When Sal Perez, a stylist and costume designer, was dressing¹ the actress Rebel Wilson for her role in the movie “Pitch Perfect 2,” he had to find clothes for 20 outfit² changes. This was an even bigger challenge than it sounds. Ms. Wilson is a plus-size actress working in a less-than-zero world.

造型师、服装设计师萨尔·佩雷斯(Sal Perez)在电影《完美音调2》(Pitch Perfect 2)中为女演员里贝尔·威尔森(Rebel Wilson)设计造型，他必须为她的角色找够20套服装。这个挑战比听起来的要难。威尔森穿大码服装，而在女演员的世界里，大部分人穿的都是超小号。

Mr. Perez ended up finding some items online and designing others, which were made in his costume workshop.

最后，佩雷斯在网上找到了一些衣服，自己又设计了一些，在自己的服装工作室里制作。

“Trying to find plus-size clothes that are fashionable and well made is very difficult,” he said. “I am horrified³ by some of the clothes I find in the stores. I don’t know anyone who enjoys wearing polyester. I think the fashion industry has to realize the potential the plus-size market has.”

“寻找时尚、制作精良的大码服装非常困难，”他说，“我在商店里找到的一些衣服把我吓坏了。我没见过谁喜欢穿涤纶服装。我觉得时装界必须意识到大码市场的潜力。”

Styles for plus sizes, which range from 14 to 24, have long been characterized by down-market, back-of-the-store racks of drab tent-dresses, garishly⁴ decorated blouses and polyester pants. The uniformly dark colors and generous silhouettes⁵ serve the sole purpose of covering up and deflecting⁶ attention from the body.

长期以来，14码至24码的大码服装大多是放在商店后面货架上的低档服装——乏味的松身连衣裙、花哨的女衬衣和涤纶裤。它们有着千篇一律的深色和宽松的剪裁，唯一的目的是遮住身体，减少人们的关注。

But a new crop of online boutiques, retailers⁷ and designers is trying to make plus-size styles more fashion forward. Instead of elastic-waist pants and muumuu dresses, these companies offer clothes that reflect the runways (think jumpsuits), surpass the smock (leather pants) and even show a little skin (crop tops).

但是一些新的在线时装精品店、零售商和设计师在努力让大码服装变得更时尚。这些公司提供的不是松紧带裤和宽大连衣裙，而是能反映秀台潮流的服装（比如连身裤）和超出宽松工作服范畴外的服装（比如皮裤），甚至是暴露一点肌肤的服装（比如露脐上衣）。

The plus-size customer is “really letting her hair down for the first time,” said Marie Jean-Baptiste, the founder⁸ and designer of Rue107, which sells form-fitting mesh⁹ dresses ($110) and purple metallic¹⁰ jumpsuits ($59, on sale from $89) in sizes S to 3X.

Rue107的创始人、设计师玛丽·让-巴普蒂斯特(Marie Jean-Baptiste)说，他们的服装让穿大码服装的顾客“第一次放松下来”。该公司销售修身网眼连衣裙（110美元）和紫色金属质感连身裤（59美元，原价89美元），尺码从S号到3X号。

Customers have clamored for more and better options. Last spring Sarah Chiwaya, 30, a lawyer in Manhattan, attended a fashion event at Saks Fifth Avenue. Captivated by a perforated leather midi skirt from Tibi, she was ready to spend. But the skirt was available only in small sizes.

顾客们早已发出呼声，要求拥有更多更好的选择。30岁的莎拉·奇瓦亚(Sarah Chiwaya)是曼哈顿的一名律师。去年春天，她要去萨克斯第五大道精品百货店参加一场时尚活动。她看上了Tibi的一条皮质打孔超短裙，打算破费一下。但是那条裙子只有小号。

“I would have bought it immediately if it were in my size, 16,” she said.

“如果有我的号，16号，我肯定马上买了，”她说。

Frustrated¹¹, Ms. Chiwaya turned to her blog, Curvily, and bemoaned¹² the lack of options. She used a hashtag, #plussizeplease, that has been adopted by others across all sorts of social platforms like Tumblr, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter.

沮丧的奇瓦亚在自己的博客Curvily上叹息选择太少。她加上了#plussizeplease（求大码），这个标签在各种社交平台上被广泛使用，比如Tumblr、Pinterest、Instagram和Twitter。

“I wanted it to be a way to show retailers the money they’re losing,” she said.

“我想通过这种方式告诉零售商他们正在让能到手的钱溜走，”她说。

The market, in fact, is robust¹³. The average American woman wears a size 14, and women wearing size 14 and up account for 67 percent of the population, according to the industry analyst¹⁴ firm Plunkett Research Ltd. Last summer, the NPD Group reported that plus-size clothing sales grew more than 5 percent from May 2013 to April 2014, going from $16.7 billion to $17.5 billion.

