretty slender until our late 30s. Two of us had children (I had twins and another little one in a three-year span) and ballooned out, the third just plain old ballooned out. The fourth is as thin as a rail -- because she runs ultra-marathons (she's doing the Squaw Valley 100-miler in June). So genetics has to have played a role here. So yes, I do harbor a yen for those days when I was a size 8!

Cherubcrnp: Having the same clothing choice would be terrific. I am south of Century III, so my shopping area is Waterfront and Century III. ... I would like to see more stores for us there and a bit less Abercrombie and Fitch, if you know what I mean.

LB Girl: I want to see a fat girl -- someone my size wearing the clothes I am going to buy! Because I can't tell if that is going to look good on me by looking at some little THIN model!

Mackenzie Carpenter: Excellent point.

LB Girl: At Lane Bryant, they use a size 12, and when you dress the mannequin, you have to pin everything on it!

Mackenzie Carpenter: This is what I'm talking about. Why are they so afraid of a size 16 or 18?

LB Girl: Ladies, I have just given up shopping in the mall unless it is an emergency -- I shop online at QVC! Ha-ha!

Mackenzie Carpenter: Nothing to be ashamed of.

LB Girl: Well, a lot of things that retailers do just don't make any sense! If you knew how many older customers I had to send to Kaufmann's or even over to Catherine's for a swimsuit -- I felt really bad.

Connie H: I can't say I've felt ignored when shopping. Frustrated, yes, when they don't have the item I want in the size I need when I know the line goes up to those sizes. I always figured that they really don't want any more business and are happy with whatever profit they've made. If they can't have sufficient number of the items in the larger sizes that obviously sell out before the extra petite smalls do, then they don't need my money. I'll just spend it elsewhere. I thought I was the only person, though, when it comes to the styles Lane Bryant has been marketing. Although, everyone is into the '70s look. It wasn't my thing in the '70s, and it's still not. I did want to say thanks for the Web sites mentioned. I'm always on the lookout for a new site.

Mackenzie Carpenter: The '70s was truly a low point ... when bad taste reigned. ... I just don't get what Lane Bryant was thinking.

Well, it's been nice chatting with you all today. I really think this issue touched a nerve, although as long as retailers are convinced they'll make more money targeting the minority of women who are below size 12 rather than those above it, I don't think we'll be making much progress. But you just need to keep agitating, complaining, buttonholing and standing up for the plus-sized woman. Banana Republic and J. Crew, are you listening?