Sisterhood of Big-Footed Women & others forgotten by fashion

My girlfriend has size 6 feet and is 5'8''. She falls down a lot and I think it is because her feet are too small for her body. She does get the best deals on sample shoes at the end of a season.

My problem is I have always been small on the bottom, big on the top. In my 20's I was a 6 bottom, 10 top. In my 30's I went to a 10 bottom 12 top. Now in my 40's I'm a 12 bottom, 14 top. It's getting scary.

Glad to see the 70's retro thing is going away. Bring back the 40's & 50's when women were allowed to have hips to balance out the boobs.

As for jeans - just two words: elastic waists.

Green Witch- Is there any other kind?

I used to get a lot of my stuff from Land's End. They were the only ones who would finish pants to a particular inseam length. Most talls are 34" inseams, which is fine if it's something that will shrink a bit like jeans. For dress pants I need a 33" inseam or I need to wear heals (something I rarely do for obvious reasons).

Land's End was a good source for me, but their quality went down a few years ago and I stopped buying from them.

I tend to buy classic styles and wear them for a decade or more. I still have clothes I brought to Chicago with me in 1988. Over the years I've collected various skirt lengths, pleats, no pleats, slim cut, full cut... I have some things that seem to never go out of style and because I don't need to wear them often they don't wear out.

My daily wear is jeans or workout clothes. I don't post much on the "what are you wearing today" thread because it's almost always jeans or sweats.

JB, me too. I am a jeans kinda girl. I am most comfortable in them so i wear them. Even in summer.

I can't stand buying them though and when you finally find a great pair, you wear them to death and then can't find that style anymore.

Yep, that's part of why I don't wear jeans... not only hot here in Florida, but they are so darned hard to fit! Then I gain or lose a few pounds (which pretty much happens every month) and suddenly they don't fit at all. I too have spent HOURS trying to find a pair that fits, only to go home empty-handed. Grrrr!

I'm a thrift store junkie too, since I really can't afford "new" clothing, and besides, I get all happy when I find a bargain. I have tons of beautiful clothes, even SHOES THAT FIT, all from thrift stores. Were I limited to new clothing stores, I doubt I'd have half the clothing I do.

We have a really large local thrift store that has a "bag sale" every month. You can fill a plastic shopping bag with any clothing from the store for $3.00. I have several really beautiful suede leather & fur coats (woops, hope this doesn't offend anyone!) from these sales. I've even sent some of them to relatives up north... costs more to ship them than to buy them!

I'm so darned glad to hear so many other women are frustrated with "fashion"! Tell more!

The best fitting pair of jeans I have found are ( gasp) wal-mart brand. I believe.. faded glory..
they are 11 dollars a pair.. I absolutly love them.
They fit my shape better then any 60 dollar pair I have bought out of desperation for that goodpair of jeans..

Wow, Shewolf, I used to always get "Gitano" brand from K-Mart, which were the only kind that seemed to fit me!

HAH!!
or.. remember Chic brand?
those used to hug a big butt well.. ;-)

The best fitting pair of jeans for me is Express brand but at $60-$80 a pop, I can't afford to buy them. TJMaxx often has them though, for $20! Of course, the selection isn't quite as good, so I don't find the ones I like often but....every now and then I do. I also really like Abercrombie and Fitch jeans but they are 1) more expensive 2) a store with shitty customer service 3) crazy expensive ...so i don't buy those ever.

I've found that Lane Bryant has pretty lingerie that fits me very well, and it's relatively inexpensive. It can be difficult to find pretty bras in 40D. They have nice cotton ones, too.

BTW, did you know that the average shoe size is now an 8-1/2 B? (I wear a 9B, so stores often run out of my size.)

Coldwater Creek has jeans that fit me perfectly. They have just a bit of stretch, but not too much. Lots of colors, sizes up to 3X. I practically wore out two pairs of khaki ones this summer.

I suppose my coloring is somewhere between a Spring and an Autumn. I'm pale, but rich colors look better on me than most pastels. And I do wear a lot of black...but only with make-up.

At one time (young) I wore size 8, the 8 1/2, and now size 9 or 9 1/2. I suspect there are reasons for this.

1. When I was young I wanted little feet no matter how tall I was.

2. My feet got bigger and wider as I aged.

3. I am 5' 8" and have always had size 9-9 1/2.

4. Sometimes it depends on the brand and whether or not I can get wide.


My body is changing, yikes. These days I need size 14. An for the 1st time in my life my waist is thickening up. Would you believe this happened just as I moved back to California the land of plastice surgery.

I gained 10 lbs when I got here and have not been able to lose it. I guess I am movin on into the women's department.

