Would The North Face make parkas for petite people?

Rant of the day regarding finding clothing for short and slim people.

I am petite with a small frame. As it got colder and with the winter sales season, I decided it was time to invest in a much-needed winter parka.

First of all, I am petite and if I am to look for a petite parka to just pass slightly over my thighs then I would have to buy a kids parka. Unfortunately, as much as I looked for a Gore-Tex parka for kids and even women, I've noticed that there isn't anything for me on the market.

In my search, I've also noticed that most of the results for Gore-Tex parka showed men parkas without me adding any gender word in my search. Why is that? Is Google sexist?



Eventually, I found a parka that I liked, with Gore-Tex, goose down, nice dark red colour instead of the usual dull sad colour such as black, khaki or navy and this was on The North Face website with the lovely The North Face Women’s Cagoule GORETEX® Parka.

All was exciting and I could picture myself walking out in it with only two layers on. So I go and add it to my basket, fill in all my delivery details, and as I was about to continue to billing I get this message saying "The size/color/quantity you selected for this item is unavailable." WTF?!?!?




 My size was sold out along with all the other sizes. So now back to square one.
 
I even went as far as to write to them to recommend me a parka for my size and they told me they never had and do not plan to introduce one.


Then I figured surely they must have a male or kids version of it with the same specs. Who can tell if I would wear a male or kids jackets, after all, they look the same and it's about the specs, to fit me and to be at an affordable price. Looking for specs I noticed that most of their women coats and jackets are for tall women with long arms. I know because I also tried them in-store. I doubt TNF do in-store adjustments of a jacket or parka. 

While checking the specs and the prices to my surprise TNF makes more Gore-Tex design options for men vs women.  Is as if women do not need options to choose higher specs jackets.

Also biologically women have a lower core temperature than men because they have a lower muscle mass to generate heat. This means that our core temperature is approximately 3 degrees Celcius lower than that of a man. For this reason women are often feeling colder than men. With this in mind, when a company designs for both genders using science and research to create innovative clothing membranes, it woudl benefit the custoemrs if they would design with each gender's needs in mind. Yes as a UX designer I always think of the customer's needs and in this case me as a customer I can't find a decent manufacturer to take this need in consideration such as functionality, fit and practicality.

Don't get me wrong, I love The North Face and in particular the way they are getting ahead investing millions into developing and producing sustainable fabrics such as FutureLight.

But The North Face, please design with science, genders, all shapes and sizes in mind.


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