SETTING THE CURVE Stylish clothes for heavy young women -- too much of a good idea?

When Kathryn Squitieri, 18, was in high school, a routine shoppingtrip with friends was a journey into a special circle of hell -- youknow, the circle where everyone is skinnier than you. "Oh God, it washorrible. You have no idea," says Squitieri, now a freshman atBrooklyn College. "I hated shopping with friends. But I wanted to belike everyone else, so I went to all the stores with them and endedup leaving miserable or with stuff that I knew was too small -- I'dbuy it so they wouldn't think that nothing fit me."

At 5 feet 2 inches tall, she says she "wasn't as heavy back then"(she now weighs 180 pounds) and found herself too small and too youngfor Lane Bryant, which is persistently (and perhaps unfairly) knownas the frumpy aunt of all women's plus-size clothing. What did shewear? "Long skirts, plain shirts -- whatever I could find," Squitierisays. "Every once in a while I would come across something in JuniorXL, and that would be OK. The whole thing was a big trauma."

That was before Torrid came to town. Torrid is the curvy sistercompany to California-based Hot Topic, a popular punk clothing chain.Now four years old, Torrid offers only plus-size clothing to fashion-starved Junior XLs like Squitieri. "We believe that plus-size youngwomen should have just as much opportunity to feel feminine,beautiful and sexy as their thinner counterparts," says ReginaWoodhouse, Torrid spokeswoman. Translation: Anyone looking formuumuus will be disappointed.

Torrid, which sells sizes 12 to 26, is working lace camis, cutehoodies, saucy Ts, flouncy minis, a rainbow of bodacious panties andbras (up to size 46 DDD). The combined effect is as if Gwen Stefani,Anna Nicole Smith, Queen Latifah, Pink and Carmen Miranda teamed upfor a trunk show.

"Torrid is like the clothing equivalent of 'Buffy.' It seems likeit's for teens, but there's also this underground of thirtysomethingsthat's totally obsessed," says Wendy Shanker, author of The FatGirl's Guide to Life and an occasional free-lance writer -- but notpaid spokesperson -- for Torrid's Web site.

Torrid has grown from six stores in 2001 to 76 today -- includingstores in Orland Park and Schaumburg -- and has plans to open 45 morethis year, including one in Vernon Hills. Devoted customers sayTorrid has filled not only their closets but also salvaged their self-esteem.

"They say that two-thirds of America is overweight," says Torriddevotee Andrea Ward, 16, of Bridgewater, Mass. "So why don't theymake clothes for them except for sweat pants and huge ugly shirtslike my drama teacher wears?"

Health and business experts agree that Torrid represents awelcome, even overdue, tap into a surprisingly underserved market."It's about time," says Judith S. Stern, professor of nutrition andinternal medicine at the University of California at Davis and co-founder of the American Obesity Association. "Overweight and obesekids are actively discriminated against. The fact that they couldn'thave cool clothing just made things worse."

But the idea's not just nice; it's a smart business move. "Torridfinally wised up to the fact that there's an awfully large market forclothes that are not only plus-sized but also stylish," says RobCallender, trends director of Chicago market research firm TeenageResearch Unlimited.

Among teen clothes shoppers, retail research group NPDFashionworld says, "size availability" is the "No. 1 factor thatdrives teens to stores."

But, people like Stern are concerned about there being such alarge plus-size teen market to begin with. A few critics say thatstores like Torrid -- by catering to, and even glamorizing, the plussizes -- could be contributing to the problem.

According to government figures, 16 percent of teens age 12 to 19are overweight, up from 4.6 percent in 1965.

Last month, an article in the Journal of the American MedicalAssociation established that while smoking remains the leading causeof preventable death in the United States, excessive weight andobesity represent a close and gaining second.

Weight itself is not universally toxic; many plus sizers are quitehealthy. But being overweight has been linked to heart disease andtype 2 diabetes to cancer -- not to mention the trauma and depressioncaused by, say, evil taunting schoolmates.

Cool clothes make a difference, it turns out, at least in how muchoverweight kids like themselves.

Torrid is hardly the only purveyor of teen-wearable plus-sizeclothing. The Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy all offer extendedsizes, as do JCPenney, Sears, Nordstrom and many others. Ann Taylorand Talbot's now have larger lines -- as do designers such as RalphLauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Liz Claiborne. Hip-hop star Nelly haslaunched Apple Bottoms. And with online shops such as Alight andBeauty Plus Power, the Internet is a gold mine for cool plus-sizeclothes.

No one wants heavy teens to feel bad. But a handful of weight-management experts wonder if there's such a thing as feeling toogood.

"If the teens are overweight due to diet excesses and a lack ofexercise and physical activity, then I think the clothing can simplyreinforce that they do not need to exercise or care about theirphysical health," says T. Joel Wade, a professor and the chair ofpsychology at Bucknell University.

Some scoff at the notion that such clothes themselves couldencourage kids to stay heavy. It's not as if a teen who scores akiller corset is going to forget -- or not care -- that she's fat.

"I think they're trying to convince themselves," says JanetLaubgross, a psychologist in Fairfax, Va.. "I'm glad they're beingacknowledged as real people who deserve to dress nicely, that they'refeeling 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."

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