Maternity and Plus Size are NOT the same, Target....

As someone who has yo-yo'd in weight for years and years and is now pregnant and basically giving in to the weight gain I have fought so long - it is so frustrating to me that Target mixes their maternity and plus size women's departments. They are NOT the same. And when I say that they "mix it" I do not mean that they have them right next to each other. That would be fine. But now, they are MIXED. The clearance items are all on the same rack, the racks are interchangeable. It is ridiculous. My shopping experience on Friday night was terrible. Plus sized women's clothes do not fit the same as Maternity Clothes. They just don't. And it is a waste of a shopper's time to have to shift through one to search for the other when they really should not be on the same rack anyway.

This is nothing against women who shop in the plus size department. On the contrary, how annoying must it be for those women who will be shopping in the plus size department a lot longer than I will be pregnant and shopping in the maternity department. How depressing. Want me to explain how I understand just how depressing this can be? I went shopping in a Maternity Store at a local Miami mall. This store carried affordable yet trendy maternity clothes. The tops were great. They fit perfect. The bottoms, however, were another story. This store catered to a large South American clientele. Now, if anyone knows the difference between South American shaped women and Caribbean shaped women it is that the former have tiny hips and tushes and the latter usually have an abundance of curves in the lower areas. Yes, class, I am in the latter category. Shopping in this store was a test of self confidence. As if it was not bad enough that I was surrounded by skinny pregnant women who looked like they had all swallowed basketballs while I looked like I swallowed a basketball court - I had to deal with the fact that I was shopping in the 5-7-9 of the pregnancy world of pants. Ugh.

I think stores forget sometimes that they are there to make the experience as pleasurable as possible for customers. The goal is to keep customers coming back for more. I am pretty sure that Target is not accomplishing this. And seriously, all joking aside, I really expect more from them!