- When standard sized people go shopping for clothes
at the mall, they have a ton of options.
But I'm not standard.
So when I go shopping for clothes at the mall,
my options look a little bit more like this.
Luckily because I'm a smaller plus size,
if I plan pretty far in advance, I can shop online.
But what if I didn't have time to plan?
What if I went on a trip to an amazing and fabulous location
and I accidentally lost my suitcase, no!
So I wanted to see just how resourceful I can be.
And I'm gonna travel to a cool city
that I've never shopped in before
and I'm not gonna bring any clothes.
But I am gonna bring Jen, because she's fun.
(upbeat dance music)
- [Mike] Alright, you're going to Phoenix.
- I'm going to Phoenix.
I feel like that the whole point
of going to a different city
is to get a store that you can't find anywhere else.
Which means I don't want to go to a chain store.
- Cause like what's the point.
- Yeah, cause like otherwise I can just stay here.
We want this to be a challenge.
I searched for "clothing stores Phoenix."
There's 17 pages worth of options.
When I search for "plus size clothing Phoenix,"
I get three pages and there is nothing on page three.
(laughs)
- How many of those were not chain stores?
- Two.
- Um.
- Hopefully one of those two stores says yes
to letting us film.
- I really hope they say yes because
otherwise, we do not have a video.
- If you're seeing more time tacked onto the end of this,
that means we successfully found a store who said yes.
Why am I always doing these shoots with these early flights?
I would say it's time to go pack but I don't gotta pack.
I'm goin' to Phoenix.
This is the outfit I'm goin' in.
And look at a suitcase.
This is so empty, it almost looks suspicious.
Bonjour.
- Do I look like a tourist?
- I love your dress.
- Thank you, it's the only outfit I brought.
- That's right. - Did you bring
underwear, though? - Oh yeah.
- 'Cause my thing about underwear is
I hate wearing other peoples'.
I want some fresh cloth on my vulva.
Kristin, is your backpack empty too?
- No. - I was thinking, could you
take my tampies? - I can take your tampies.
- Okay, thanks, my pads I'm gonna stick in my butthole.
I'm sorry, that's just slang for backpack.
So sorry.
(hip electronic music)
- Getting ready for our impromptu vacation.
- I'm very excited.
I have wanted to get burns on my feet for so long.
- Are you done?
[Mike and Caitlin laughing]
We're in Phoenix.
It is, I think, I wanna say 150 degrees.
It's approximately the same temperature
as a preheating oven here.
The ironic thing is that I haven't packed any clothes
and that actually might be
the right clothes for this destination.
Whoa.
- It is hot.
- We're not even technically outside.
We're under a bridge.
You can tell that my lipstick's all smudged.
You could also tell that one of my eyebrows
is less filled in than the other one.
I don't like this camera.
This camera is too real.
Here are the stakes here, just to make this clear.
People think oh, you're in a town,
you don't have clothes, you just go buy clothes.
But this issue when you're plus size
is that there just aren't that many places
you can go and purchase clothes from.
67% of all women in America are size 14 or over.
But only 18% of the market caters to them.
It is (bleep).
But what that means is that if I want to
come up with a cool outfit for an event,
I can't just go to the store and be like,
here's a cornucopia of outfit ideas.
I'm going to be creating two outfits.
One for a day activity, which is going to be
cocktails and food by the pool.
Then, I have to come up with an outfit
for a night activity, which is going to be
a really cool tasting menu
at a restaurant called Kai.
- Oh, ho, ho, ho ho!
- I'm like an 18, 20.
If you're above my size, it's even harder.
I might be able to pull this off.
But if you're a few sizes bigger than me, like, good luck.
Even if there's stuff available,
we don't necessarily want a baggy tee
that says like, over it or like, je t'aime Paris.
It's very possible I might not find clothes, Jen.
I mean, I might just be wearing
the same thing for three days.
- Mmm, sounds like junior year in college.
