I don’t bother going into outdoor shops to try on clothes. Years of experience has taught me that they’re highly unlikely to stock anything in my size. My body measures a size 18/20 and it stayed that way for the entire time that I walked 5000 miles across Europe. I’m telling you that early on so you don’t judge me for being unfit whilst daring to ask for high quality technical outdoor clothing in my size.
The depressing experience of searching through racks for the rare possibility of my size and then finding that it’s sized so badly that I can’t wear it properly is completely off-putting. I’m not the only woman who feels this way; an Alpkit survey made as part of their gradual addition of larger sizes to their clothing range (size 18 so far, with sizes 20 and 22 planned), showed completely different shopping experiences between women who are ‘standard’ sizes and those labelled as ‘plus size’.
I had an overwhelmingly positive reaction to my achievements as I posted photos and stories of my 5000-mile walk across Europe, but negative comments still trickled in. “You can’t have walked all that way and still be that size, you must be lying” was one that particularly got to me, as I have very specifically ensured that I did indeed walk all that way. I became used to the silent pause as people’s eyes drifted down over my body and back up again when I stood in front of them and said I was walking long distances.
I was intrigued when I saw an advert from Mountain Equipment seeking size 18/20 fit female models to try on their clothes at the design workshop as feedback into the expansion of their size range. I emailed without thinking about it and was picked to drive up to the offices near Manchester for a fitting.
The nerves were in full force that day. Although I’ve been a life model in the past, the act of standing up to allow other people to assess your body is completely terrifying. It showed throughout the fitting, I could tell in what I was saying that I felt compelled to prove myself as an outdoors person.
“This isn’t a case of people needing to shrink themselves to access good quality outdoor kit.”
Me, a person who has walked 9000 miles in two major journeys and the other model, an international mountain leader, struggling to find adequate clothing to do the activities we make our living from, the things we love.
The fitting was a revelation, not only in the fit of the clothing which was broadly well proportioned with long bodies that fitted nicely around hips and left plenty of room for the swelling of breasts, stomachs and hips, but in how I was treated; it was just another day for these designers, there was no fat shaming whatsoever, no judgement on my body, no verdict, it was just a body with needs relating to being active in the outdoors, there to have clothes fitted to it.
My body is an active body, I realised, no matter what size it is. I walk regularly, I go to the gym, I’ve successfully completed endurance challenges. There is no reason why I shouldn’t be able to access high quality gear to get outdoors in.
As I talked about this experience online I was contacted by Steph from Every Body Outdoors (Instagram: @every_body_outdoors) who is part of a burgeoning campaign to encourage brands to not only expand their clothing sizes but to put proper sizing charts online for every item in their range, and include a full range of sizes in their advertising rather than quietly produce clothing in a size 20 but show everything on a size 8 model.
This isn’t a case of people needing to shrink themselves to access good quality outdoor kit, it’s a problem of people with bigger bodies struggling to access adequate clothing and see themselves represented in the space.
Since overcoming ovarian cancer, Ursula Martin of Llanidloes in Wales has walked thousands of miles, not only criss-crossing the paths of her home country but completing a three-year journey from Ukraine back to the UK. You can read more from Ursula over on her blog onewomanwalks.com
