Plus-size clothing pops up in Halifax this weekend

Krista Kirby knows the struggle of finding a dress that fits properly.

“We were at Forever 21 the other day, Stevie and I, and I remember just loudly yelling in the dressing room ‘I want to give you my money, but you’re not making clothes that fit my body, so I can’t buy them!’” she says.

Kirby, along with her friends Stevie Fort and Elizabeth O’Brien, are running The Bounty, a pop-up shop of second-hand plus-size clothing, out of Gottingen Street’s Big Pony.

Big Pony co-owner Emily Ross says most of the time, their plus-size section takes up just one small rack.

This weekend, The Bounty’s two long racks of skirts, jackets and more make it “the Bigger Pony” section, says Fort.

Research shows over half of Canadian women wear a “special size” of clothing –– that’s plus, petite, juniors or tall. Of those women, 32 per cent wear plus-size, which refers to any size 14 and up.

In Halifax, plus-size shopping options are limited. There’s Addition Elle and Penningtons. Forever 21, for example, is a store with a plus-size section, but Fort says their clothes don’t always allow for bigger breasts and bums.

For the most part, The Bounty founders turn to thrifting and online stores like ASOS to stock their own closets. A lot of the items on the pop-up’s racks are Internet purchases that just didn’t fit.The rest, they scouted through thrift shopping.

This is the pop-up’s second incarnation after its debut last fall. Kirby says they like the mobility and flexibility of the pop-up model, since all three work or go to school full-time.

Fort says putting together the pop-up has been just plain fun.

“There’s definitely a sense of community too, with all the fatties being like ‘yay, something for us!’ It’s really exciting.”

The Bounty will be at Big Pony until Sunday evening.