‘Ignored’: 27yo reveals sad reality of shopping in Australia

A young Aussie has revealed her grim shopping experience that left her asking a very sad question.

A young Aussie has revealed the sad reason she gets “ignored” when she goes clothing shopping despite being keen to spend her hard-earned money.

Chantel Billy, 27, lives in Melbourne and loves fashion, often sharing her outfits of the day online and amassing more than 1.4 million likes on TikTok.

After a recent disastrous shopping experience, she went online and asked a very sad question: “Why do people hate fat people?”

“I went shopping on Chapel St today, and by went shopping, I mean I looked at clothing I wished I could wear,” she said.

Melbourne’s Chapel St is famously a popular fashion destination, but for Ms Billy, the day was just a huge disappointment.

She went into multiple stores, looked through the racks, and couldn’t find a store that stocked anything above size 12.

“It is frustrating,” she told news.com.au.

Chantel Billy shared why she gets ignored when shopping. Picture: TikTok/ChantelBilly

She pointed out her size isn’t uncommon. Picture: TikTok/ChantelBilly

The keen shopper usually wears a size 14 but sometimes wears a size 16.

She pointed out that while it isn’t an “uncommon size,” when she goes shopping she often can’t find it in a store.

“It doesn’t help that there is absolutely no sizing consistency, so in one store, I could be a size 12, and in another, I could be a size 16,” she said.

“It makes it incredibly difficult for women to shop for well made, affordable clothing that is comfortable and fashionable.”

The young Aussie argued that in 2025, she doesn’t think a retail store has “any excuse” not to stock anything above a size 12.

According to research from the body-positive fashion app Mys Tyler, the average Aussie woman wears a size 16.

“I feel like the mid and plus-size community have been advocating for better sizing options for years, and some brands refuse to listen,” she explained.

“I’m honestly not too sure if it’s due to laziness of sourcing larger sizes, or if it’s because they don’t want larger bodies representing their brand/store/business.”

“It’s hard to believe it’s not fatphobia.”

She often shares her fashion looks online. Picture: TikTok/ChantelBilly

She loves size inclusive brands like Fayt and Variety Hour. Picture: TikTok/ChantelBilly

Ms Billy said she’s had such poor experiences in-store shopping that she tends to mostly shop online because stores also “rarely” stock their extended sizing in their physical stores.

When she does go in-store it often isn’t a pleasant experience because she feels “ignored” by staff and alienated.

“I’ve had many negative experiences, whether that be my size not stocked on floor and then staff becoming irritated when I ask if any larger sizes are available, or just staff completely ignoring me in general after looking me up and down,” she said.

“I had a friend recently visit a well-known store and be told that they didn’t stock anything above a size 12 as it was not their ‘demographic’ – absolutely shocking.”

She said she’s had so many “negative” shopping experiences. Picture: TikTok/ChantelBilly

Brittney Saunders. who owns the size-inclusive fashion brand Fayt appeared on the Aussie fashion-focused podcast Style-ish, in June last year explained why she believes brands aren’t more inclusive with sizing.

On the podcast, she explained that her brand, Fayt, starts from a size six and finishes at a size 26 because it makes good business sense.

“I don’t understand when brands say they don’t sell and that is why we don’t do them. It is like, yes, they do.” she said.

Ms Saunders owns an inclusive brand. Picture: TikTok/Stylish

She revealed why brands aren’t more size-inclusive. Picture: TikTok/Stylish

Ms Saunders said that, as someone who has done the math and worked out a profitable way to offer sizes up to 26, she believes that brands that aren’t size-inclusive are just not interested.

“They don’t want too. I can’t think of any reason other than they don’t want to. It can be done,” she said.

The young business owner said that it does “cost more” to cater to more sizes. In the same way, it is more expensive to make a maxi dress than a top because you use more fabric for the dress, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a profitable decision because she believes a brand’s overall pricing can easily offset the extra costs.

“It costs more, yeah, it does, but you’re a business, and you figure that out and put it into your pricing,” she said.

Originally published as ‘Ignored’: 27yo reveals sad reality of shopping in Australia