Are clothes sizes getting smaller?

Two co-workers of mine sometimes would complain after a day of shopping how hard was it for them to look for plus size clothing. They think that top brand clothing lines only carry sizes that of the skinny girls we see trotting in the fashion runway. And I agree with them. I don't wear plus size clothing but I still find it difficult to find my size. Is it that clothing manufacturers forget that there are others who would love to wear their clothes but would require a different size other than what they always make?

I think we just have to concede that life doesn't always offer what we prefer. There are brands that carry plus size clothing but we would rather be dead than be caught wearing them. Or is it that these clothes are made outside the US and their idea of big is small? I don't know from where they pattern their sizes - from the country where they're going to be sold or from the country where they are manufactured?

I just hope that these manufacturers would be more sensitive to the clothing needs of other people.