Choice, a consumer watchdog, took the cudgels for plus-size women on Thursday by asking retailers to widen the range of clothes available to large females. The group said because of limited choices, these kinds of women have to buy online or at chain stores.

Choice spokeswoman Ingrid Just spoke particularly for women who wear size 16 and above and as a consequence find it difficult to fit into stylish outfits sold in shopping malls and high street retail outlets.

Ms Just said designers and retailers should consider tapping into this large market. She partly blamed the frustration felt by big females for not being able to purchase clothes fit for their body sizes to the lack of standardised sizes in Australia.

The sizes carried often by majority of shopping malls and high street shops are from 10 to 12. Size 14 clothes are snapped off the racks immediately while size 16 apparels are quite rare, Ms Just added.

Fortunately, online U.S. and UK shops have larger sizes, but stylish clothes that big women would fit into although the cost also often doubles compared to that paid by slim women.

Ms Just's theory is that some of the designers and retailers are deliberately making only smaller clothes because they want their brand to target certain demographic groups only or particular look or body shape.

"It's certainly within a designer or label's rights to market and to design for a particular type of customers that they want to wear their clothes... but at the same time, if they're concerned about falling retail sales and the difficulties of getting more customers in store versus shopping online, then this is an opportunity for them that they shouldn't overlook," The Telegraph quoted Ms Just.