Women, including celebrity women, have often taken issue with the fact that clothing stores don’t reflect the size of actual American women.

Some have even taken stands on the issue.

“Don’t put a plus-size model on the runway if you don’t have their size…If you’re not going to design for my body, then I don’t want to wear your clothes,” Ashley Graham told Vogue Business.

Tess Holliday, a model and the founder of #effyourbeautystandards, took a bold stand on the issue.

“It’s not about size, it’s about style. We shouldn’t have to conform our bodies to fashion; fashion should conform to our bodies,” reported Fashionable Collections.

Men, including fashion consultant and former “Project Runway” personality Tim Gunn, have been outspoken on the topic as well.

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“The fashion industry is not making it work for plus-size women. It’s time to start celebrating diversity on the runway and in clothing stores,” he said, according to Fashionable Collections.

Plus-size clothing has become somewhat more accessible, but one of the leading retail chains serving women in that space, Ashley Stewart, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Facts on the average American woman

  • The average American woman now wears roughly a size 16–18, which in most brands falls into “plus size,” showing sizing has shifted upward over time, Yahoo reported.
  • There are several variations of the term “inclusive sizing,” such as size inclusive, plus size, and extended sizing, to name a few. There is no exact definition of what size these terms refer to, although often the term is already used for clothes larger than US 12, which is traditionally the largest size many clothing retailers offer, according to Statista‘s U.S. women’s inclusive sizing apparel market: Statistics & facts.
    The irony is that it is completely normal to wear these sizes and customers should not have to feel specially “included,” despite the implication of these terms that wearing larger than size 12 is the exception.

    What is true is that larger sizes are still not the perceived normal in the high fashion industry.

    On the catwalks of New York, London, Paris, and Milan in the fall/winter 2023 season, almost all of the 9,000+ looks exhibited were in U.S. sizes 0 to 4. Only 0.6 percent of the looks were in sizes 14 and over.

    Source: Statista

  • Data from a body-measurement analytics platform found the most common dress size is size 16, and more than half of women wear size 14 or larger, added Mys Tyler.
  • Inconsistent and non-standardized sizing across brands means the same person may fit very different sizes from one label to another, adding to shopping frustration and returns, shared Forbes.
  • The lack of a universal sizing standard and “vanity sizing” practices result in wide variability between size labels and actual garment measurements, making it hard to define an exact average size and fit, reported Welly.
Fashion retail does not always reflect women’s actual sizes.

Shutterstock

Ashley Stewart files Chapter 11 bankruptcy to fight off foreclosure

Ashley Stewart, Inc., a New Jersey-based plus-size women’s apparel retailer, filed for Chapter 11 protection on Dec. 17 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

“The filing was authorized by a newly reconstituted board to challenge a ‘disputed’ November 2025 UCC Article 9 foreclosure sale of the company’s assets to G Ashley Inc., an entity allegedly controlled by former insider management,” Bondoro reported.

  • Ashley Stewart, Inc. reports $10 million to $50 million in assets and $50 million to $100 million in liabilities.
  • The filing indicates that there will be funds available for distribution to unsecured creditors.
  • The case number is 25-23314.

“The debtor asserts the sale, orchestrated by senior lender Wingspire Capital, was ‘tainted by insider misconduct,’ undervalued the assets, and improperly excluded bona fide higher offers. The debtor, which is currently non-operating but retains control over critical bank accounts and financial infrastructure, intends to file an adversary proceeding to void the sale and recover the assets for the benefit of creditors,” according to court documents filed on PacerMonitor.

Ashley Stewart Chapter 11 at a glance:

  • Ashley Stewart, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.
  • The filing was made on December 17, 2025.
  • The company listed estimated assets between $10M–$50M and liabilities $50M–$100M, with 200–999 creditors.
  • The Chapter 11 petition aims to reorganize debts and maintain operations while the process proceeds.
    Source: PacerMonitor

Why Ashley Stewart filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy

  • Part of the goal of the bankruptcy filing was to freeze or halt a contested sale transaction involving G Ashley Inc., alleging a “multi-state fraudulent transfer,” according to Bloomberg Law.
  • Despite the bankruptcy filing, Ashley Stewart continues to operate its retail stores and e-commerce business as of the filing date. reported Law360.
  • This is the third notable bankruptcy event in the company’s history; previous Chapter 11 filings occurred in 2010 and 2014 amid financial challenges tied to declining mall traffic and heavy debt loads, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“Immediately upon the filing of a bankruptcy petition under Chapters 7, 11, 12, or 13, a creditor is prohibited or stayed from taking any action which has the purpose and result of collecting a debt or taking possession of property or assets of the debtor,” according to Findlaw.com.

The Chapter 11 filing puts the sales process on hold and prevents the company from being liquidated until the matter is settled in court.

The stay bars creditors, including those holding security interests under UCC Article 9, from:

  • Enforcing a security interest (for example, repossession, foreclosure, or taking physical possession of collateral).
  • Starting or continuing collection lawsuits or other enforcement actions against the debtor.
  • Taking control of or selling collateral without court approval.

This means even a perfected Article 9 secured creditor cannot exercise self-help remedies (like repossession or UCC sale) during the bankruptcy unless the court lifts the stay, according to FindLaw.

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