What's a 'Missy'?

I was in conversation with a female buddy of mine earlier today and we started comparing notes regarding the way that most apparel retailers name their different women's clothing departments. Our conclusion - most retailers are desperately out of touch with the female mindset.

For a start, who wants to be thought of as a 'missy'? It reminds me of an old black and white movie in which a crusty grandfather says to his granddaughter 'you mind yourself little missy'. Or words to that effect. It makes no sense whatsoever, and rather than encouraging women into the department, we find ourselves sidling in and hoping no one sees us.

A more sensible name for this 'average sized' department would be 'womens', however this label now seems to have been handed to plus sized women. But they aren't happy either. Research has shown that women who do wear larger sizes don't want to be segregated off into a dark corner of the store with a large fluorescent arrow pointing down that says 'fat women shop here'. I mean good grief! Most women, whatever their size want the same range of quality styles and designs that are well made and comfortable. Old Navy is an example of a store that has very cleverly pursued a strategy of not deviding up juniors, womens/missy and womens/plus size. They have a range of styles that you can get in everything from an XS to an XXL. Good thinking Old Navy. No one has to slink off to a dusty corner this way.

Okay, so back to the department naming discussion. The department name 'juniors' is also horribly inappropriate. Most teenagers and young twenties that I have come across are dying to be seen as mature and grown up. They don't want to think of themselves as a 'junior', and why should they? Their male equivalents don't have to shop in a 'juniors' department. In fact, speaking of which 'junior' seems more appropriate to young boys than to young girls - wasn't there a young boy in a Leave it to Beaver type movie that was called Junior. Perfect - let the guys have the name. We give it up with pleasure.

So what's my solution? Copy Old Navy. Have different collections in the store represent different fashion needs - corporate, party, casual etc. - but leave our relative sizes out of the equation. We all want to shop together, just like we do everything else together - regardless of our size.