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Yahoo
15-07-2025
- Lifestyle
- Yahoo
I'm a shopping editor and these are the loose-fitting pants I'm wearing instead of shorts — starting at $18
Shorts and I aren't really on speaking terms these days. They don't quite give me the kind of coverage I want, now that I'm at the age where showing skin is no longer a priority. I love my drapey dresses for that reason, but sometimes I just want to pull on a pair of pants and go. As a shopping editor, my goal is always to find pieces that blend comfort, style and staying power that you (and I) will like. With the heat waves ahead in mind, I've rounded up 10 loose-fitting pants to swap for the shorts that are taking up too much real estate in my closet. From Yahoo reader-favorite brands like Spanx, Loft and these picks are comfortable, breathable and start at just $18. The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.
Business Insider
08-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Insider
The shrinkflation of plus-size clothing
Tess Holliday remembers 2019 as a "glorious" year for plus-size fashion and body positivity. The plus-size model and body activist walked the runway at New York Fashion Week. She'd been featured by magazines such as Cosmopolitan UK, Nylon, and Self. The cultural shift felt palpable — Rihanna's Savage X Fenty runway show made headlines for the size diversity of its models, and Lizzo was topping the charts with catchy songs and a message of empowerment. "It finally felt like we were in a place where that was the norm," Holliday says. That optimistic new norm, however, was short-lived. The pandemic — and all the Zoom calls — had people picking their appearance apart. Some major brands that had made forays into the plus-size realm scaled back. Then came Ozempic and the rise of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs, promising miracles that could move shoppers out of the plus-size section entirely. "I don't really see it getting better or shifting to a place where we are maybe hearing the term body positivity and seeing brands promote it in the way that they were," says Holliday, the author of the coming book " Take Up Space, Y'all: Your Bold & Bright Guide to Self-Love." "I mean, look at what happened with the backswing of diversity and inclusivity." Thin is in, culturally, and the fashion industry is happy to oblige. Manufacturing plus-size clothes presents unique operational challenges that many brands would rather avoid. Weight-loss drugs are slimming down some proportion of the population and may be changing inventory mixes in turn. Many fashion retailers and companies have never been thrilled about catering to plus-size clients — even though about two-thirds of American women are estimated to fall into that category — so they're happy to have a reason to turn away. "I'm just convinced at this point that they just want us running around naked," Holliday says. Even before the GLP-1 explosion, brands that ventured into the plus-size market were already backing off. (I'll focus largely on women's fashion for this story, because that's where much of the spending and offerings are.) In 2021, Loft discontinued its plus-size options just three years after launching its first plus-size collection, citing "ongoing business challenges." In 2022, Old Navy said it would pull some options from its stores, about a year after making a big deal about its efforts to place all sizes together on the sales floor instead of separating sections. The retailer still has plus-size clothing, it's just mostly online. In June, the plus-size retailer Torrid announced plans to close up to 180 stores. I'm just convinced at this point that they just want us running around naked. Lauren Hope Krass, the host of " Belly Laughs," a body acceptance podcast, and a web series called "Fat Fashion," tells me the Loft pullback hurt a lot because a lot of what the brand offers is business casual clothing. "You'll hear a lot of plus-size shoppers complain about, 'Well, we want sexy clothes, too.' And that is so true, but if you think about the country, we're business bitches, we're going to work," she says. "It's honestly really discouraging because we're seeing a loss of entire brands and companies go under." Anecdotally, plus-size shoppers and influencers say they've noticed a pullback in merchandise from a variety of retailers, including H&M. In addition to sharp-eyed shoppers, there's data to show that the extended-size clothing options are getting harder to find. In a 2024 report, the retail intelligence firm Edited found that the clothing retailer Aritzia had cut the share of 2XL dresses among its new arrivals by 5 percentage points from 2023 while upping it in many smaller sizes. ASOS similarly reduced its plus-size assortment by 15% from the previous year, the report found, and Reformation reduced its extended sizing range by 46%. A separate 2024 report from the merchandising and inventory consultancy Impact Analytics looked at Manhattan's Upper East Side, an affluent neighborhood where GLP-1s for weight loss were prominent, and found that sales in smaller sizes for women's button-down shirts increased by 12% for local fashion retailers from 2022 to 2024, while sales of larger sizes fell by just slightly less. Impact Analytics found a similar, albeit less pronounced, trend for men. Executives at Lafayette 148, Rent the Runway, and Amarra told The Wall Street Journal last year that they'd spotted an uptick in customers switching to smaller sizes. The authors of Edited's report note that it's not clear whether Ozempic can be directly linked to increased demand for smaller sizes. Trendy weight-loss solutions are often coming and going, and only a tiny sliver of Americans are taking GLP-1s. But