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Registered: ‎07-29-2014

'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

[ Edited ]

More proof of why I've loved and admired her since 'Gilmore Girls'.

Smiley Happy

 

 

 

 

Melissa McCarthy Is Not A Fan Of The Term “Plus-Size”, And For Some Very Legit Reasons

 

Refinder29.com  8/17/15

 

 

If Melissa McCarthy weren't working in comedy, it’s very likely that she would have been in the fashion industry, having moved to NYC in the '80s to attend FIT alongside her BFF, footwear designer Brian Atwood.

 

While, happily, McCarthy’s early stints doing stand-up proved more fruitful than her time behind the workbench, it’s evident from how different her clothing line Melissa McCarthy Seven7 is from the typical celebrity pet-project fare that she could have done very well for herself if her jokes didn’t slay, too.

 

Case in point: how thoughtful, insightful, and passionate she is about every aspect of her collection, including the industry term her line is classified as, “plus-size.”

“Women come in all sizes. Seventy percent of women in the United States are a size 14 or above, and that’s technically ‘plus-size,’ so you’re taking your biggest category of people and telling them, ‘You’re not really worthy.’ I find that very strange,” McCarthy told us.

 

“I also find it very bad business. It doesn’t make a lot of sense numbers-wise.

It’s like, if you open a restaurant and you say, ‘We’re primarily gonna serve people that don’t eat.’ It’s like, what?  You would be nuts."

 

"Yet, people do it with clothing lines all the time, and no one seems to have a problem with it.

 

"I just don’t get why we always have to group everything into a good or bad, right or wrong category.

I just think, if you’re going to make women’s clothing, make women’s clothing.

Designers that put everyone in categories are over-complicating something that should be easy.”

It’s not just the word that’s inherently less-than, but it’s how the plus category gets merchandised and placed in stores, too.

 

“I don’t like the segregated plus section.  

You’re saying: ‘You don’t get what everybody else gets.  

You have to go shop up by the tore section.' "

 

"I have a couple of very big retailers that I think are going to help me chip away at that in a very meaningful way, and I’m really excited about it."

 

"I’m not ready to announce them yet, but they agreed to just put me on the floor.

I said, ‘Run the sizes as I make them and let friends go shopping with their friends. Stop segregating women."

And they said, ‘Okay.’ " 

 

'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' comes in sizes 4 through 28, and launches this month in retailers across the world, including Nordstrom, Macy’s, HSN, Lane Bryant, and Evans.

 

Which is a coup in the world of celebrity fashion lines that always feel more like a one-off side hustle, than something that should exist on its own merit.

 

The line is filled with sophisticated, classic, and whimsical basics that come with considered details (pockets on everything!), and much of the inspiration comes from McCarthy’s own experience of not being able to find well-made, well-fitting, actually beautiful clothes, despite being a celebrity with incredible access.

 

“Even starting with Gilmore Girls, [I’d say to the costume designer,] ‘Let’s rip the bottom off. Can I put different sleeves on it? If I rip this sweater apart, can you make a hat out of it?'

And then when I would go out and shop by myself,"

 

"I guess I was always kind of repeatedly disappointed that things skewed so much older or so much younger.

It was always kind of like a grandmother or a 14-year-old hooker-type look, and I just thought, ‘Where are the clothes for me?’ "

 

"And then I would have things made, and when I would wear them, I can’t tell you how many times I would have another woman say, ‘Oh my god, where did you get that?’

 

"And I frankly felt guilty saying, ‘Oh, I made it for a show and I begged them for it because I loved it so much.’”

These forays into custom clothes proved useful for McCarthy when designing her line.

Standing up for yourself in the face of consumer research and market trends wasn’t an easy thing:

 

“I got so many comments letters from women that are like, ‘Please don’t make a muumuu. Please don’t make crop tops and short sleeves.’

 

"And certain manufacturers would tell me, ‘We want short sleeves, we want something that ends at the waist…’

Every single time they told me something, it was the exact opposite of what I wanted to wear.”

 
 
Partnering with Seven7 also gave McCarthy a new perspective on jeans.
 
“They didn’t interest me before, and I was really reluctant to go into so much denim stuff," she says. "It never fits great, and they’re not that comfortable. By the end of the day, my knees and the seat of my pants are baggy, and I want to go home and rip them off."
 
"But [making them] changed the way I feel about it — I made them a little higher, I have a second button so they don’t push on a weird pressure point. The fabric doesn’t sag.
I’m weirdly in jeans like four days a week now. I get what the fuss is about.”


The line is already available from some vendors, and if you like it, don’t like it, want more of something, don’t want something…speak up and say something.

Melissa’s receptive and in it for the long haul.

 

“I love to get feedback — I believe in collaboration and I think you can always learn a lot from people that immerse themselves in it. 

Every season, all you can do is improve.”

 

After all, at the end of the day, the line is for you.

“Sure — I don’t want to make stuff that disappoints me.

But I don’t want to make stuff that disappoints other women, too.”

 

Heart

 

http://melissamccarthy.com/

Respected Contributor
Posts: 2,213
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

So why doesn't her line come in petites?

Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,411
Registered: ‎07-29-2014

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

[ Edited ]

@insomniac wrote:

So why doesn't her line come in petites?


 

It doesn't come in Talls either.

 

Most clothing is made for the largest demographic, especially when the company is just starting out.