- I know, I could sell these clothes on eBay
afterwards to some very questionable buyers.
We're here.
Okay, this looks actually really dope.
I love when the big fans up front, though.
Lets you know it's too hot
when the fans are like, permanent landscaping fixtures.
(swanky electronic music)
- [Jen] Just do something with your hands
that's like, we're here.
(all laughing)
- We are on our way to Rocket A Go Go in Tempe.
Rocket A Go Go is a cool local store.
They kinda focus on vintage and
also vintage-inspired type clothes.
- [Jen] You love vintage.
- We are going to meet up with Nicole Simone
who is an amazing Instagrammer and blogger.
We're gonna talk to her a little bit about Phoenix fashions.
Phoenix fact! - Phoenix fact!
- A phoenix is a bird.
(Kristin cawing)
I'm actually honestly a little nervous.
I'm not just saying that for this video.
I genuinely don't know if we're gonna find anything.
I can't just take six pairs of underwear
and drape it across various parts of my body
with some Scotch tape and call it an outfit.
At least not yet, I'm not that famous.
(swing-inspired rockabilly music)
Hi, Nicole. - Hi.
- You do most of your shopping online, right?
- Correct. - Let's say you're invited
to something you need an outfit for
and it's like in eight hours, what do you do?
- I hope that I have something in my closet already
(laughs) that looks good.
- Can you tell me a little bit about
what kinds of cool trends you see in Phoenix fashion
that's kinda special to this area?
- First and foremost, we always wear sunscreen.
- Okay. (laughs)
- But I do see a lot of fun prints and a lot of color.
- I'm hoping that we're gonna be able to find some stuff
for me somewhere in this store.
Hi. - Hello.
- So excited to be here at Rocket A Go Go.
- We're excited to have you.
My name's Stormy.
- I'm Roxana.
- When I was putting together this project
I was trying to find a store that would sell
cool clothes for plus-sized women in the store.
This is the store.
- [Roxana] Rocket A Go Go is primarily a buy-for-trade.
We carry a lot of brand new items as well.
We have over 30 local artists in here.
We carry anywhere from small up to 4XL.
Men's, women's.
[Stormy] We saw that as a need and on top
of being plus-size clothes, something fun,
not what everyone is just wearing but still really trendy.
- I was actually a 2X, 3X most of my life.
So I know how hard it is to find especially cool stuff.
- And who doesn't love to shop?
- We're gonna go do some shopping.
- Okay. - Awesome.
(upbeat flute pop music)
- So flipping cute.
- Summer in Arizona.
- I don't have to worry about going shopping.
My cherries are right here.
It's a boob for a joke.
Okay, so. (laughs)
Alright, we're gonna throw the winners
on this end cap here. - Sounds good.
- Alright, let's do it.
This is a different one with flamingos on it.
You know what, I'm gonna pull this one too.
I don't give a (bleep).
Honestly, I'm not used to being
not the largest size in the store.
It's usually like, well, here is the biggest one
and if you squeeze-- - Good luck.
- Good luck to you.
So we got like, six dresses. - I think that's a pretty
good start. - If I can find something
that isn't necessarily dresses, I wouldn't say no.
Here's a bathing suit.
Should I even dare to go find out
if it's a used bathing suit? - Please do.
- Oh my god, there's another bathing suit.
There's two. - It's your lucky day.
- It is my lucky day.
I was fully expecting to have to go somewhere else
to get a bathing suit, I didn't think I was
going to get one at the resale shop.
- These are magical unicorn pieces that did
come in four hours ago earlier today.
They're brand new, one has the price tag scanned up,
both of them have panty liners,
otherwise they would not be on my rack.
- To be clear, we did not plan this.
I was actually not intending to get a bathing suit here.
This is a coincidence, it's my lucky day then.
When I'm thinking of a pool look, it's more like
I'm by the pool and I'm getting an Instagram.
- Okay, so let's be extra then.
- Look at this little clamshell clutch.
Aww, am I nautical now?