实际上，这个市场很大。据行业分析公司Plunkett Research Ltd.称，美国女人的平均服装尺码是14码，穿14码及以上的女人占全体美国女性的67%。去年夏天，NPD集团报告称，从2013年5月至2014年4月，大码服装的销售额增长了5%以上，从167亿美元增长到了175亿美元。

That is perhaps why youthful-leaning, mass-market retailers like Asos, H & M, Mango, Wet Seal, ModCloth and Forever 21 have begun selling either an expanded size range or a dedicated¹⁵ plus-size line.

可能是由于这个原因，Asos、H&M、Mango、Wet Seal、ModCloth和Forever 21等面向年轻大众的零售商开始销售更多尺码的服装或者推出专门的大码服装系列。

“We work in the exact same way as Asos core brand,” said Natasha Smith, a buyer for the new line, Asos Curve, in London. “There’s nothing we wouldn’t try: hot pants, bodysuits.”

“我们的运作方式与Asos的核心品牌一模一样，”购买新系列Asos Curve的伦敦买家娜塔莎·史密斯(Natasha Smith)说，“我们什么都尝试：热裤、紧身衣裤。”

Several new companies are making plus-size their sole focus. One is Eloquii, which aims to do for the plus market what Zara has done in the mainstream¹⁶ market: offer customers options that mimic¹⁷ runway trends but at prices that are lower than those in boutiques and department stores.

有几家新公司专门做大码女装。其中一家是Eloquii，它的目标很像Zara在主流市场的做法：在大码市场领域内向顾客提供模仿秀台潮流但价格低于精品店或商场的服装。

Currently, Eloquii is showing items like a leopard-print baseball jacket ($138), a cashmere sweater with Breton stripes ($138) and faux leather culottes ($98).

目前，Eloquii正在展示豹纹棒球夹克（138美元）、布列塔尼条纹羊绒衫（138美元）和仿皮裤裙（98美元）。

Eloquii was originally started in 2011 as a sister brand to the Limited, but was closed in 2013 when the Limited decided¹⁸ to shed its noncore brands. A group of former employees, including the creative director, Jodi Arnold, restarted the brand last year. (Its products are available on the label’s website as well as on Nordstrom.com). A former Gilt¹⁹ executive, John Auerbach, is a founding investor²⁰.

2011年，Eloquii最初是作为Limited的姐妹品牌创立的，但是2013年，Limited决定甩掉非核心品牌，Eloquii因此倒闭。去年，Eloquii从前的一群员工，包括创意总监约迪·阿诺德(Jodi Arnold)，复兴了这个品牌（你可以在该品牌的网站和Nordstrom.com上买到它的产品）。Gilt的前执行官约翰·奥尔巴赫(John Auerbach)是该品牌的创办投资人之一。

“The team doesn’t have a plus background, which is a good thing,” said Mariah Chase, the company’s chief executive, using industry jargon²¹ to refer to the plus-size niche²².

“这个团队没有做大码时装的背景，这是好事，”该公司的首席执行官玛丽亚·蔡斯(Mariah Chase)说。

“The starting point is trends, the runway,” Ms. Arnold added.

“我们的起点是潮流，是秀台，”阿诺德补充说。

For example, Eloquii’s Kady pant (made in an array of fabrics²³, from $88 in a graphic²⁴ rose print to $78 in solid navy) is “a structured, fitted pant where our customer has just gotten stretch before,” Ms. Chase said. A faux-leather fitted midi skirt, $128, sold out in 72 hours, according to Ms. Arnold. The company has recently raised $6 million from investors²⁵.

蔡斯说，比如，Eloquii的卡迪裤（有各种面料，从88美元的玫瑰印花到78美元的纯蓝色）是“裁剪得当的修身裤，我们的顾客刚好能穿进去”。阿诺德说，128美元的仿皮修身超短裙在推出72小时后就卖光了。该公司最近从投资人那里筹集了600万美元。

In a skinny-celebrity-obsessed world, it has been difficult to overcome the dowdy²⁶ image of plus size. What’s more, many women are uncomfortable identifying themselves as plus-size shoppers, which hampers²⁷ word-of-mouth.

在痴迷身材纤细的名人的世界里，大码服装很难推翻古板过时的形象。另外，很多女人不愿承认自己穿大码，这妨碍了口碑流传。

But social media is helping²⁸ to change that, said Aimee Cheshire, the president and a founder of HeyGorgeous.com, an online boutique that carries pieces from ABS By Allen Schwartz (wrap dress, $198), Lucky Brand denim²⁹ (black straight-leg jeans, $89.50) and Ellen Tracy (angora coat, $169) in sizes 10 and up.