That means the most revenue; money is always the bottom line.

 

That demo market is directed towards the average height American woman: 5'4".

She is also currently a size 14, but the number is increasing.

 

At least petite babes can have things altered, or do it themselves.

There's no extra fabric for us tall chicks.

Respected Contributor
Posts: 3,180
Registered: ‎01-20-2011

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

No petite,no tall...Not all lines come in everything. Seriously I understand that is needed by many; but why  start out demanding it all at once? This is  at least a start for a line that  has potential to get the issues of plus sized women .  When I was needing a plus size , I always felt the designers missed the mark in the small details. ....If the sleeves had just a couple more inches,if the length was not so short in front, if the fabric had a bit more weight to not cling, if the jeans didn't hit right at the spot that made a muffin top, if the clothes were not so voluminous,etc.  Melissa has been there and hopefully she will address those things. Now even though I  don't wear plus, I still love to see what is offered.All women want to be well dressed and feel stylish. 

        Her Gilmore Girls character Suki St.James was so inspiring to  me.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 33,580
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

When I saw MM on with Colleen last week, Colleen said that HSN was one of the only places where you could buy her clothes in missy sizes.  If she's selling in Lane Bryant, obviously they aren't carrying her clothes in missy sizes.  I'm not sure about Nordstrom, Macy's, etc. 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,153
Registered: ‎05-22-2012

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview


@feline groovy wrote:

@insomniac wrote:

So why doesn't her line come in petites?


 

It doesn't come in Talls either.

 

Most clothing is made for the largest demographic, especially when the company is just starting out.

That means the most revenue; money is always the bottom line.

 

That demo market is directed towards the average height American woman: 5'4".

She is also currently a size 14, but the number is increasing.

 

At least petite babes can have things altered, or do it themselves.

There's no extra fabric for us tall chicks.


 

This. Many lines don't offer petites, or offer petites, but not petite plus sizes, and even fewer lines offer tall options. When a line is new, I never expect them to cater to all sizes. Frankly, most lines only come in standard sizes and don't even offer plus sizes, so by coming to HSN, Nordstrom, and Lane Bryant, she's already offering more options than most new clothing lines.

Contributor
Posts: 28
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

While I love Melissa, if she doesn't want her clothing line to be segregated, why is she selling in Lane Bryant who will only offer the plus sizes?  Not making sense to me.  Money must be talking.

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Posts: 10,411
Registered: ‎07-29-2014

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

[ Edited ]

another interview, from People.com 8/18/15...

 

Melissa McCarthy on Her Fashion Line: 'My Whole Point Is to Stop Categorizing Women'

 

Melissa McCarthy’s clothing line, Melissa McCarthy Seven7, isn’t just giving us a lot of fabulous fall finds (which it is) or allowing us to emulate her stellar red carpet style (it does that too).

 

If she had her way, her clothing line would be revolutionizing the fashion industry — and she told PEOPLE just how she’s making that happen.

 

“My whole point is to stop categorizing women. I’m making clothes for women, period,” she tells PEOPLE. “I can’t control who puts what where in the store [right now], but I’m putting it all up on my website.”

 

And considering there was resistance against her idea of making one inclusive collection, she could not be happier with the results of her HSN line debut. It sold out of smaller sizes first, which she calls “fantastic.”

 

“I can’t remember the exact percentage, but something like at least 60 percent of women are a size 14. And I find it incredibly bizarre that we’ve taken the biggest grouping of people and we’re saying, ‘Oh, I don’t want your business,’ she explains.

 

“It’s like opening a restaurant and saying, ‘But we’re not going to serve food to hungry people. You can’t come in if you want to eat. Are you super-full? Then come on in.’ If that’s your biggest portion of clients, in what business would you ever take them and remove them from the equation?

Is it so displeasing to you, that you’ve removed your largest group of customers? I find that just perplexing.”

 

In addition to her business smarts, she’s proud of using her platform to send a positive message to women. “It’s sending the message that if you’re a size 16, or an 18, or 20 your shirt can look exactly like the shirt that was made for the size 4 person or the size 8 person.

The point is, I’m making a shirt that I hope a woman likes, and I’m not saying it’s only for this person or that person. It’s for a woman. No matter what size she is.”

 

Melissa McCarthy 7 line

 

Her five-year plan is for her line to be available on the “regular” floors of department stores, allowing friends to shop together without “certain women having to go up to the tire section to find ‘their’ clothes.”

And even though her line just launched days ago, several “very big” stores are in on the idea!

 

“I’m not going to name [the department stores], but when it does happen, I’m going to wear a shirt made of firecrackers spelling out their name. I will wear it all year if they do this” she says. “There’s no reason for those divisions to be there. It’s shaming, it’s categorizing and it’s just unnecessary.”

 

Heart

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,175
Registered: ‎01-09-2011

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

I love what she's doing! She is a smart, talented and funny lady! Wishing her much success!

"Cats are poetry in motion. Dogs are gibberish in neutral." -Garfield
Honored Contributor
Posts: 10,230
Registered: ‎12-22-2013

Re: 'Melissa McCarthy Seven7' interview

Love her and her clothes are cute.  A bit pricey though.Some designers are pricey.   If the quality is there people will usually pay.  When I watched her on HSN she seems to pay attention to little details.  I am waiting for the reviews on HSN.  There will probably be reviews on this forum as well. 

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