You can get ladies’ pants made to your exact specs at Lands End. You tell them your exact measurements, inseam, loose or tight fit, and they make them accordingly. Not ridiculously expensive, either. Nordstrom’s will alter stuff for free, too. I had a suit altered to my specs and then, a year or two later re-altered to match an unfortunately temporary weight loss. A bit pricey, but not that far out of line IMHO.
Oo! Oo! Oo! Me! Me! Me! Seriously! I’m am definately not a fan of large breasts. Maybe I’m just wierd…
I’ve always been torn about this. On the one hand, I have the obvious reaction: “Honey, that outfit is SO not working for you…” But on the other, I have a strong “You go girl!” feeling about it.
The classic example in my mind was an episode of Roseanne in the last year. She had lost weight, but was still quite hefty, and she wore a gown that was so low cut in the back you just missed seeing the crack of her ass. And the camera was lingering on her from that angle throughout the episode. And part of me was mortified and part of me was gleefully supportive.
In the end, if the person is comfortable, screw everyone else.
You know, I work with a girl who’s quite overweight, and wears tight-fitting clothing. It’s not unusual for her to show up in a shirt that’s small enough that a little roll of fat bulges out all around the top of her pants. And I really couldn’t care less. She’s friendly, has a pleasant personality, and is good at her job. What she wants to wear is her business, as far as I’m concerned.
JLo is not fat in the least. She’s curvy and in shape. Lipo? Give me a break. You don’t get lipo when you’re a size 7. Her ass doesn’t look like cottage cheese, it looks sexy and firm.
Those jokes are from people who would love to get a piece of that ass. Men love a round ass like that.
I know you’re saying you like JLo, I just get tired of people talking about her like she’s so big. Put her ass next to most women, and it probably looks pretty small. I have a round ass similar to JLo, and I am not even slightly overweight.
/facetious hyperbole To be a bit crude, I’ve seen slender, or downright skinny people, who really have no “figure” at all to speak of, in spandex, and for some reason could not stop thinking of broomsticks with condoms over them, but that’s just me. facetious hyperbole/ :rolleyes:
Why not just say that people shouldn’t wear clothing that’s too small for them, because it looks un-attractive, and leave it at that? Best you “dig in” because I get the feeling it’s going to get really hot in this thread before long. There are posters around here who really take offense at such bigotry.
I agree Smeghead the personality and competence is worth more than what a person chooses to wear. All the same, I too have looked at people (of many different ages, races, sizes, and of both genders) and wondered why they would put on such an un-flattering thing. I respect their right to do so, and go on about my business though.
For a “fat thread” this one has been rather pleasant.
Some women don’t care what other people think about how they look; they wear the clothes to please themselves. Still others don’t realize how bad certain clothes look on them.
Mirrors don’t help as much as you might think. There are people who have distorted images of themselves even when seeing themselves in a mirror.
There are people who want to look good and don’t know which clothes minimize their “flaws.” They may think that any pretty outfit that fits will make them great. (I haven’t been able to buy anything with horizontal stripes in years!)
The last thing in the world that I choose to be grossed out by is someone else’s body. I had to eat pork brains as a kid and since then, I don’t gross out easily. 
Maybe their opinion of “good looking” is different from yours
For instance, I think it’s cute to wear socks that don’t necessarily match the rest of the outfit. I do this all the time, actually. People have indicated that this is bad taste, but I don’t care. It like wearing my funny socks.
Maybe people who look like sausages want to look that way.
We’re gonna need a cite for that.
Yosemite, would you hold still so that I can shower you with kisses? Oh, wait, I’m still getting over the flu.
How about baked goods? Chocolate? A neck rub (I’m good!)? You took a trainwreck and transformed it into an enjoyable thread. You deserve board sainthood.
I’m sorry, but what does this mean? You treated them like they were 36Bs? Are you saying you treat women or their chests differently based on their size?
Oy, I just got home from the mall, ranting about this very topic the entire drive home!
I’m a big ol’ voluptuous gal, and finding a simple pair of everyday jeans to buy today was damn frustrating! Yes, I know, go them if they want to wear trendy stuff, blah blah, but in my notsohumble opinion? The words “low-rise” and “plus-size” should never be on the same label!!! I had to wade thru rack after rack just to find regular jeans.
Gah, growing up big it was horrific trying to find something that wasn’t polyester doubleknit flowery granny stuff. Then we had a brief respite of fashionable choices actually designed for us, as opposed to skinny girl stuff made bigger, in the nineties. Sheer bliss! Now, it seems, we’ve swung back around to trendy stuff just cut bigger, ugh.
Ok, I think I should correct myself here, because I think there were misunderstandings. I didn’t mean tapered at the calves. I meant “not flared”. I’m quite aware that tapered went out with the elastic under the foot leggings.
Shit! At least if I can’t dress “in style”, give me some credit on the boards for knowing what’s “in style”! LOL
Why, thank you! 
Chocolate is always appreciated!
I think credit also goes to the OP for having such a gracious response to all of this.
Regarding finding clothes that fit: Land’s End is a great mail order company (sometimes a bit pricey, but not too terrible). They have most sizes and will custom hem for you. I like Land’s End.
Also, learn to sew! I haven’t sewn in a while, but it is sometimes the best way to get clothes that are flattering and fit you. Especially with dresses (at least in my case). I taught myself to sew in my adulthood (got a lot of “how to” books, and a little help from my sister who could sew).