For being extra, what necklaces do you think I should try?
- The bigger the better, more colors, lots of shine.
The one up top, for sure.
- I like to have my style also potentially kill my dinner.
This necklace is a scorpion in a heart.
- They probably caught that yesterday.
- Fresh off the scorpion farm. - Fresh off the sidewalk.
- I know these seem like they might
be a little extra for the pool,
but what if I wore them to the pool?
- I mean...
(laughs)
- I fully didn't expect to be able
to buy everything in one store,
so once I got the taste of the fact
that I might be able to do it,
I feel like I'm not able to let that feeling go.
'Cause if I get everything done in one store
I don't have to get up tomorrow morning.
- Oh, perfect. - I know.
Like you know when you're shopping and it feels
like you've swum a little bit far out into the ocean
and you're not quite sure you can get back to shore?
- Well, we're nearing that point.
- Okay, we're in open waters here.
- Obviously, I need to have sunglasses,
at least for daytime. - I think these would be fun.
- Oh, hello.
I actually don't think I have a pair of cat eye red ones.
I love rhinestones, they're my favorite
type of rhine and stone.
Oh (bleep), these are adorable.
Yeah, got the Jen seal of approval.
Is it time to try things on?
This is the scary part.
- [Nicole] Or the fun part.
- We were there for probably five hours.
And there were things that I thought
would be the size that I wanted and it turns out
the size that I got was actually two sizes too small
so that's the crapshoot that you kinda get into
when you're a plus-sized person
and you're trying to shop for clothes on the day.
Ooh, I like the hemline, I like the color
and the print's really fun.
I think it's a little tight around the boobs.
My chest is kind of wanting to
burst forth with its treasure.
- It's a unique color for you.
(laughs)
- That's a very mom compliment, to be like,
that's an interesting choice.
- [Nicole] That's pretty.
- Really? - Yeah.
- I love fake buttons, because all they have to do
is sit there and look pretty.
What do we think? - This is nice.
- I like it. - It's funny, like we're going
very nautical considering that I think we're
in a landlocked state right now.
I like this color a lot,
I am very much a Laura Ashley person.
- That's very dainty and it's good daytime.
- Initial first thoughts?
Love the print, love the cut, the boobs
you probably could drive a couple of trucks in here.
- Okay, wouldn't want any malfunctions by the pool.
- Well, I mean--
- Or maybe you do. - I don't know.
For money maybe. - It's an adults-only pool.
- It is an adults-only pool.
- Okay, so all the malfunctions.
(Everyone oohs)
Look at that; yes. - I really like this.
- I'm a little bit hesitant on the little shorty shorts here
but I do like how it fits the other way.
- I like it, I think that the fit's lovely,
the color's lovely.
- I'm honestly amazed that I found a bathing suit at all.
We're really playing with house money right now.
Hi. - How'd it go?
- I think I might be able to make this my only stop.
Thank you so much Nicole for helping me shop.
Thank you for opening up this wonderful store to us.
We'll see how these outfits turn out
in their final iterations.
('50s-inspired instrumental)
The morning after our big shopping spree at Rocket A Go Go,
it occurred to me this morning that
I don't actually have a cover-up,
so we're gonna run to the mall and see if I can find one.
I don't know if that's possible.
I mean, I saw lots of cover-ups online
when I was looking around,
but like who really knows if they're in my size,
so this is a crapshoot.
And it's time for me to get ready
to go to our first activity.
I wanna look in the mirror and like,
look like I'm looking at a dating profile
that I'm definitely going to swipe right on.
That's the goal.
(uptempo electronic piano music)
- Kristin, you ready?
(Crew oohs and aahs)
- [Mike] Oh my god.
- I love it! - You are a nautical goddess.
- Oh really, sorry fellas, she's married to the sea.
- [Jen] The color coordination too,
the gold on the necklace matches the shoes
and the blue on the necklace matches the bathing suit.
- I didn't own any of this stuff this time yesterday.
