New Look slammed by shoppers for 'fat tax'

Buyers dubbed the difference 'ridiculous'

New Look shoppers have slammed the store after discovering that a jacket from their plus size range was priced at £54.99, whilst an equivalent from their main collection cost just £29.99.

The difference was noted by Twitter user Sarah Doherty, who shared two screenshots of the grey aviator jackets with the caption: '*closes new look app forever*'.

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Her post, which has had over 160 likes, quickly generated comments from other posters, who criticised the brand for the significant variation in price.

'WTAF @NewLookFashion what is wrong with you!?!?! £25 extra for being in curve range is just greedy!' one exclaimed, whilst another agreed: 'The cheek of it! The more expensive one has a sign saying "special offer".'

'I think the thing that disappoints me the most is NL is meant to be affordable but Curve prices have been creeping up in the past few years and now this,' a third wrote. 'I kinda get the 'more material' argument but can't help but feel like your position as affordable has been usurped by other great retailers who don't pull this stuff @SimplyBeUK @ASOS. Afraid you've lost me.'

Whilst they're certainly comparable in appearance, the two jackets are not actually identical, with the Curve jacket being made of a higher quality material. New Look as a rule also has a price point difference between their core and Curve products of £5.

However, several people on social media have still referred to the discrepancy as 'fat tax', a term which Sarah later told HuffPost UK was commonly used in the blogging world.

'So many brands think they're being progressive by providing the same clothes for both their straight and plus-size collections, but then whack an extra charge on it, which undoes anything even remotely positive in their original intention,' she explained.

New Look have said that they will not be commenting on the matter.

It's not the first time that the retailer has come under fire for imposing higher prices on their plus size clothing.

Back in August, blogger Emma Millard tweeted the brand directly with an image of three similar looking tops from New Look, all with differing prices.

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'Hi @NewLookFashion can you explain the crazy price differences? Why should I have to pay £12- £15 more? #fashion #discrimination #psblogger,' Emma asked at the time.

However, upon further investigation, the Daily Mail reports that the cheaper top was reduced as part of a price promotion which has been missed from the plus-sized version in error, and once this was brought to New Look's attention, they applied the same discount to the plus size item.

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