AwSnappity, I have nothing to add here but my sympathies, although this is one of those threads that really makes me wish you’d left your name as FireUnderpantsBoobs.
David’s has some really nice separates. And if you get a skirt and top, you can get an a-line formal skirt that’s fitted to you waist AND still has room for your hips.
That’s one of my biggest complaint with so called women’s clothing. Most of it these days is designed for women with hips that are the same size as their waist. Uhh, that would be a GUY right?
FireUnderpantsA-CupBoobs
FireUnderpantsExtremelyTinyBoobs
FireUnderpantsBooblets
FireUnderpants[nothing]
AngelicGemma, believe me, I considered it.
Not in terms of fit, but in terms of styles/colors this year - there is nothing. My brother is getting married in a month, and my mother and I went shopping several times to find her a dress to wear. I had found one pretty easily (yay!), but everything we looked at was black, hideous, or didn’t come in petite. Luckily, she was able to find a dress already in her closet that she hadn’t worn, and looks fantastic on her now that she is firming up from working out more.
Lesson to be learned - if you find a dress that looks fantastic on you, but you don’t have an occasion to wear it to, BUY IT ANYWAY! Believe me, in the long run, you will be grateful for it.
Susan
Dear Old Navy,
Why must you make things in “tiny fit?” As the wearer of L and XL, I really don’t need things to fit me in a tiny way.
Hugs and kisses,
Sara
Same story. My sister is having a nice formal evening wedding this week, and it took me a month to find a dress to wear to it. The one time I did find something attractive it only went up to size 10; the things in my size were either black or horrible. Annoyance reigns supreme.
Thank you, AwSnappity, for giving me the opportunity to vent my ongoing peeve: store buyers who apparently buy the same number of every size, so that all that is ever left in something I want to buy are five size 0’s, six size 2’s, one size 4, and five size 18’s. Haven’t these people ever heard of a bell curve?! There are many, many more women who wear the sizes in the middle, so buy more of those, dimwits!! :rolleyes:
Don’t even get me started on the fact that you have to turn the garment inside out to find the size tag, or unfold an entire tower of clothing, whereas if you saunter over to the men’s department, the sizes are emblazoned on huge, prominently displayed tags. Why? Because no man would put up with this shit!!
::Thus endeth my clothing rant::
Carry on…
I keep seeing complaints about Old Navy… it’s funny I find I can usually find something there that looks good for a great price and I’m really tough to buy clothes for. (I also wear L or XL)
I hate being so tall, it’s so hard to find clothes. Maternity wear? Pfft I wore mens clothes, maternity just looked butt ugly on me when I was pregnant.
And clothing companies… I have thighs okay. I do not want a skirt that clings to every curve and just makes me look frumpy. What happened to relaxed jeans? I have to go a size up in jeans (often meaning a jump to the mens section) because you make them so bloody tight! Why do you keep changing your styles? I find one that flatters and you get rid of it. It’s not like I can afford to buy enough pairs to last me a few years at once.
Oh and bra companies… I’m a D cup, and I have shoulders. I am not paying an extra $25 for about 5 cm of strap material. growls Last time I went shopping for something that was somewhat sexy and not just plain white. I hit every store in the mall (department, specialty, plus-size) and I couldn’t find one bra that was not plain white and $30 or less that fit me properly. The one store that had bras that even remotely fit, the straps dug into my shoulders but the rest fit perfectly. The only place that had something like I was looking for had bras for $50 each. I don’t have that kind of money. I walked out without trying anything on. So I’ve decided that next time I’m going back to that store with the perfect bras, buying a little material and sewing in an extra inch into the strap.
But what really shocked me about that experience… how many stores that didn’t carry anything above a B cup. Seriously, 2 or 3 carried nothing above a B cup.
Can we switch? Seriously, around here the small sizes seem to be the ones to go first, and I’m tiny. And don’t get me started in jeans. Until flares and patterns went out of style it was impossible for me to find anything that fit. Stores that sold plain jeans never had anything under a 5 (I’m about a 1–sorry if I’m making anyone jealous), stores with smaller sizes never had anything I could hem, and everything was just a tiny bit too long to wear as is.
Dresses? I don’t know who they makes them for either. Went looking for a prom dress last year, found a really nice one (which was a miracle, especially in that store. Everything was poofy bottoms, which I don’t like at all), and it fit perfectly, except up top, where there was quite a bit of extra room. The dress was a size 3-4, and I don’t know anyone that small who needs that much space. (Alright, I’ll admit, i’m about the only person I know who’s that small, but still…) And bras? Can you find me a store that sells a size 32? Even a 34 is hard to find. I really hate living in a small town somedays…
Jayn–counting the days until city shopping again
Dresses - what a bitch… I had to do the same recently, and have a problem similar to yours…
What I always look for are a-line skirt dresses. They are practically impossible to find nowadays! I found the only place to buy them is a bridal shop… But hey, for formal occasions, that works…
Freakin’ frackin’ clingy dress styles… :mad:
I took my twelve year old shopping for a bra not too long ago. I noticed that the training bras looked suspiciously appropriate for me, so just for kicks, I tried one on. The cups were too large. End of shopping trip, end of life, end of world.
Oh, is that what they do? I thought my waist was unnaturally small(I have that ‘perfect hourglass’ figure). Everytime I buy jeans, I have to get a belt to go with it to pull in the waist.
