Every woman knows this scenario. Attempts at clothes shopping that fail miserably because no matter how many stores you duck into, no matter what you try on, nothing fits. It's too loose, it's too big, the sleeves drag past your hands to your hips, your tits won't squish into the blouse, the shoes are impossibly narrow, trousers produce disturbing displays of camel-toe.

The average woman in North America is a size 14, meaning that, though they are the norm and not the exception, their clothing options are ghettoized into Plus Size stores that often either carry nothing but sized-up, unflattering versions of the "normal" designs, or they carry matronly, mother-of-the-bride type outfits.

With that stupidity in mind, it's tempting to say clothing is only designed for women with smaller frames.

But that's not true, either.

After conversing with a few of my smaller-framed sisters it's obvious that I'm not the only small girl with problems finding clothes that fit. Which, on the one hand is reassuring after hearing bigger women bitch about how clothes only fit women my size to know that I wasn't just some freak who somehow couldn't find pants. But on the other hand, it is discouraging and puzzling.

If standard clothing retail sizes don't fit big women OR small women properly, just who is supposed to be wearing these things?
[Edited 1/23/10 14:40pm]

Fuck if I know That's what I've given up on wearing pants. I'll just wear tights until I get tired of'em.
Seriously.

No one is really supposed to wear the clothing that is put up on runways. Runway shows are just designed for rich people to sit around and listen to music, and watch human coathangers walk around flaunting "classy" clothing.

The clothing ideas however from the shows get put into mainstream stores such as target,h&m, macy's where they are fitted for real women.

EDIT: Okay I totally I just just skimmed through what you said. I am very sorry.

I wish they would carry more varied sizes in stores also. Looking in the teens department really does depress me, when I see size 0's. They only really make the jean sizes up to size 9 where I live. Anything above that and your going into mom jean territory.
[Edited 1/23/10 14:54pm]

Lemonduck said:

Fitted for who?

No one I know.

Big women don't fit into clothes properly. Small women don't fit into clothes properly. In-betweens don't either.


Maybe we should just say Fuck It to the entire clothing consumer culture and all learn how to design and sew our own garments....

Lemonduck said:

But the focus isn't the runway here, at least from what I retained. It's about stores at your local mall. Where they go up to a "13" but in reality they're meant to maybe fit a size 11 or 12 (depending on their sizing systems).

sammij said:

I've taken to wearing dresses whenever I can get away with it.

Due to problems with fit, I only own 3 pairs of pants: my work pants -which I had to beg my mother to modify drastically so they'd be wearable and work appropriate -and two pairs of jeans.

This reminds me of something I read on one of my favorite sites, Go Fug Yourself, the other day. And here it is:


"Christina Hendricks has the kind of fabulous bod that most designers wouldn't know how to handle. Any time Project Runway throws the contestants a challenge to make clothes for mothers, or divorcees, or generally people who aren't 5'10"and 100 lbs, they all start wailing and moaning that it's not what their designs are about and it's so haaaard, and blah blah blah. I always want Tim Gunn to come in and yell at them that if they can't handle actual people's bodies, then they have no business making clothes at all, because guess what? Sometimes people who eat carbs also want to shop and wear things on their bodies."

meow85 said:

i have around 14 pairs of jeans i imagine - however. i've come to the realization that none of them really fit me properly. i'm almost embarrassed to wear pants now (is that weird?)

sammij said:

I think a big problem may be that there is NO industry standardization of sizing to speak of. I have no idea what "size" I am, except that it's on the smaller end of the scale.

Fit is just as important as size though, and that's IMO where a lot of problems come in. If I measure for, say, a size 4 in a certain company's measurements, how come a size 4 flattens my ass and is tight at the knees? Technically it fits, if I never plan on doing anything but standing still.

minneapolisgenius said:

Well done.

sammij said:

I don't think it's weird at all.

I have cried in public before trying to buy shoes because I can't get anything to fit.

Rows and rows of pretty shoes in every style and colour imaginable, and not one pair will fit onto my apparently giant, fat size 6 feet.