不过，在线时装精品店HeyGorgeous.com的总裁和创始人艾梅·切希尔(Aimee Cheshire)说，社交媒体正在帮助改变这一点。该网店销售ABS By Allen Schwartz（裹裙，198美元）、Lucky Brand denim（黑色直筒牛仔裤，89.50美元）和 Ellen Tracy（羊毛外衣，169美元）等品牌的服装，尺码都在10码以上（含10码）。

“I’ll get emails asking, ‘How do I recommend it to my friend without offending her?’ ” Ms. Cheshire said. “I always say share it on Facebook.”

“我收到一些邮件询问，‘我怎么才能在不冒犯朋友的情况下推荐你们网站？’”切希尔说，“我总是回复说，在Facebook上分享它。”

She said she tries to encourage plus-size women to openly embrace their personal style rather than hide their shape. HeyGorgeous tells these women they “aren’t the ugly stepsister, they’re our main woman,” Ms. Cheshire said.

切希尔说她尽量鼓励穿大码的女人公开接受自己的个人风格，而不是掩饰身材。她还说，HeyGorgeous网站对这些女人说，她们“不是丑陋的继女，而是女性的主流”。

“They’re not used to being wanted,” she said. “There’s no aspiration³⁰, no Vogue³¹ for the plus sized.”

“人们还不习惯去期待大码服装，”她说，“在大码时装界没有抱负，没有时尚。”

Most plus-size clothes could be divided into three segments: “work wear, club wear and grandma clothes,” said Nicolette Mason, a plus-size fashion blogger. The problem has not been just a lack of options for consumers, but also retailers’ belief that plus-size women can’t support a high-fashion niche.

大码时装博客写手尼科莱特·梅森(Nicolette Mason)说，大部分大码服装可以分为三类：“工作服、俱乐部服装和祖母服”。问题不只是顾客们缺少可选的衣服，零售商们也认为穿大码服装的女人撑不起高级时装这个细分市场。

“When you’re taught to look at your body as a work in progress, you’re not going to spend $1,000 on a coat to last forever because you’re not hoping for it to last forever,” Ms. Mason said.

“如果别人教导你，让你认为自己的身体可以不断改进，那你就不会花1000美元买一件能一直穿下去的外衣，因为你不希望自己的身材永远是这样的，”梅森说。

Gwynnie Bee, a clothing rental³² subscription³³ service for sizes 10 to 32, is a more casual version of Rent the Runway (which began its own plus-size division in 2013). The site carries lines like BB Dakota and Three Dots. A $35-a-month commitment will get you one piece of clothing at a time; 10 pieces will cost $159 a month.

Gwynnie Bee是一个租赁10码至32码服装的订购服务公司，是休闲装版的Rent the Runway（这家公司从2013年开设了大码服装部门）。该网站提供BB Dakota和Three Dots等品牌的服装。一个月支付35美元，你便能每次能租一件衣服；一个月支付159美元，便可以每次租10件。

In the shadow of all the new focus on how to dress a larger woman, mainstays of the fashion industry that have helped propagate the connection between high fashion and small sizes are showing a greater willingness to embrace a curvier world. Calvin Klein used the model Myla Dalbesio, who is a size 10, in a lingerie campaign. In November, Vogue.com shot a lingerie spread using plus-size models.

过去，大型时装公司曾鼓吹高级时装和小码之间有着密不可分的联系。如今，如何给体型偏胖的女人设计服装成了新的焦点，大公司也开始乐于接受更丰满的世界。Calvin Klein请穿10码的麦拉·戴尔伯西奥(Myla Dalbesio)担任一个内衣广告的模特。去年11月，Vogue.com请一些大码模特拍摄了一个内衣平面广告。

The 2015 Pirelli calendar, shot by Steven Meisel and styled by Carine Roitfeld, included the plus-size model Candice Huffine. Two edgy³⁴ clothing lines, Chromat and Zana Bayne, sent plus-size models down the runway in their presentations last September.

倍耐力(Pirelli)的2015年历中有大码模特坎迪丝·赫法恩(Candice Huffine)，摄影师是史蒂文·梅塞(Steven Meisel)，造型师是卡琳·洛菲德(Carine Roitfeld)。两大前卫时装品牌Chromat和Zana Bayne在去年9月的时装秀上派出了大码模特。

For now, any competition is welcome.

目前，任何竞争都是受欢迎的。

“I would love to have more places to shop, for it to be a fun leisure activity with multiple sources,” said Kelly Goldston, the director of marketing³⁵ at Eloquii. As more plus-size women get into the habit of expressing their personal style, business will be better for everyone involved, she said, adding, “New players would be good for us.”

“我希望有更多可以购物的地方，因为那将是汇聚人脉的有趣的休闲活动，”Eloquii的营销总监凯利·戈德斯顿(Kelly Goldston)说。她说，更多穿大码的女人养成了表现个人风格的习惯，这对所有参与这项生意的人来说都是好事，“新竞争对手将有益于我们”。