Supersizing of America & a rant

[blackhillsbiker]

"Large and Extra Large just mean big around" trap, so soon I'll be looking for a new favorite shirt maker.

I'm 5'8.5" and 125 lbs. No boobs. No butt. My daughters got all the curves. I can't even find jeans anymore. Lucky and Silver used to fit, but now they gap by about 2" at the back waist. I have a long torso and long arms. By the time I find something long enough, they assume I'm also big around. I hate skin-tight teeny-bopper shirts, but women's clothes are always too short, or they become shorter and wider with every laundering. Sigh. I hate shapeless guy's shirts – sometimes the only way I can find tees that are long enough.

I used to be a 10. Then an 8. Then a 6. Now a 4. I haven't changed weight in years.

Other pet peeve, while clothes go one way, shoes go another. When you wear a 10.5 or 11, and they run "1/2 to 1 size short, please order the next size up," AND they only go to a size 11 (if you're lucky)... It's almost impossible to find cute shoes.

Deb

[KnottedYet]

I'm 5'8.5" and 125 lbs. No boobs. No butt. My daughters got all the curves. I can't even find jeans anymore. Lucky and Silver used to fit, but now they gap by about 2" at the back waist.

Try shrink to fit Levi button-front 501 again. Seriously! I never thought I'd be wearing them again 25 years later, but really they are magical. Same thing we did in high school: add 1-3 inches to your measurement for the waist (more inches for larger hips) and 3-4 inches for the inseam. Keep washing, keep the faith, until the waist shrinks enough to absorb the gap.

If it weren't for good ol' Levi 501's I'd be buck nekkid right now...

[blackhillsbiker]

Try shrink to fit Levi button-front 501 again. Seriously! I never thought I'd be wearing them again 25 years later, but really they are magical.

I lived in 501s in high school & college. I didn't realize you could still buy the non-shrunk ones. I've just seen the prewashed ones. I guess I'll have to look around.

As for undies, Jockey Elance hipsters and I have been friends since 1986. If they ever discontinue or redesign them I'm in serious trouble.

Deb

[GLC1968]

Yeah, don't get me started on shoes. I thought I was a 6.5D. They don't make women's shoes in 6.5D (or men's that short), so I have been wearing either 6.5C or 7B my whole life.

Now I have a podiatrist that says I should buy even wider shoes. Dude, really? THEY DON'T EXIST! Oy.

And wow, Oak - those are some long feet for a short woman!!

[maillotpois]

wow - listening to all this, I feel like a GIANT. (and that's way before we get to the size 11 shoes....)

[NoNo]

While I agree that the vanity sizing is ridiculous, I don't see the issue with going to a tailor and getting little issues fixed. I'm a curvy 5'-1" (read: hips meant to birth a cow and an ample bum) so everything is long and I have to buy a size larger than I need just to clear my hips. $10 at the tailor's gets them the proper length and the waist taken in. And don't get me started on these tiny leg openings on shorts that my thunder thighs can't even squeeze through! I can't expect them to account for every whacky body type out there, so I get as close as I can and fine tune it from there.

[PamNY]

While I agree that the vanity sizing is ridiculous, I don't see the issue with going to a tailor and getting little issues fixed.

I agree. I've never understood why men consider it perfectly normal (and expected) to have a suit altered when they buy it, but women expect that manufacturers should accommodate every individual in every particular.

Especially with lengths! Making clothing to suit every single inseam simply wouldn't be possible.

Of course, I do wish that women's trousers were made like men's, so altering the waist would be easier.

[Veronica]

Especially with lengths! Making clothing to suit every single inseam simply wouldn't be possible.

Go look a place like LL Bean. Men can get pants in pretty much any length or waist. Obviously when you place your order someone hems the pants to the correct length. Women's pants should be like that.

For $49.50 a guy can get a pair of chinos at the right length. For $39.50 I can get petite, regular or tall. Then I have to take my time to go to a tailor and get them hemmed correctly. I'd rather throw the ten bucks at Bean and just have them arrive at the right length. Plus the women's chinos aren't nearly as well constructed as the men's.

