I hope Mom doesn’t mind, (she’s my #1 fan) but I have to let you in on a conversation we had recently about sizing for curvier women. My mother, fully comfortable with her figure and maybe uneven sizing (bigger on the bottom than top), can’t find anything great to wear anymore so she’s taken to making her own clothes.

Luckily, I benefit as well.

She wishes more eco-designers made clothing in her size, but I told her they’re still designing for the teeny tiny woman. Most of the designs really wouldn’t look good on a larger woman. I’ve written before about the few who do design in larger sizes, but not yet at a style level suitable for the fashion-conscious larger woman.

While in New York City a week or so ago, I worked with Prairie Underground which just began offering a size extra large. Buyers were thrilled for some of their regular customers that could now buy more than jewelry or accessories from them. “This will bring in a whole new customer for us,” I heard a buyer remark.

While designers are getting more size savvy, customization companies are also on the rise.

According to an article in the Boston Globe, in the early 1990s a Newton, Massachusetts entrepreneur named Sung Park started a company called Custom Clothing Technology Corp. It sold software that enabled apparel companies to take measurements and crank out a perfectly fitted bathing suit, bra, pair of pants, or shoe.

Acquired in 1995 by Levi Strauss & Co, Park’s concept of mass customization could be the way of the future. Park is now an adviser to several companies that are part of this new customization crop.

The Globe cites another company, Paragon Lake, that sells jewelers a touch-screen display and software that allows the customer to customize pieces – like changing white gold to platinum, or ruby to emerald – and see how the price changes as they go.

Personally I wish there were customizing kiosks in every boutique so I could special order all my outfits to accommodate my “unevenness”. (I better patent that idea before you do!)

More consumers are cautious with their money and wanting more bang for their buck, and not everyone has an atelier they can afford. Me? I’ve got my mom and (nervous laughter) maybe a few other people.

How are you going to find the right fit? Or are you willing to settle for the baggy jean, the bra that accommodates only one of your breasts properly or the shoes that comfortably fit well, but only on your left foot.

Email me. I’d like to hear.

Image: sidewalk flying