I am 5’4", and when I am about a size 12/14 or 14/16 (I’m bigger than that now), I have a Delta Burke/Dolly Parton kind of figure. There are no dresses off that rack that fit me. They are too long and baggy and they don’t have enough of a waistline. I guess the designers figure that we big girls don’t have any waistlines. Oh yeah, and they also must figure that we are all 5’10", so they make the bodice and skirt and everything lower and longer. A “low cut” dress on my 5’4" frame usually shows half of my bra. This will not do.
So I have sewn my own dresses. I raise the neckline (so that my bra—and half of my boobs—don’t show), shorten the bodice several inches and raise and shorten everything else. I also take in the waist several inches.
And these home-sewn dresses look really flattering. Slimming, even. It’s amazing how much better anyone can look if they get clothes that fit them. And usually, such clothes are cheaper. Usually a dress off the rack is what—$50 to $70 or a lot more, for a decent one? It’s been a while since I’ve sewn myself nice dresses (length mid-calf or lower), but I think that nowadays I could make one for $20-35 or so.
And blouses and pants and skirts—If I get a pattern adjusted so I know it fits me just so, I can crank out several gaments using the same pattern, but different material, and make quite a few nice outfits. I have a massive collection of rayon shell tops (usually $20-$40 each in the department stores) that is quite something. I got a pattern that fit me and I could crank out a shell top in a few hours. Usually these tops (made out of nice fabric) will cost no more than $10-15 to make. Often, in my case, a lot less.
Damn. I miss sewing. I need to find some space in the house for it. I have sooo much fabric stockpiled that needs to be used up!
Queen Tonya Please explain that to my roomie (and a lot of other people). She’s getting better, but she thinks that everything that comes in her size must look good on her. She’s my size, and owns and wears a bikini. I’m a pretty straight fourteen ( misses, not juniors) and she wears a 15/17 juniors (which is inevitably a bit tight), we both have tummies that verge on gross.
OMG, the horror!
Last Saturday night, I’m getting ready for a date. A first date, actually, so it’s a rather frantic getting ready thing, going thru my wardrobe at lightning speed, pronouncing everything I own unsuitable, hating my hair, wondering where the sixteen new spots on my face came from since lunch…etc.
My sister’s on the phone, offers to assist by loaning me “a really flattering pair of black slacks.” I zoom over to pick said pants up, and they’re stirrup pants! Holy hairmetal flashback, Batman, she still had a pair of stirrup pants and thought they were cool! :eek:
Ahh, Lynne they just can’t be convinced sometimes. My friends know to look deeply into my eyes and loudly repeat “Just because they make it in your size doesn’t mean it’s right” until I snap out of whatever surreal place my conciousness took off to where babydoll tees and short shorts look good on me.
I’ve read a lot of posts in this thread saying that women with less than perfect figures who wear gut-exposing clothing are doing so out of confidence. This isn’t necessarily so. I also have to disagree with people who say they’re not dressing this way to please anyone other than themselves.
I have a student who is by no means fat, but has a bit of a gut that protrudes out of her belly shirt. She also wears those lycra tops that accentuate her little fat rolls. She loudly complains to me that she’s fat and disgusting, looks terrible, is ugly, etc. (she’d look perfectly fine and normal-figured in a flattering but more concealing blouse). Add to that the fact that she’s boy crazy and is always having major drama/trauma in her “love life” and I can glean that she’s wearing these clothes because she thinks it’s what she has to do to get a guy. If the sight of herself in those clothes fills her with self-loathing, but she wears it anyway, how healthy is that? And she’s just one example of this very same phenomenon.
Also, how comfortable is it to wear those clothes? I’ve never liked lycra because it clings in all the wrong ways on most people, and it doesn’t breathe. Belly shirts in the winter are just absurd, yet I see them everywhere. It seems clear to me that many people who wear uncomfortable clothes (that may in some cases even make them feel bad about themselves) just to be fashionable is not a sign of good self-esteem.
No. Quite the opposite. She told me that most men didn’t play with her breasts presumably because they were tiny. Having no experience of small breats I assumed that they are all the same regardless of size. So it would seem that some men do, in fact treat women’s chests differently based on their size from my limited hearsay experience.
I don’t really give a damn what people wear (though most current fashions are exceedingly unflattering to 90% of the population, and it boggles my mind that people wear them anyway), with one proviso: if it’s hurting you, it’s hurting somebody else. This goes for everyone, no matter how big or small. When your clothes are so tight it hurts you to wear them, they’re too tight to wear in public.
Preach it! I used to frustrate the hell out of DogDad when I went shopping for clothes. Why? I’m a size 26 - 28, and when I’d see something I liked, that I thought would be flattering, I’d want to get it * right then*, whether we had the money for it or not. I did this, because I know from experience that the places I can afford to shop won’t carry the flattering stuff for long. So by the time the checkbook says I can get new clothes, they’re gone.
(He understands now, after a frantic search for ONE black or dark blue shirt I needed for a funeral. Five stores, “price-no-doesn’t-matter-as-long-as-I-can-find-SOMETHING”, and we finally found ONE. I wasn’t crazy about it, but we found one.)
But it seems like the stores have decided that women MY size don’t NEED “business casual” clothes anymore. I swear, every time I go into a store and check out the “my size” sections, it’s nothing but jeans and sweats…or slutwear.
Tell me this, who needs a skirt that’s shorter than it is wide?
I’m sorry, but I don’t think that ANYONE should be wearing a skirt that doesn’t even cover their ass.