the fashion industry was already shifting away from plus size when the drugs hit the zeitgeist, and a scenario in which people lose weight and have to buy new clothes (and perhaps gain the weight back and have to buy more new clothes) is a great one for retailers. "It's a breakthrough miracle drug for people who really need to lose weight, 100%. But I don't think it's going to make everybody a Size 8 all of a sudden," says Danielle Malconian, the CEO of the plus-size apparel brand Vikki Vi and the online retailer Plus by Design. "It's an easy thing for retailers to kind of jump out of the space because it is service-based. It is hard; it's not sexy all the time." As mentioned, the majority of the country counts as plus size. For women in the US, that means those who wear a Size 14 and up. Plus-size consumers have a lot of money to spend, but that's easier said than done. "They have the most beautiful shoes and handbags of everybody in the world, and they get so frustrated that they can't find clothing to spend money on," Malconian says. The fashion industry has long been hesitant to cater to plus-size customers. That's for a variety of reasons — some logistical, some cultural, some discriminatory. Designing and manufacturing for plus-size customers can be more costly and intensive than for what are called "straight sizes," the industry term for the sizes you always find on the rack. Designers and brands often use one standard-size fit model and then scale up and down from there. But that gets harder to do in bigger sizes because of how differently people may carry their weight. "When you're making plus sizes, you have to be really concerned about fit, and when you're dealing with a plus-size customer, you're dealing with a lot of shapes of bodies," Malconian says. "You want to have not just one fit model, but maybe three or four fit models to really understand what's going to fit, or else you end up with a bunch of returns and you go out of business." Other material calculations make retailers less inclined to sell plus-size clothing: It requires more fabric, meaning it's more expensive to make. Retailers are hesitant to charge more for larger sizes, so they may order fewer units to put in their stores, if they carry them at all. E-commerce makes this all a little easier because it allows retailers to respond as orders come in. "With online, we've been able to offer more inclusive sizes because we don't stock the inventory on our balance sheet, and we have the vendor cut it based on demand," says Shawn Grain Carter, a luxury branding and retail consultant who's an associate professor at the Fashion Institute of Technology. "If they don't buy it, no harm, no foul, because you had that excess fabric sitting there." Plus-size brands might go under due to fatphobia, not due to lack of fat people. To be sure, the downsizing of plus-size options is not just about logistical hurdles. Historically, the fashion industry has always prioritized being thin, and it caters to that clientele accordingly. Krass attributes the resistance to embracing plus-size fashion to plain "fatphobia." "I do get so annoyed when people are like, 'Oh, our plus-size brands are going to go under, there's no more fat people,'" she says. "And it's like, no, plus-size brands might go under due to fatphobia, not due to lack of fat people. We are here, and we should be here and should have the dignity of having access to fashion." Culturally and economically, plus-size people are often pushed to the side. Plus-size sections are often hidden away in stores. Brands that sell plus-size clothing often market them almost covertly. The vast majority of their Instagram posts and social media show straight-size models, even if they have plus-size merchandise. And the supposed plus-size models they do use are often still much thinner than their actual plus-size customers, who may not even really realize they're being targeted because models don't look like them in the ads. "A lot of plus-size brands will default to showing Size 14 models, Size 14 people. To me, that's the midsize range," Krass says. "They can shop straight sizes, so why are you catering to them for plus sizes? Get some thicker models, and we'll know, and then we'll shop." Vogue Business' Autumn/Winter 2025 size inclusivity report found that while "curvaceous silhouettes" were all over fashion show runways, curvy models were not. "We're in danger of creating a false narrative yet again, stating that the only way one can look beautiful is to be skinny," Carter says. There are, of course, brands that have figured out that plus-size people have money and cater to them accordingly. Holliday points to Universal Standard, ASOS, and Eloquii as brands getting it right on plus size, though many more brands are "doing it wrong," she says. Krass points out that resale and thrifting can be especially popular among plus-size shoppers, especially as brands pull back on new merchandise. Ozempic and other GLP-1s may change the lay of the land in plus-size fashion, but it's not going to make the need for such options obsolete. These medications are not widely available and accessible. They're costly and often not covered by insurance. And they're not for everyone — they have a lot of side effects, and one study found that more than half of the people who take them for weight loss quit within a year. "With everybody suddenly being like, 'Oh, everybody can be skinny now.' If they could all be skinny, why are there still fat people?" Holliday says. While GLP-1s won't get rid of obesity, they could make it easier for brands and retailers to ignore heavier people. The fashion industry wants to be aspirational, and American culture aspires to skinny, even if that's not realistic or even savvy business-wise.