- You look great, dude. - Thank you.
Are you ready to go to the cabana and actually like
start our fun day of drinking by the pool?
- Yeah, let's go. - Oop, heels on the grass.
- You need an arm? - Yup.
(futuristic techno pop)
(record scratching)
I'm all outta drinks, I'm so lost without drinks,
I need some more drinks in my little plastic cup.
I might go jump in the pool, actually.
- I think you should; don't run on the deck, though.
- Okay, mom.
(trendy electronic pop)
(crew laughs)
- [Jen] That's great.
- Next, we're gonna get clean
and then we're gonna get ready
and I'm gonna put on look two
for our fun tasting menu tonight at dinner.
It's a cool outfit, bye.
(uptempo, lively pop music)
- I'm ready, get on out here.
(Crew oohs)
You a fancy lady.
- I went with obviously, the hair flower.
I could not resist this adorable little clamshell clutch
because I'm doing a whole mermaid thing.
Then I have the Betsey Johnson shoes
which were like insanely cheap because they were used.
This little mermaid necklace goes with the dress.
I think it actually worked out really cute
'cause I got everything at the resale store.
(uptempo sultry jazz music)
For tonight, we are here at Kai
at the Sheridan Grand at Wild Horse Pass.
This restaurant is the only Forbes 5-star
and Triple A 5 diamond restaurant in all of Arizona.
- Wow, Jesus, Arizona.
- And we are here tonight to do an awesome tasting menu.
- You know we love the tastings.
- We love the tastings.
Aren't you glad you came along?
- I'm very glad. - All you had to do was hold
the sound stuff. - Wassup?
- Are you ready to do some eating?
- I'm very ready to do some eating
next to my hot best friend. - Oh my god, it's me.
(sophisticated jazz music)
Oh, yup that's great.
That's chewy.
- A little bit, yes. - Yeah.
(Crew laughing)
- Yeah, this one's chewy too.
- To cleanse your palates before the main course arrives,
this is going to be a blood orange and cinnamon sorbet.
- Ooh, I got it in one scoop.
- This is just also like the Princess Diaries.
Is it really cold?
Are you wishing you had paced yourself?
(Mike laughing)
- Next course, escargot.
It's a far departure from that
traditional French preparation.
- It is so mushroomy, earthy, delicious
unlike anywhere that I've had before, even Paris, so.
(Everyone oohs)
- Well, Paris, Texas is not known for its cuisine.
(Kristin laughs)
Never has been.
- [Waiter] There is brioche French toast at the very base.
- [Jen] This is delicious, wow.
- It's like all the right textures.
- I think I get food, I get why people are into it.
Before, on the fence; now, super down.
- I've already gotten it on my face
and uh, spilled it on myself,
so we know this is going really well.
What?
- It's mesmerizing, I don't wanna look away.
- I know, right, I keep feeling I should capture this
but also I should capture it with my memories
and not necessarily with my social media.
But I'm also gonna do it with my social media.
- We had a little inside intel about a future day
that's coming up for you. - Oh my god.
- We wanna make today very special.
(ritzy electronic jazz music)
- Okay, Jen, I'm so full I might die.
- Me too. - I probably shouldn't
say that. (laughs) - 60 years.
- Jen, this has been amazing.
Are you gonna have to roll me home?
(upbeat pop rock music)
My suitcase is no longer empty.
It is now very, very full.
So we're checked out of our hotel.
We're going back to Los Angeles.
- Los Angeloose. - Obviously, I was super
nervous going into this, I was really
pleasantly surprised we got basically
everything at one store except for that one cover-up.
I think this was definitely a challenge.
I think we got lucky; where should I try my luck next?
You should tell me what city I should go to.
I'm willing to work hard with what little luck I'm given.
(upbeat '60s-inspired rock music)
Empty Suitcase premieres new episodes every Sunday at 8am PT!
- Hey, Unsolved is on a new channel.
- (together) Subscribe here.
- That was my part.