I come from large, Eastern European stock. I am tall–even for US standards–and big boned, with curves. As a woman of a certain age I now accept that even if my body is not consistent with current standards of youthful beauty, it is still beautiful–with the exception of occasional psychological crises. One can always be more fit.

I was worried that going to China would set-off such a crisis. We learned in our Corporate Strategy class that the British department store Marks & Spencer’s initially floundered when it entered the Chinese market because it neglected to cater to the narrower, shorter Chinese frame.  I expected to tower over the Chinese, as if I were on stilts, and not to find any clothes that would fit me.

“Fat Girl” stall at the South Bund Fabric Market, Shangai.

As mentioned in an earlier blog post, on our first day in Shanghai, EMBA 43 visited the South Bund Soft Spinning Materials Market. We had heard from previous EMBA classes and faculty that we might want to have a suit or other clothing custom-made for us at this market since it would be inexpensive and fun to pick out the exact materials we wanted. Plus, it would fit perfectly.

Although many of my classmates took full advantage of this unusual and colorful opportunity, I didn’t. On the first floor of the three story warehouse of fabric sellers and tailors I spied the “Fat Girl” stall, which didn’t help.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted, for one thing. Thinking logically, it would have been a great opportunity to get something that fit really well. I believe I was afraid of someone calling me big, which I am. But seeing how eagerly the sellers worked those stalls, I have no doubt they would have been glad to make me a nice, large garment.

Walking around in Shanghai as the International Residency continued, however, I realized that I stand out no more for my size there than I do in the United States. In the downtown area where our hotel was located, there were plenty of other Americans and Europeans–large and small. Now that I’ve had some time to think about it, I know exactly what I should have had made. A lovely, silk, Mao-style jacket. Now I know what I’ll do next time I go to the fabric market.