RNZ News
19-06-2025
- Sport
- RNZ News
Super Rugby final welcomed by business
sport life and society 12:45 pm today The cowbells might not be ringing out from the Stadium but Christchurch is expecting a full house for a super sport weekend. Despite the ban on the infamous Waikato instrument, the final between the Chiefs and Crusaders on Saturday is expected to be a sell out with bars looking to soak up the rest of the punters. Mason Lattimore is the owner and manager of Loft and Kaiser Brew Bar in Christchurch. He spoke to Charlotte Cook.
SoraNews24
13-06-2025
- Entertainment
- SoraNews24
Hello Kitty and Sanrio friends team up with Spy x Family for adorable merch and popup shop【Pics】
Anya and Kitty-chan form friendship and swap outfits. There's a lot to like about anime/manga Spy x Family, between its ongoing espionage, exciting action sequences, and deft use of both low-key and slapstick humor. Of course, there's also the fact that it's an incredibly heartwarming and cute series. Hold on, heartwarming and cute? That's also an accurate description of Hello Kitty and her Sanrio pals, and sure enough they're joining the Spy x Family cast for an adorable new merch line and popup store. Following up on her team-ups with Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and the magical PreCure girls, Hello Kitty is now saying hello to the Forger family. Each member of the core Spy x Family cast gets a special Sanrio friend, and naturally Kitty-chan herself is paired with Anya, the precocious scene-stealing psychic who's the only one who really knows what's going on in the Forger household. Each piece of artwork has the Spy x Family and Sanrio characters swapping costumes. That means Anya dresses up in Hello Kitty's overalls, and she exchanges her usual hair accessories for ones that look like cat ears too. Kitty, meanwhile, slips on Anya's Eden Academy uniform. Dapper dad/doctor/secret agent Loid loans his snappy suit to fellow blondie Pompompurin… …and mom/office worker/professional killer Yor hangs out with My Melody. Even the family dog, Bond, gets in on the fun, partnered with Cinnamoroll and getting a new bowtie in the same shade of blue as the Sanrio pooch's eyes. The lineup hits all the must-haves for a merch collection, with the characters appearing as/on acrylic mini standees, clear files, hand mirrors, towels, pouches, and tote bags. There are, naturally, blind-buy trinkets too, with 10 possible designs for pins and trading cards… …and five for keychains. If you're a completionist kind of collector, you'll be glad to know that the ordinarily random items can also be bought as box sets, guaranteeing you one of each item at the same price as if you'd been lucky enough to acquire them all individually without any duplicates. The whole lineup is available for preorder now through the Toho Animation Store online shop here, but the items aren't scheduled to ship until September. If that's too long for you to wait, though, a Spy Family x Sanrio popup shop will be running at the Ikebukuro branch of lifestyle goods shop Loft in downtown Tokyo from August 13 to 31 where you can get your hands on the items a little sooner, and popup stores are also planned for Loft branches in Osaka and Fukuoka as well, with their dates yet to be announced. Related: Loft Ikebukuro branch Source: Spy x Family official website via Yahoo! Japan News via Game Watch Top image: Toho Animation Store Insert images: Spy x Family official website, Toho Animation Store (1, 2) ● Want to hear about SoraNews24's latest articles as soon as they're published? Follow us on Facebook and Twitter!
