But here's the problem with shopping online -- and off -- for teens, though: For many of them, shopping is inherently, or at least ideally, a group event. "Girls especially are incredibly social about shopping," says Callender of Teenage Research. When they shop online, they miss potential hangout time with their friends. But when they shop in an actual store, one that's not wall-to-wall plus sizes, it sucks. "I typically avoid certain stores because the people that work or shop there make me feel uncomfortable, says Savannah Rios, 16, of Las Vegas (who wears size 14 to 16). "There have been a few times where I'll be at a store and I'll ask for my size and they give me a weird look and tell me they don't have it. It's frustrating." But at Torrid, she says, "You feel comfortable when you're in there because you don't have girls looking at you weird because you're not a size zero."

Even the stores that have your size don't always offer an excellent shopping experience, says Andrea Ward. "Stores with plus sizes have, like, special cordoned-off areas. It's like, 'Look out, here come the fat people!' And there are like six kids over there, like, hiding behind the racks." She says that for her, shopping at Torrid is a welcome journey into Bizarro World: "Usually it's me getting all angry that I can't find clothes that fit. But now I go to Torrid with all my skinny friends. One time my friend who weighs like 20 pounds was like, 'Oh, I want this!' But it was way too big. So I was like, 'Ha ha, you're skinny, you don't get cool clothes like me!' That makes you feel better about yourself."

Now, no one wants heavy teens to feel bad. But a handful of weight-management experts wonder if there's such a thing as feeling too good. "If the teens are overweight and are physically healthy then I think the 'cool' plus-sized clothing can help overweight teens become comfortable with their bodies," says T. Joel Wade, a professor and the chair of psychology at Bucknell University, who focuses on body image and self-esteem. "However, if the teens are overweight due to diet excesses and a lack of exercise and physical activity, then I think the clothing can simply reinforce that they do not need to exercise or care about their physical health."

Lawrence Miller, a clinical health psychologist with the Nutrition, Exercise and Weight Management (NEW) Kids Program at Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, says that feeling attractive in clothes could decrease a teen's motivation to lose weight -- though only insofar as "feeling attractive" is her or his main goal. "Lots of kids that we've seen here say that they want to be able to keep up with their peers and not get out of breath when they go walking or running around," he says. "So having clothes that fit the styles, and them, isn't really going to change that." (Miller also notes that from what he's seen, Torrid isn't for everyone. Some of his young clients, he says, "think that the clothes might... make them look... cheap, or" -- and here he hesitates, searching for a word -- "'slutty'?")

Some studies have shown, however, that overweight people who receive body-image therapy (as opposed to weight-loss treatment) do not -- contrary to the predictions of some obesity researchers --gain weight, nor do they lose their motivation to slim down.

Indeed, many scoff at the notion that such clothes themselves could encourage kids to stay heavy. "That's like saying 'Don't give the kids condoms because it'll make them want to have sex,'" says Abby Ellin, the author of "Teenage Waistland: A Former Fat Kid Weighs In on Living Large, Losing Weight, and How Parents Can (and Can't) Help," which will be published by Public Affairs in June.

"It's the dumbest thing I've ever heard, right up there with the idea that if you 'punish' people by charging them double for airplane seats they'll be motivated to lose weight -- uh huh, let's just make all the chairs smaller so everyone will be skinny," Shanker says. "Weight loss is not motivated by outside sources. You don't lose weight by tough love, whether from your mother or your local clothing store. It's a personal choice, and a difficult choice -- and if I can't do it for myself, I'm not going to do it for the Gap."

Weiner says, "If you want to make kids healthier, start by taking the processed food and soda out of the schools and putting back P.E. -- not by taking away their plus-sized stores."

On the other hand, there's only so much that cool plus-size clothing can do. After all, it's not as if a teen who scores a killer corset is going to forget -- or not care -- that she's fat. "It's very painful to be an overweight teen, and clothes do not change that," says Janet R. Laubgross, a clinical psychologist in Fairfax, Va., who specializes in weight management. To some degree, no matter what they're wearing -- and no matter what "I'm big and beautiful!" banners they're waving -- they're still suffering. "I think they're trying to convince themselves," Laubgross says of some teens who say they feel 150 percent fine about how they look. "I'm glad they're being acknowledged as real people who deserve to dress nicely, that they're feeling like they do matter. And it's great that they can say, 'Well, this looks nice.' But it's still 'nice' from the fat-girl store."

Yet if anything is going to help teens feel somewhat better -- and possibly, where necessary, help them take charge of their health for the long term -- it's precisely the feeling good that comes from looking good. "When you're trying to change your behavior, if you're depressed or feeling bad about yourself, it's more difficult to be successful," says Lauren Solotar, an eating-disorders specialist and the chief psychologist at the May Institute in Norwood, Mass. "If you feel good about yourself, you're more likely to be able to follow through."

Dr. Caroline Cederquist, the medical director of the Cederquist Comprehensive Weight Control Center in Naples, Fla., agrees. "It's not like all of a sudden we're saying they shouldn't be healthy," she says. "But they might as well feel more comfortable in their skin as they determine how they're going to get there."

Ashley Demauro, 19, recently stood at the Staten Island Torrid counter in a knit cap and comfortable nondescript earth-toned clothes. Having searched through the clearance racks, she'd finally settled on a single item: a lacy crimson bra. Any special occasion? She grinned. "You know, just hanging out, looking pretty."

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