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Sat 1 Oct, 2005 03:01 pm
Testify, my friends, to the indignities suffered upon anyone who is not of cookie cutter size and shape and color. You need not be female in order to have suffered.
I am talking about the big, the petite, the tall, the short, the wide, the skinny, the swarthy, the pale, the big-footed, the narrow-footed, the short-waisted, etc. among us.
I am talking about you and me, not Barbie and Ken. I am talking about women who are not a size 4. And men who do not have a 30 inch waist.
I confess. I am a large woman. Not huge. I am not a house. But that's not what designers would think. They think, hmm, not a 2. Must ... charge ... more. Must ... make ... ugly ... clothes. Must ... make ... few ... or ... no ... choices. Must ... make ... shopping ... humiliating.
I do most of my shopping online or via catalog. I tend to venture into stores for shoes or if I am certain that something in my size and color preference is available. I shop a lot in men's, as the clothes tend to be made better, plus my feet are large (women's size 12, they're 11s on a good day, alternating St. Swithens' Days or something like that). Of course this is no good for work clothes. This is more for casual stuff. For work, I improvise a lot.
I'm pale. I'm what's called a Spring (as opposed to the other seasons of the year). This means that black really only looks good on me if it is glossy or far away from my face. It means that pure white is out. This means that autumnal colors are okay but not my best choice. It means I get saddled with some ice cream colors, which is okay for the summer, but can be hard to find for colder weather. And I live in New England, so autumn and winter clothes are more important than summer togs.
And it's not just about weight. After all, at my thinnest, I still wore a size 11 shoe. And I still had coloration problems, in terms of clothes available in pretty much any color other than ones that look good on me. There are just so many times I want to wear beige. Really. I'm funny that way.
So, testify, brothers and sisters, and share your finds. There must be a way to ease this pain. And be strong!
3 finds - all catalogs plus online
JC Penney
Jessica London
Chadwick's of Boston (same company as JL, but mainly for smaller women. But they have better accessories and shoes than Jessica London)
All are inexpensive. Color choices are okay. Quality is okay. Coordination of pieces and styles is okay. Nothing is terribly cutting edge but I'm not a cutting edge kind of a gal. Customer service for all 3 is good.
I have narrow feet.
I'm short waisted.
My basic shape is "apple" rather than pear.
All this and I haven't even opened my mouth yet.
Clothes shopping is not a happy occupation. Clothes shopping is hell.
Repeating my ENTIRE RANT from Shewolf's wonderful "Punk-Ass" thread:
Dear PUNK-ASS Corporate Dress Code Enforcers and Female Clothing Manufacturers all over the world:
1) Pantyhose are evil. Not only are they always too short, the waists are so freakin' tight they're like torture devices. Eva was right-on here. And what's with Control Top anyway? I'm not even TALKIN Control Top here, just the ordinary kind that aren't supposed to control anything.
Are you afraid they're going to Fall Off if they're not made with those itty bitty waistbands? And what exactly makes you think all our Tops need to be Controlled? Why not just reintroduce the Corset with boning and get it overwith?
Not only that, haven't you ever been to Florida in the summertime? Just try walking across a parking lot wearing a set of these too-tight nasties and you get an Instant Yeast Infection!
And don't even get me started on what happens when you don't have A/C in your car and have to wear these things! Ugh, how awful it is to have these danged things actually pasted to your legs, which are now pasted to the plastic car seat, when you finally arrive at work, so you have to freakin' Peal Yourself Off just to get out of your car!
2) Slips, bras, and underwear are inherently uncomfortable. What the heck ever happened to COTTON? Are you afraid that if our skin can breathe it might be, what, STINKY or something? What's wrong with a cotton slip? How about Linen, which is Actually Cool in the summer.... has anyone EVER seen one of these items made from Linen?
Did women just Vote for the most uncomfortable underwear fabric ever invented... that is, Nylon, to be used for practically everything?
Do we have some sort of Debt to Society which must be paid with eternal Nylon underwear torture? Is there a woman alive who hasn't had Nylon (or Polyester, or Acetate) stuck to her body from neck to knee and just felt like ripping it all off and screaming?