CNN
06-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- CNN
The best sales to shop this weekend: Samsung, Loft, Sonos and more
This weekend, you'll find a deal on an editor-loved Sonos portable speaker, a discounted Samsung robot mop and savings at Loft. All that and more below. Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo Mop The Discover Samsung Sale has ushered in a flood of deals on tech and more. Electronics like Samsung Galaxy smartphones and OLED TVs are reaping the benefits. Now with summer underway, there may be a flurry of activity in your home. Help lift the burden with the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo — $550 off for the savings event. The robot mop is powered by AI tech to optimize cleaning around your room. LifeStraw Go 1-Liter Water Filter Bottle Whether you prefer the taste of filtered water or want to remove potential contaminants, the LifeStraw Go is a great go-to, especially if your travels take you to places with little access to clean water. This filtered water bottle features a carbon filter and a microfilter to help remove chlorine and other contaminants, according to the brand. Plus, its covered mouthpiece helps keep drinking more hygienic on the our review EarFun Air Pro 4 Earbuds in Black Looking for a frills-free pair of wireless earbuds? The EarFun Air Pro 4s impressed our testing experts with its strong ANC, audio quality, battery life and seamless connectivity. It earned even higher marks for packing all that into its budget-friendly price, which just got even better with our exclusive promo. Save nearly 33% off with code EPRO4CNN at Amazon. Read our review Loft We love a shopping spree as much as the next, and Loft is helping make those trips guilt-free. The brand's Summer Bash Sale offers up to 55% off travel-ready styles. Snag matching linen sets for your European vacations, dressy blouses for summer outings and breezy travel dresses for warmer weather. Liven up your wardrobe with fun tropical and floral patterns too. Sonos Roam 2 Our deals editors stumbled upon this speaker at the perfect time. Hitting its all-time low price on Amazon in black and white, the Sonos Roam 2 is not only an 'elite speaker,' as dubbed by CNN Underscored experts, but it's also a great value. It's one of the best small portable speakers we've tried, without sacrificing superior bass and vocals. Queue your favorite playlist on it to set the scene for backyard BBQs this summer. Read our reviewWorx PowerShare Cordless String Trimmer Save 33% on this electric string trimmer and clean the edges of your lawn this summer. Amazon has an all-time low price on the kit that includes two batteries and a companion charger. RadExpand 5 Electric Folding Bike As the former editor of a green energy deals column, Rikka Altland has tried quite a few electric bikes. This folding model from Rad Power is a favorite of hers, as it's great for apartment dwellers and anyone else who lacks space to store a full e-bike when not in use. Now it's $599 off and landing at a new all-time low. Anker MagGo Power Bank for Apple Watch This Anker portable power bank is designed not just for your iPhone with its built-in USB-C cable but also with a dedicated spot for your Apple Watch. Save 44% at Amazon, marking a new all-time low price. Oral-B Pro Smart Rechargeable Electric Toothbrush This Oral-B electric toothbrush normally sells for $130, but Amazon has now dropped it lower than ever with this weekend's sale. Save 46% and see why we ranked the brand so highly for the best smart electric toothbrush without spending anywhere close to the retail cost of our top-tested pick. Marshall Stanmore III Bluetooth Wireless Speaker Altland uses this speaker for herself every single day. She loves the retro design as much as the booming audio it can dish out. Today's Amazon offer drops the Bluetooth speaker to its best price ever at $80 off. Sleep Number We've crossed the threshold into summer, which means you'll want to invest in cooler nights ahead. Luckily, the mattress brand's Summer Cool Down Sale offers up to 40% off temperature-regulating models, like the Special Edition Smart Bed and the Climate 360s. The retailer beloved for its kitschy assortment of home decor, stationery and clothing is offering savings galore. Filled with Baggu crossbody bags, Rachel Antonoff apparel and planners, the Sale on Sale takes an extra 30% off with code OHYEAH. Slumber Cloud Some of the best cooling bedding that deals editor Jacqueline Saguin has ever tried is seeing markdowns in time for rising