Ya'll will find this link interesting then.

http://jezebel.com/545535...-her-shape

meow85 said:

that's me with formal wear... if i can't look how the dress implies i'm supposed to look in it... i break down... it's not pretty.

I almost cried while jeans shopping on Wednesday. That's normal for me though.

lazycrockett said:

Great article

really fat chicks (think Lane Bryant), really skinny chicks (think Old Navy), the broke (think WalMart) and the colorblind (rainbow sweaters for boys are not really cute).

BklynBabe said:

Have you ever seen the frump that is Lane Bryant?
As for Old Navy, I am one of those "skinny chicks". Old Navy does not fit.

lazycrockett said:

Good stuff.

sammij said:

Buying my high school grad dress was an adventure. Formal wear only goes as small as size 6. When I finally found something simple enough in design for the numerous modifications it would take to fit, the seamstress asked my mother right in front of me why she didn't just buy me a child-size dress.

meow85 said:

that bitch!
i had a similar problem with a prom dress.. i designed it myself and brought it to a seamstress and she would always say dumb shit like "i'm not a plastic surgeon" or "i don't perform miracles"
it still stings remembering it now.

Hmm, well since I have roughly a 34" (86cm) pants inseam, I can relate.
When I find a pair of pants that are long enough and fit well I buy multiple pairs...Thus, I have countless pairs of identical black pants.

And, don't get me started on shoes...

Tops are easy though!


.
[Edited 1/23/10 15:35pm]

I remember when I was pregnant with my second child @ six months. Mt belly was huge! I am 5'5" and was about 180lbs at that time. The girl in the Speedo store immediately told me to just leave because there was nothing that would fit, not to even waste her time trying to ask to fit any suits.

I asked for the manager, waited 20 minutes for her. The manager looked at me and said, "You can fit a size 40." I looked at the suit, tried it on and it fit! I even had "room to grow". I bought it and grinned huge in that cashiers face, and told the manager exactly what her employee told me.

That employee didn't realize that I myself was a manager at a clothing store, for men's custom suiting.

It's not the size, its the measurements. I wish they made it more clear in women's clothing.

5'3" is petite in the inseam- 30"
5'6" is regular in the inseam-32"
I forgot the measurement for tall

Trousers are NOT cut for women who have high asses the inseam is too short... you know who you are, so the camel toe is an issue.

Cut AND size both matter in fit. Many women don't know how to shop for body type and end up wearing the right size but it's not at all flattering on the body.

You would think designers would learn to cut to form properly where the clothing would allow for a nice drape on a REAL woman.... but for this anything off the rack just won't work for everyone.

You must shop for the cut of a garmet, its just as important as looking as the size label.


OK... I'm done.

sammij said:

Some seamstresses act like we've personally insulted them by asking them to alter clothing.

My experience with the grad dress is partly why I barely own pants. I never want to have to bring them to someone to change when I'm half expecting that kind of rudeness. I should probably just learn to sew for myself.

meow85 said:

I am a stone cold bitch when a seamstress tries to give me grief... I say "Oh, you don't know how to do that? Can I speak to someone who can?" :bitches better beware:

paintedlady said:

In spite of my small frame and overall thin-ness, I definitely have the round family butt. Which I happen to think looks fantastic, thankyouverymuch, but even though it's still not really all that big does NOT fit well into most petite or child-sized pants. If designers were creating for anyone other than mannequins, that probably wouldn't be a problem for me.

paintedlady said:

What is it with that line of work that makes people who do it so bitter and snarky?

pictures please.

examples would be nice, I'd like to know.

meow85 said:

Laziness, and if they mess up there's no way they can cover it up. So, they front like it's an issue when they lack skills. If you work with a skilled seamstress, she/he looks at the job like a challenge and just smiles at the chance to do the work.

Most newbies should ask to pin the garmet while you are wearing it so there is less chance of them doing it wrong. Any good seamstress always does that anyways, esp. if its your 1st time working with them. They have to measure you, they should.

meow85 said:

No matter how thin and small you are, trousers are not cut for a round butt.
Round butts are not fat, and designers consider a round butt a symptom of obesity. That's why some people think a round butt that's high is "gross". They have been conditioned to think that a high round butt = excessive fat.