I’m very picky when I buy dresses, though. I like ones that pull in around my waist, rather than fall flat from my chest and make me look huge.
I’ve always had a problem finding dresses with sleeves. When I was a size 20, I had to cover up. No strapless, no spaghetti straps, no cap sleeves. Now that I’m size 6, I have extra…ahem…skin and I’m uncomfortable with it. I tried on a bunch of cute dresses at Express recently–all with spaghetti straps–and they looked great for a wedding I’m going to. I just can’t wave ‘hello’ to anyone, dance with my husband, vigorously shake anyone’s hand, etc. I may knock someone out. I only go sleeveless at work or when I know I won’t have to raise my arms above waist level. It makes me look kinda like Molly Shannon on that episode of Seinfeld where she walked without moving her arms. 
Now, the butt issue. Oy. When I was fat, I had a very curvy butt, so I thought I was going to keep the curviness when I lost weight. No dice. It looks like I’ve been taking large doses of Noassatall. Not only is it flat, but it resembles a Shar-Pei.
I’ve also got some stomach skin ::shudder:: that I have to contend with, so I can’t wear anything clingy.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m very thankful to be smaller these days, but I still have issues with clothing. I’ve now also discovered “vanity sizing” that thin women have been talking about for years. I’m anywhere from a size 3 to a 7, depending on the store.
But, count me in as one of those who loves Old Navy. Their jeans are great and I’m 5’1.5".
[look down for appropriate sig!]
I hate dress shopping too. The last time I needed one I finally found one at Goodwill for $4. Which was great, because I don’t care if I never wear it again.
There is another problem with shopping in general that I have. I’m 26, and there’s very little out there for my age group. My choices are to dress like I’m a stick-figured 16-year-old so everyone can see every lump, or dress like I’m 60. I tried to go shopping in a real mall last week and all I found were pink, tight things that I wouldn’t even bother trying on, much less try to wear. I ended up going to K-Mart, as usual. Those types of places (K-Mart, Shopko, Target) seem to be the only stores I can actually shop in anymore. Oh, and Goodwill, too!
I’m very curvy, but I don’t have trouble finding dresses. I usually get the stretchy fabric, it works well. Heh, unfortunately it also looks a bit pornographic. I can’t hide these things unless I wear a gunny sack.
Could you please direct to wherever the pants for women 5’11" and taller are kept? I have had no luck at all finding them, except in one place that starts at size 14.
Yes, please tell! Jeans are at least only moderately hard to find… dress pants I have such trouble finding that I finally resorted to wearing mens black pants and to hell with anyone who thinks ill of me. Only one place I can buy women’s dress pants at for a reasonable price (ie around 50 a pair) and they nearly went out of business recently, so all the stores that are near me shut down. Now to get a decent pair I have to get to the other end of the city (a ay trip in itself)
Oh, and question… what’s with all this manufactured materials crap that feel horrible against the skin, get really staticy and cling? That stuff is horrible! (What is it? I want to say rayon but that feels wrong) It’s insanely hot in summer because it doesn’t breathe and so thin you freeze in winter even when you resort to pantyhose (pantyhose… my nemesis…) I’ve found pretty much EVERYTHING that’s dress pants comes in that stuff. There are only a couple of stores that don’t seem to carry it and one the only reason for that is it sells stuff made only from natural fibers (lots of cotton, some linen and wool).
Argh.
Okay I’ll shut up now.
I used to have that problem. Then I had 225 cc of saline placed under my right pectoral muscle and 220 under my left, and clothes buying has gotten tremendously easier. 
I hear you Indygrrl on the pornographic look. I’ve got long legs and curvy hips and things that look cute on other girls look a bit dangerous on me. I walk into the store, and see a picture of a model in a cute sundress. Look how cute she is playing on the beach…! I go to the dressing room and try it on and look more like I’m trolling for johns than playfully cute.
As for long jeans…I’m 5’11 as well, with a 34" inseam, but prefer 36". Victoria’s secret has a nice long jean, so does Gap. People tell me Express does as well, but I’ve not been to them. Someone else said in this thread that VSJeans fit really well, and I’d like to second that. Especially their “boyfriend jean”.
As for dress pants, Banana Republic sells a lot of its nicer pants in tall sizes on their website. I usually go into the store, try on one of their woefully short pairs of pants, and if I like the fit everywhere else, buy the same size/style in the tall size on their website.
I am 5’7. This is NOT that tall. Yet regular length jeans are always an inch too short. That’s fine, I buy “tall” or “long” jeans and they hit the ground under my hell and I don’t care. But I need to wear khakis to work, and I bought two pairs in a “long” size, and they were EXACTLY the right length, and then I washed them, and now they’re highwaters. Seriously, they come up above the bone in my ankle and look ridiculous. And they’re size “LONG”!!
I haven’t tried the boyfriend jean but I love the others I have worn. To me, the sizing runs true, unlike so many other women’s clothing.
On that note, I really need to go back and try Old Navy again. I haven’t been in one in years because to me their sizing was WAYYYYY big. I always wondered if they were trying to make people feel like they were a size smaller than they were. I’d try on the size I normally wear and I could fit myself and another in with me. It seems a few people in this thread are saying the opposite so maybe they’ve changed.