Plus size hiking clothing

[jane]

Recently I ordered a XXL pair of hiking pants online, unfortunately , they are a 12 to 14 at most not 20 to 22 .

Its a frusting search to find hiking clothing in larger sizes

I get frustrated that many manufactures of specialised technical clothing finish at a womens size 16 .

Women who are a larger size, have legs that take them places too, over hill, dale and through the bush.

It leads me to wonder where to look for such clothing in " my perfect size " and also if its worth sewing my own
Is anyone out there in the real world sewing their own custom made hiking clothing ?

[Cecile]

I'm plus size and I have been sewing anything and everything for over 50 years. Happy to talk to you. I have tons of resources and links. I'm married to Moondog, a forum regular who makes a lot of his own stuff and is my sounding board about specialised technical fabrics and techniques.

Some outdoor stuff is highly complicated and definitely not for beginners, but everything is possible!

[Eremophila]

Check out Mountain Warehouse - I haven't purchased anything from them but their size range is impressive and the pricing is good. A couple of examples of pants:

https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/au/hi ... spx/black/
https://www.mountainwarehouse.com/au/ex ... ?rrec=true

There are a few previous threads on this subject, if you try searching the site they shouldn't be hard to find.

https://theheavyhiker.com.au/ has a couple of blogs on plus size hiking apparel, sadly she hasn't updated her site in a while.

[Lamont]

I get frustrated that many manufactures of specialised technical clothing finish at a womens size 16 .
It leads me to wonder where to look for such clothing in " my perfect size " and also if its worth sewing my own
Is anyone out there in the real world sewing their own custom made hiking clothing ?

It's definitely worth making your own if you have a pretty good domestic machine and time to research something like YT and ask questions and then time to practice. Bushwalking clothing pants, shorts, shirts etc is not different in shape etc to normal clothing. The whole bushwalking clothing scene for nearly all people, most of the time is overblown. It's all twaddle. Mock something up, beat the hell out of it-refine it and make a copy.
You want the size up or down for almost any clothing item you can get the pattern for it. Youtube is just unbelievable also, truly. I recently tracked down my 1983 Janome machine being used in a demo of stitches after a service-it's just astounding. You can even use you own stuff for a pattern. Might well be a bit messy first go, but you can refine it and best of all you get what you want.
The real issue I have found is getting the the 'technical fabric' for clothes. I priced some highly technical fabric recently for a job and the bought version was only a wee bit (30%) more expensive. You can get almost any fabric you want but you'll be going overseas (likely Euro or US) and postage from the land of Pepe la Chump is so stupidly expensive.
Fabric that breathes well yet blocks wind some waterproofing and variations of that will be harder to find and can be exy.
If you want more generic clothing fabrics cut and stitched to your own dimensions, you have the time and they work for you why not?
Cecile gave me some good pointers as well
I'd love to see some of your creations.

Last edited by Lamont on Fri 09 Oct, 2020 10:43 am, edited 2 times in total.

[Cecile]

I'll also note that just because a website says clothing is plus size, or labels a size, does not mean it's truly plus size, or will even come close to fitting. Size 26 in one brand could be nothing more than 22 in another. It's all about the measurement of the clothing, not some arbitrary size number assigned to it - there are NO sizing standards in clothing and if it's made in Asia their sizings are ridiculously small.

I'm a very large person, and for years have been well outside even the largest labelled size in most clothing. I know what I am talking about re sizing and frustration. Plus-size doesn't mean we have hugely long arms and legs either, which a lot of plus size clothes have. They must grade the patterns uniformly so that arms and legs just grow.

I'm not dismissing the other comments in this thread. In reality I am tired of plus size garments being more expensive/poorly sized/unavailable

Send me a PM, we can chat more easily on facebook messenger or phone.

[Eremophila]

Good point, Cecile - and whilst Mountain Warehouse have sizes up to 28, the styles are still based on the same body shape.

At least they have some elastic waists.

[Cecile]

Good point, Cecile - and whilst Mountain Warehouse have sizes up to 28, the styles are still based on the same body shape.

At least they have some elastic waists.

What they NEVER say is how much ease is in the clothes. We generally measure ourselves standing up but did you ever take your hip/belly measurement when you are sitting? It can be a very big difference, so something like Taslon hiking pants that fit while you're walking will basically cut off your circulation/prevent you from breathing when you sit down. An elastic waist can pull in the excess though.

It's horrible to be in this category (speaking for myself only) and it really is sickening in this day and age of equality that big(ger) people are simply left out of the fitness equation.

[Cecile]

Jane, sent you a PM

[Snooze]

If you don't mind going "off brand", that megastore chain, Anaconda, seems to make womens' outdoor clothing in sizes at least up to 22 and XXXL, in their own labels such as Cape and Cederberg.

[Cecile]

If you don't mind going "off brand", that megastore chain, Anaconda, seems to make womens' outdoor clothing in sizes at least up to 22 and XXXL, in their own labels such as Cape and Cederberg.

Don't bother with these placesfor plus size - and this includes MacPac. The stuff is sized very small, no matter what random number the size says. For example, Moondog is not a fat person but has very broad shoulders, long arms and wide chest, and none of Anaconda's clothes fit him. There's no way their women's stuff will work and be comfortable, believe me. I lost 70kg and their stuff never even came close to fitting. Any company that has their factory in Asia will have fit issues (in our experience they are ALWAYS small regardless of the marked size.)

There's never going to be a perfect ready-to-wear solution for plus size people. If you want perfection in outdoor gear sizing you either have to be small enough to buy a size up (for layering) or sew your own. Or buy US Army surplus, which is almost always true to size.

[JeanW]

Coming in late here, I'm new. I carry most of my excess weight on my gut (food baby style) and I actually find men's sizes often fit me better and have less "vanity sizing" issues. Other plusses are that men's pants are usually sold by waist measurement, so at least you know the waist fits when you choose your size, menswear is generally made with more durable fabric, and it's often cheaper too. Cotton tradie pants provide decent protection from snakes in hot weather and come in big sizes. Check options beyond women's hiking wear - it's overpriced and undersized.