I wear nylons maybe once a year. I can survive the unpleasantness of normal pharmacy/wal-mart bought ones.
I wear them for 2 reasons.
My legs are ugly. I am so pale I practically glow. My veins give my glowie skin a bluish tint. I don’t like to look down and see my legs below a dress so I imagine other people don’t either.
I don’t like when my thighs rub together.
I need the control top.
I can wear Spanx for the last 2 but they wont help to cover my legs. So, nylons are the way to go. I can deal with it on the rare occasions that I can’t get out of wearing a dress. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to whine about it though.
Also meant to add: this makes me kind of sad :(. I hate to hear people say, “If only I lost 20/30/40/whatever lbs…” because every style has elements that work at every single size. If you love the look- wear it! I wear all kinds of things that fat girls traditionally aren’t supposed to wear, but get tons of compliments. The only thing I do differently is exude confidence. If you love what you’re wearing, everybody around you is going to see that :).
It depends how big you are (meaning what I would suggest depends), but I’d love to suggest some great vintage looks if you give me your specs!
Edit to Add:congodwarf, Walmart nylons, tights, and leggings are miserable-- they get all misshapen and painful for me, too! I’m also cheap though, I wont pay $30 for tights (who does that???)-- just keep an eye out for sales, because places like Avenue will often have nylons and such on sale for $5! Spanx does make nylons, but they are a bit costly. I do see them at outlet malls sometimes, though! Torrid also sometimes has them on sale.
Well, by side boob, I meant the inside. As in, *maximum *cleavage extending to the bottom of the boob, not appropriate for Sesame Street, much less a hospital. With a good bra, my boobs don’t touch (for the first few hours, anyhow), so there’s a Victoria’s Secret worthy view of inside side boob. Nothing hanging out underneath my armpits!
'Member, these were bought as vavavoom! dresses, not office wear. I’m trying to adapt and not spend money on a whole new wardrobe.
ETA: Only one of the dresses is *that *revealing, anyhow. It may not be possible to use it, even with a burqa underneath!
I second the reccomendation for cheap camisole tops - the Old Navy ones really are great if you have more than an A cup, because they don’t have the built-in bra that doesn’t even work for you. I use them under cardigans and go for a sort of 50’s look, but I’m sure you could use them under a wrap dress. I wouldn’t go too high with the neckline because then it kind of looks like maybe you’re Pentacostal or something - just high enough that when you give me my flu shot you don’t also give me a $50 view, you know?
Well, for one thing I find that the pantyhose smooth me out a bit and make things fall better. Also, I am very lazy about shaving (I lived in Europe for a year as a teen and never recovered!) and usually on a Sunday morning I don’t have time to neaten things up enough to get the kids dressed and make it to church by 9.
Yes, I know I shouldn’t be so self-conscious about my weight. The trouble with 50’s styles is, you pretty much have to sew them yourself if you’re the size I am (even if I lost weight, I’m just Amazonian next to your typical 1956 woman), and vintage patterns mostly come in a size 32-36 bust. I’m a 40, and so I would have to learn to size everything up–which I could do, that would be an excellent thing to do, but it just seems like such a big job, ya know? It just seems like too much work right now, and I have no sewing time right now anyway (for delightful reasons, but something has to give). Anyway I look pretty good in the clothes I’ve got.
I’m gonna be the voice of dissent. I love dressing up! I look much better when I put forth some effort, and I feel confident when I know I look good. I’m also fond of having a sense of occasion.
Actually, you might be surprised how good you look in those styles right now. I’m also carrying 30 extra pounds (but starting to lose it!) with an hourglass figure, and a few weeks ago I stopped by Lord and Taylor’s fancy dress section just for the fun of it to see what kind of styles looked best on me. Believe it or not, it was a '60s-style fitted sheath dress that seemed to celebrate my shape, rather than the looser A-line dresses that I had first tried on. It’s not genuine vintage, but close enough until I can wear the real thing. (Although most unfortunately for someone with short stumpy legs, I prefer the look of the 1930s, which I could never pull off even at a size 6.)
I really like the way you think – I think I’ll wear my fancier clothes more often so that I won’t have a “tell” when I need to wear them on purpose. I’m finally (at 32) starting to get the hang of heels (turns out, the trick is to walk like a lady, swinging your hips) but could definitely use more practice.
shrug My bust size is 42 and I love the vintage pin up look (of course, I don’t sew my own clothes). Depending on your measurements this company’s 2x would probably be fine. I’ve heard that a lot of their stretchy stuff is cut rather generously, too. Also, if you have a Facebook (well, even if you don’t, I think the photos are public), here are their plus size models rocking that look.
I like it too! I’ve just gotten a new job, and although there’s no need to wear shirts and ties, I went out and bought a bunch of cute new ones just for fun. I’ll probably get over it in a while, but hey. (It’s also autumn and I can get away with this stuff again without the heat.)