3) Make-up! Sure, you SAID you invented make-up that wouldn't melt off your face in Florida heat, but you friggin' LIED! Then you SAID you invented make-up that wouldn't end up on every piece of paper you ever touched in the office, and you LIED AGAIN!
Is there some sort of ceremonial reason that little bits of make-up have to be wiped on every single bit of paper in every file in Corporate America?
Same thing with Nail Polish! Why the heck does it still come off on these same bits of paper? We can send a man to the moon, but we can't invent nail polish that doesn't look like you bled all over your latest presentation?
4) We do NOT all wear a Size 6 shoe! I wear a 9 1/2, yes, that's right, and last I heard it was PERFECTLY LEGAL to do so! Do you MAKE any shoes in that size? Oh, wait, yes, America has manufactured exactly TWO PAIRS of shoes in my size, and they're both incredibly ugly!
You think just because my feet are big, I don't want to look nice? Think tall women should look even more dorky than they already are? Think I should have surgery to make my feet smaller so I can wear all those itty bitty shoes that look like they're made for ancient Chinese foot-wrapped hobblers?
Whew! I feel better now.
The April Too line, designed by April Cornell for La Cache has some wonderful cotton slips and light cotton nightwear. Definitely worth watching for their sales. She uses the most wonderful fabrics. I don't think I have any slips (other than for errr non-wearing purposes) that aren't 100% cotton.
The regular April Cornell line seems to be cut a bit large, to my read of it. There is a Kit Cornell line which is cut with smaller, higher, armholes and other more European fit details.
What I want to know is why my underwear size is different from my pant size and why can't I ever remember this simple fact?
I'm destined to spend my life in baggy granny panties.
<sigh>
I have broad shoulders and biggish boobs and I will never ever ever find a blouse that both buttons and is tuckinable without looking like I'm shoplifting stuff by sticking it down my pants.
And speaking of blouses -- who ever thought that breast pockets on women's blouses was a good idea?
MY SISTAHS!!!!
Ever notice that large size sleeveless shirts have HUGE armholes that come half way down the sides?
Ohhh My...
Underwear: They are made to half the size of jeans you wear. So if you wear a 10, you wear a size 5 in undies. A size 20 jeans, is a size 10 undie. I finally figured that one out! LOL
Didn't take me but 33 years to do it...lol
Have you ever noticed that if you are buying bra and panty sets, that the cup size is usually a B or C and the undies will resemble a tent?
Are women that wear a 42DD not allowed to wear nice and sexy bras?
Ya got your basic White, Tan and Nude.
If you get into colors, you really have to look for sizes that fit, but then you get those straps that cut into you and offer no support.
I've resorted to Wal-Mart for my bras...atleast you can find something decent with some color that does fit. But unfortnately, they do not have a long life.
Shirts: Yea, I've noticed how those arm sleeves are HUGE and come half way down the sides. Its pathetic.
Weight:
I carry my wieght between my shoulders and hips.
My arms are of normal size, just big wrist.
My legs are long and actually I think my best asset...or hoping they are.
Ass...well actually I don't have one. Its narrow, I'm more hip...or my hips actually make my ass. I have one of them asses like a man...lol No J-Lo Here....not a ghetto booty, just an ass.
Coloring: I usually stay tan, but have lost most of it here lately with everything going on. Tan fat....looks better than stark white fat..lol
Blonde hair..of course its bleached. Thats the only thing that doesn't have a size on it!
Shoes: I opt for mens...mens boots, mens tennis shoes. If its ladies...its usually a sandal or flip-flop. I have gotten lucky and found a few shoes, but hell, they are size 12's and usually uncomfortable.
Thats why in the summer time, I'm usually found in Nike Flip Flops...Mens of course.......lmao
LOL
I confess - I'm amazed at the big-footed stories.
I have dinky feet. I wear a size 7 and I'm about 5'6". When I tell the sales person to bring out a size 7 they always roll their eyes and bring out a size 8. I always buy big clunky shoes (or, my standard Converse) so that it looks like I have feet.