temps. Take 15% off airy sheet sets and up to 30% off breathable bedding bundles. Ellis Brooklyn The perfume brand just turned 10, and it's celebrating in kind with discounts on its entire lineup of fragrances, room sprays, candles and more. Score 20% off sitewide with code HAPPY10 through June 9, including Saguin's favorite, the Vanilla Milk scent. Oura Ring Gen3 Oura may have just launched its newer, slimmer 4th-generation smart ring, but Amazon doesn't want you to forget how good a value the last model was. The 3rd-Gen Horizon launched at $349 and has now dropped to just $199. That's $150 off the original price, $50 under the previous discount we tracked and a new all-time low. REI Outlet Sale REI is starting off June by restocking its outlet section with a fresh batch of discounts. This month, you can save up to 30% on footwear like sandals and hiking boots, camping gear and tons of apparel. Dyson V11 Extra Cordless Vacuum We love sharing a good Dyson deal, and this one is even better than the last time it went on sale. The Dyson V11 was a previous contender for our favorite cordless vacuum, and now it's $150 off. That's a new low price for 2025 and $30 below the Memorial Day discount we tracked last month. Apple Watch Series 10 The Apple Watch Series 10 features one of the largest screens Apple has ever put in a wearable. It doesn't skimp on upgraded health-tracking features either, with the tech to monitor workouts, heart rate, sleep and more. Both sizes are down to their respective all-time low prices at Amazon. Read our review Sam's Club Membership Get ready for the summer with some of the best deals in-store and online at Sam's Club. Right now, you can save 60% on a Club membership so you can shop the lowest prices on groceries, home goods, tech and more (and opt in for free handy curbside pickup). JBL Go 3 Speakers Tons of portable speakers are discounted at the JBL Amazon storefront, and the savings are compelling enough that Saguin bought the on-sale JBL Go 3 Eco for all her summer picnics. Score the speakers for as low as $30 in a variety of punchy colors. Don't be fooled by its mini size, because it packs loud volume. Dyson Cool Tower Fan Keep cool as temps rise with a handy tower fan that brings sweeping breezes to your space. This Dyson bladeless model brings a sleek look to rooms. On particularly warm days, it amps up by 10 airflow speeds. Plus, it has an oscillating feature so no corner of your home goes uncooled. Sony WH-1000XM4 Headphones Completely lock into your workouts or errands with these Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones. With the new kid on the block, the Sony XM6, these XM4s are now available at a better value. Deals editor Jacqueline Saguin has owned her pair since their 2020 launch, and it still delivers impressive noise cancellation and great battery life all these years later. Read our review Blueair Medium Blue Pure 311i Max Air Purifier If spring allergies aren't letting up, minimize the sneeze sessions with an air purifier hailing from an expert-recommended brand. Rid bedrooms and small spaces of irritants like pollen and dander for as little as $190 across. Its compatible app also unlocks extra features like timer settings and filter monitoring. Cotopaxi Hit the trails this spring with all the proper outdoor gear. Everything from colorblocked rain jackets to vibrant hiking daypacks is up to 60% off at Cotopaxi. If you weren't ready to pay full price on fleeces and down jackets (like the editor-loved Fuego), it's also a great opportunity to score off-season styles for much less. Samsung 55-Inch OLED S90C TV Any time you can save $800 on a TV is worth writing home about, but that goes double when it's our best TV pick. The bright, colorful Samsung OLED S90C is a top-notch TV, and now the 55-inch model is down to one of the lowest prices we have tracked. The deals editors at CNN Underscored look out for your wallet on the daily, scouring sales at the top of every morning. We tap a range of techniques and consider a variety of factors to determine whether a deal is worthy of coverage, such as price history checks, available coupon codes and competitor pricing. Our team, consisting of senior editor Rikka Altland, editor Jacqueline Saguin and associate editor Elena Matarazzo, is passionate about unearthing deals that we ourselves would be tempted to shop, and we enjoy finding a great deal on a coveted item (especially one that's a top-tested by our experts) because it means that we're helping our readers make savvy buying decisions.
