Chanel

So I guess the question is, can plus size individuals shop at Chanel? My answer is yes, to an extent. You’re not about to have a full wardrobe filled with Chanel, but a coat, some knitwear, a cute summer dress & evening trousers.. all totally doable, so don’t be afraid to try on some pieces the next time you pass a Chanel & be confident about what you like and don’t. Even if you don’t buy something on that visit, it’s important to start understanding what kind of pieces will fit you from different brands.

sizing

There’s a lot of secrecy around Chanel’s sizing and I think this is mainly because they don’t have an online shop for their fashion. From my visit to one of their main stores in Paris, I was most surprised to find out that they had pieces on hand that went up to a UK22 (FR50) and apparently have a range of pieces in UK24 too, depending on store availability. This is one of the widest size ranges I’ve seen so far from a high end designer and it wasn’t a planned visit, so they didn’t have any prep time.

locations

Chanel, 21 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris

notes

A lot of Chanel in general, is knitwear & what that means is there are quite a few pieces that would fit a UK16+ body, even if it’s not directly in our size. So depending on the piece, still request the biggest size in stock and try it out, cause you never know.

offering

Not every style that is available will be on display, so though you might find a few pieces you like whilst browsing, it’s very important, especially if you are plus size, to request to see a range of pieces in “your style” (communicate what that is to them) that they have in your size. That way pieces that you wouldn’t have even imagined could be brought out for you to try, like the sparkly blue trousers & the grey camellia coat I tried on, in this video.

service

When you walk in, if you know you’re going to want to try pieces on, find a member of staff and just let them know that you’d like to be allocated a sales associate/added to the list. Depending on how busy the store is, there might be a waiting list and they won’t automatically put you on it, so you’ll find yourself wondering around the store (like I did) making eye contact with staff and smiling but no one actually interacted with me until I made it clear I wanted to try pieces.