Last night at an event I heard a woman say, "whenever I see adult looking shoes these days I buy them". Isn't curren fashion for only the young.
Well I guess I can only speak for California but these clothes. Short, short skirts with itty bitty tops, and sequins and glitter every where.
Big feet is not my only problem. I just do not want to be mutton in lamb's clothing.
Re: Sisterhood of Big-Footed Women & others forgotten by
jespah wrote:Testify, my friends, to the indignities suffered upon anyone who is not of cookie cutter size and shape and color. You need not be female in order to have suffered.
I am talking about the big, the petite, the tall, the short, the wide, the skinny, the swarthy, the pale, the big-footed, the narrow-footed, the short-waisted, etc. among us.
I am talking about you and me, not Barbie and Ken. I am talking about women who are not a size 4. And men who do not have a 30 inch waist.
I confess. I am a large woman. Not huge. I am not a house. But that's not what designers would think. They think, hmm, not a 2. Must ... charge ... more. Must ... make ... ugly ... clothes. Must ... make ... few ... or ... no ... choices. Must ... make ... shopping ... humiliating.
I do most of my shopping online or via catalog. I tend to venture into stores for shoes or if I am certain that something in my size and color preference is available. I shop a lot in men's, as the clothes tend to be made better, plus my feet are large (women's size 12, they're 11s on a good day, alternating St. Swithens' Days or something like that). Of course this is no good for work clothes. This is more for casual stuff. For work, I improvise a lot.
I'm pale. I'm what's called a Spring (as opposed to the other seasons of the year). This means that black really only looks good on me if it is glossy or far away from my face. It means that pure white is out. This means that autumnal colors are okay but not my best choice. It means I get saddled with some ice cream colors, which is okay for the summer, but can be hard to find for colder weather. And I live in New England, so autumn and winter clothes are more important than summer togs.
And it's not just about weight. After all, at my thinnest, I still wore a size 11 shoe. And I still had coloration problems, in terms of clothes available in pretty much any color other than ones that look good on me. There are just so many times I want to wear beige. Really. I'm funny that way.
So, testify, brothers and sisters, and share your finds. There must be a way to ease this pain. And be strong!
Oh dear.
I look washed out in black, too (and I LOVE black!). But.....if I wear a bit of foundation, and a good lipstick (I use one of the stay on ones which last all day) then I can wear it until the cows come home. I wear black heaps when going out.
At work, washed out be damned, I still wear it sans make up, but just add a scarf (I have many, many scarves....not wool, soft silks and cottons and such, in delicious colours and designs) to go nearest my skin.
I haven't much money for clothes right now, so I do a lot of simple black, which I dress with really lovely, big scarves, which I can drape in a hundred different ways.
But, you hafta like scarves, no?
I once did one of those weird colouring things, and I think I was a spring. I can wear lots of lovely soft blues and greens and muted almost any colour. I be a bit puzzled by the ice cream colours?
BorisKitten wrote:Repeating my ENTIRE RANT from Shewolf's wonderful "Punk-Ass" thread:
Dear PUNK-ASS Corporate Dress Code Enforcers and Female Clothing Manufacturers all over the world:
1) Pantyhose are evil. Not only are they always too short, the waists are so freakin' tight they're like torture devices. Eva was right-on here. And what's with Control Top anyway? I'm not even TALKIN Control Top here, just the ordinary kind that aren't supposed to control anything.
Are you afraid they're going to Fall Off if they're not made with those itty bitty waistbands? And what exactly makes you think all our Tops need to be Controlled? Why not just reintroduce the Corset with boning and get it overwith?
Not only that, haven't you ever been to Florida in the summertime? Just try walking across a parking lot wearing a set of these too-tight nasties and you get an Instant Yeast Infection!
And don't even get me started on what happens when you don't have A/C in your car and have to wear these things! Ugh, how awful it is to have these danged things actually pasted to your legs, which are now pasted to the plastic car seat, when you finally arrive at work, so you have to freakin' Peal Yourself Off just to get out of your car!