I can understand pants fitting women differently at the hips. Women can have several different butt shapes, which men don't seem to have. But length... we have really should have the same options

Veronica

[badger]

one thing I've noticed that's gone the opposite spectrum is underwear. For a long time I could never find panties that fit me without looking like granny undies up to my belly button. Then there were all sorts of low-rise panties that fit so well. Now they're back up higher again, and there's no way I can wear them without the tops showing up past the jeans waist. The only ones that fit are from Pink these days.

[limewave]

Go look a place like LL Bean. Men can get pants in pretty much any length or waist. Obviously when you place your order someone hems the pants to the correct length. Women's pants should be like that.

I love LLBean. I have to buy all DH's pants there. He's a 30 x 34. Nearly impossible to find at a department store.

[shootingstar]

In fact, I would be surprised that many people have alot clothing bought off the rack, that fits perfectly.

Anyone who sews, knows there is always abit of altering the pattern pieces before cutting the fabric. One really starts to understand in greater detail a person's unique body shapes/curves.

I never saw anything wrong cutting off 4-6 inches pant legs. Yes, it's a pain in the neck to do an alteration. Shrug. Yes, it can alter the overall look of a pant. But then...I don't buy the style in the first place. (which is why I won't wear capris. Doesn't complement shorty here.)

Maybe it's because women just tend to buy alot more different garments (?)..I can see it being a hassle for fashionistas who don't sew. Fashionistas who sew alot, would consider it a design/redesign challenge or at best, minor reworking.

[PamNY]

Maybe it's because women just tend to buy alot more different garments (?)...

I think that probably explains the difference in how men's and women's pants are manufactured/marketed.

Plus, perhaps men aren't as particular? Ordering a specific inseam from a catalog doesn't necessarily produce a good fit. You need to try on the pants to see how they hang.

[skhill]

I've been thinking it's time to improve my sewing skills. Following patterns is not my thing...

What really gets me is how much harder it is to find clothes that come anywhere close to fitting me these days. When I wore a size 20, it wasn't so hard-- things might have been frumpy or not to my taste, but I could at least find stuff that basically fit. Now, most places I can afford to shop don't carry anything under a size 4, which is usually huge on me. I'm just thankful for the boy's department; all my shorts come from there, and a lot of shirts too. I just wish boy's jeans were long enough... But it's kinda ridiculous that I'm nearly 40, and stuck dressing like a 12 yr old boy. It's almost enough to make me want to put 50 lbs back on... improving my sewing skills is definitely a better option!

[Eden]

I agree. I've never understood why men consider it perfectly normal (and expected) to have a suit altered when they buy it, but women expect that manufacturers should accommodate every individual in every particular.

Especially with lengths! Making clothing to suit every single inseam simply wouldn't be possible.

Of course, I do wish that women's trousers were made like men's, so altering the waist would be easier.

Well..... for some of us "alterations" would pretty much mean just re-using the cloth to totally remake something that actually fits, because the normal sizes no longer fit anywhere... and I really can't sew. I break sewing machines just by looking at them...

[Crankin]

Yes, I guess you can call me a fashionista who can't sew. I almost failed home ec because of it in eighth grade. I doubt I would sew, even if I could. There are some good tailors around here, though.
I spend a lot more $ on cycling and other activity type clothes now, so the problem isn't so bad. But, I am going back to work in a year and I will need some new skirts and dresses. I've thrown out a lot of stuff that is getting dated.
Shoes, yea, well, I wear a size 6 in casual shoes and a 5.5 in dress shoes. Not fun. My dad was a shoe manufacturer for years and the sample size used to be 4. Now it's 6. So, I guess feet are getting bigger, too. I guess I should be happy I am not my mom, who wore a size 4 and had to get her shoes for my wedding in the kid's department, since dad was no longer in the shoe business.