Most "plus" lines start as a size 4 sample. Then they scale the pattern up.

That's why the waist is huge, the shoulders don't sit, and the sleeves are still too short. A graded-up pattern keeps the same dart placement, the same hip-to-waist ratio, the same armhole — on a body that doesn't work that way.

A real plus-size pattern is drafted on a size 18–20. The ease is different. The curve through the hip is different. The sleeve cap is different.

If a brand can't tell you what size they drafted on, they graded it.

That's the whole reason Figure Eight exists. We draft for 16–24 first.