Admiration for the “fuller figure”: The “outsize” fashions of Linda Leigh Ltd. in the 1950s and 1960s

A 1954 article in The Daily Mirror suggested that there were 5,000,000 “outsize” women in Britain (approximately ten per cent of the population at the time). This represented a significant market for fashion manufacturers; however, the history of British “outsize” fashion has received scant attention. This paper focuses on the specialist “outsize” fashion brand “Linda Leigh” during the 1950s and 1960s. Utilizing British newspapers and magazines from the period, it examines the designs produced by “Linda Leigh” and how they were marketed to “outsize” women across Britain, particularly emphasizing the slenderizing discourse the company employed. Linda Leigh was renowned in Britain for its innovative fashion parades and gained notoriety for its “Large Girls Club,” founded in 1958. Here, I question whether these were merely marketing tactics designed to sell more garments or whether they actively supported the “outsize” woman. Overall, this paper demonstrates why Linda Leigh was at the forefront of “outsize” production in the 1950s and 1960s and, more broadly, why the history of the British “outsize” industry deserves further academic consideration.