2) Slips, bras, and underwear are inherently uncomfortable. What the heck ever happened to COTTON? Are you afraid that if our skin can breathe it might be, what, STINKY or something? What's wrong with a cotton slip? How about Linen, which is Actually Cool in the summer.... has anyone EVER seen one of these items made from Linen?
Did women just Vote for the most uncomfortable underwear fabric ever invented... that is, Nylon, to be used for practically everything?
Do we have some sort of Debt to Society which must be paid with eternal Nylon underwear torture? Is there a woman alive who hasn't had Nylon (or Polyester, or Acetate) stuck to her body from neck to knee and just felt like ripping it all off and screaming?
3) Make-up! Sure, you SAID you invented make-up that wouldn't melt off your face in Florida heat, but you friggin' LIED! Then you SAID you invented make-up that wouldn't end up on every piece of paper you ever touched in the office, and you LIED AGAIN!
Is there some sort of ceremonial reason that little bits of make-up have to be wiped on every single bit of paper in every file in Corporate America?
Same thing with Nail Polish! Why the heck does it still come off on these same bits of paper? We can send a man to the moon, but we can't invent nail polish that doesn't look like you bled all over your latest presentation?
4) We do NOT all wear a Size 6 shoe! I wear a 9 1/2, yes, that's right, and last I heard it was PERFECTLY LEGAL to do so! Do you MAKE any shoes in that size? Oh, wait, yes, America has manufactured exactly TWO PAIRS of shoes in my size, and they're both incredibly ugly!
You think just because my feet are big, I don't want to look nice? Think tall women should look even more dorky than they already are? Think I should have surgery to make my feet smaller so I can wear all those itty bitty shoes that look like they're made for ancient Chinese foot-wrapped hobblers?
Whew! I feel better now.
Lol! I wear pants and long skirts a lot cos I hate the damn pantihose...BUT you can buy ones with no crotch, to avoid all the health problems. They have become hard to get now, though.
They look a bit odd when seen in the bedroom by others, but who gives a damn!
Can we say.."Where's the scissors?"
That will fix that problem! LOL
Hmmm....makes 'em run.
Unpicking the seams might work
Yea...you could cut within the seam..and not cut the hose, just the white part out...lol
That'd leave that seam intack and not let it ravel...lol
Maybe???
Well, having tried it, it gets a bit weird.
(I won't go into WHY I tried it, except to say that waitressing in 115 degree heat in pantyhose left me with certain susceptibilities) .
You can only really wear 'em once if you do that.....
ROTF...AWWWw.............I can understand!
I wouldn't do that again either, I don't like those susceptibilities! They make the day rather long and irritable! lol
As a black woman.. who DOESNT want to wear hip-hop teenage clothes.. I find it VERY hard to find 'ethnic' style clothing with out it being designed after the latest immature trend.
NO- I do not want to wear baggy jeans
NO- I do not want to wear hip hugger jeans where my under wear sticks out
NO- i do not want to wear horrible high top sneakers
No- i do not want to wear fake gold
NO- i do not want gold teeth.. or FAKE gold teeth covers
Yes- i want my clothes to fit right and not look 5 sizes too big is this TOO MUCH to ask when shopping in stores that ' claim ' to be e-t-h-n-i-c???
Goodness, and I always thought America had EVERYTHING.
Length: I have lots of it, but none of the off-the-shelf clothes have enough. I buy most of my clothes through catalogues. Eddie Bauer carries a lot of talls, and there are specialty catalogues for tall people but I can't shop for clothes in any of my local stores.
Shoe size: I was a size 9.5 for years and years. After having children I became a 10W, which was no easier to find than 9.5. Lately I've found myself in 11s. My body has stopped growing, but apparently my feet haven't. Thank god for Nordstroms!
I'm a 'winter' so my closet is full of black, white, and red. I also have a few bits of navy and purple. Fortunately, I don't have to go to many funerals, but I certainly have the wardrobe for it.
I thought panty hose were out. I recently read that no one wears ph to the office any more. Not true? Fortunately my officewear is whatever I put on in the morning for my short commute up the stairs to the office. On the few occasions when I need to dress for a meeting I throw on something black, red, or white and head out the door.
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