This week Jella who’s got the big ladies fashion stall on Western, had a team of lads chopping the size tags out of the garments. I asked him
“What happened mate, did they all come in wrongly sized?”
“No” he replied.
“Why are you cutting the labels then?” I asked him.
“We’re taking them out and tagging them in the same garments one size down”.
“Why?” I enquired.
“Because”, he replied, “That way, if a punter is a size twelve, they try on a size ten on the stall and it fits, it makes them feel better”.
“And?” I said.
“They sell better”. He said.
This mystifies me, it doesn’t mean that you are any slimmer. Put a tape measure around your waist and inches will not have miraculously disappeared, it’s just a number. Clothes either fit or they don’t. Also it goes against a conversation that I once had with Georgie on the dresses back in the day. He had a range that came in four sizes: S, M, L, and FB.
I asked him once, ‘What does FB stand for?’
“What do you f***ing think” was his reply.
I paused for a moment and then asked:
“Sell many FB’s do you?”
“Actually,” he said, “It’s our best-selling size.”
That’s this week’s report from Pete the Market trader. The man on the street. Literally.