Have you noticed that when you do find a good fit in jeans that particular style is only available for 3-4 months?

Maddening.

My feet too are getting bigger & wider the older I get. Like they weren't big enough to start with!

Noddy, I too have noticed that if I find something I actually like, they will Definitely stop making it almost immediately. If I buy new (very rarely), I buy two if something Actually Fits (even more rarely!)

Ah yes, aging. It's as if it was a dirty word, almost as dirty as the word fat. Metabolisms get slower. We all run less, 'cause of arthritis, no little kids to chase around, perhaps a calmer lifestyle, whatever the reason. Fitness is fine, of course, and I'm certainly not suggesting ill health. But there is definitely an undercurrent out there that you're not good enough if you're older. And it ain't just in fashion, I'm afraid. It's just the usual, general nonsense that when men get older, they are more distinguished, e. g. elder statesmen (although that is changing, and they are often also getting ignore. Some progress, eh?), whereas women are just talking smack.

My mother has noticed it (she is in her 70s), for over a decade now. A lot of people automatically ignore the older woman.

Hence I wonder if some of this comes from that mindset, that women who don't fit the mold are people who the designers feel free to ignore.

- As if we had no money.
- As if we didn't need to cover our bodies.
- As if we didn't like fashion and fit.
- As if we didn't have taste.
- As if no one would ever want to look twice at us.

Suddenly I feel like a revolutionary. In a sari.



Sisterhood is powerful.

Actually I'm kinda liking getting older. Just about to turn 44, and actually looking forward to the next 20+ (hopefully) years.

Older women can say the most outrageous things and get away with it. People almost expect an older woman to be cross, oh goody!

I'm SO much more calm and contented than I was 20 years ago, I don't care at all about the wrinkles & such.

I'm already practicing my "Well, sonny..." comments.

But yeah, fashion ignores older women, and certain Hollywood has no use for us... so much the better!

I figure all the Baby Boomers will carve a path for me when it comes to fashion for older women. At least, I sure hope so.

Oh my. We haven't even touched on the touchiest of all "fit" issues - the swim suit.

Is there anything worse than swim suit shopping?

The green lights and crappy mirrors and stark walls of the typical dressing room.

I don't want a bikini. I don't want a tank suit because I just might have to pee and I don't want to take the whole thing off. I don't want some frumpy thing. I don't want something with embellishments. I don't want to spend $125 for something decent.

I love to swim. Mo and I swim a lot. I go through swim suits pretty quickly. Every time I have to go buy a new one I seriously consider taking up a different activity.

i have a few problems...

1. i am 5'10" and darn long waisted so no shirt i ever buy covers my stomach well and anything, and i mean anything with a built in waist sits just below the ladies

2. i was a swimmer so my shoulders are huge and got not so blessed with some DD's. so i end up buying extra larges or 14's to cover the ladies and the shoulders, and they tent down to just above my waist with a little indent just under my boobs that should be my waist. and i can't tuck them to make my waist appear (which is about a 10-12) because the shirts aren't long enough.

3. my butt is long-so jeans go up my butt and give me camel toe unless i buy longs, but since i am long waisted, my legs are short and so the longs drag on the floor.

4. i wear a size 9.5 but my toes are spread very far apart and so i should wear a wide, but my heels are tiny so i need regulars, so i either kill my fat toes or the shoes fall off.

ok done venting...why are there big and tall men's shops, but not women's? i mean i just need a long waisted store and broad shoulders. that's all i ask for.

Boomerang, after being a swimmer for 14 years, we learned the pull to side technique very well. Which means instead of taking the entire suit off, pull the appropriate area off to the side out of the way and do your business. that might solve your problem of the tank suit heehee, that said, i hate swim suit shopping because my shoulders are so big, i look like a freaking amazon in there.

hehe, never heard of the side technique, dragon. Sounds, er, interesting.

dragon you crack me up.

Didn't realize there were so many big-footed women around. Thought I was the only 9W size out there since I have an awful time finding shoes to fit. When I do find a pair, I buy two. My feet are broad/wide and, because I have a high instep, it is even more difficult. I get cramps and strains if the shoes do not fit perfectly and even a shoe that I think is comfortable when I try it on, will not do if I have to walk for most of the day. I usually end up in stocking feet whenever and wherever I can. It is laughable to think I could find a pair of shoes that are even pretty. I once bought a size 10 because I needed the width but I felt like I was in a pair of clown shoes because my toes didn't go anywhere near the top of the shoe and I kept tripping over myself.

I thought dragon's post was hilarious too, good writing...

says another high arched person.