New Clothes

[Trilby]

I really, really, really hate trying on clothes. It totally bums me out no matter what I look like or how much I weigh. I'm 5'7'' and I've weighed 100 pounds and hated trying on clothes and I've weighed double that and hated trying on clothes...is there any painless way to do this?? If I shop via catalog I end up with stuff that doesn't fit no matter WHAT the sizes say. It's really soul-crushing. Does anyone have a solution? Or does anyone else feel this way??? God, I'm so bummed. And, face it, ya gotta wear clothes. At least in my county.

[LabRat]

Originally Posted by Brianna

...is there any painless way to do this??

Vaseline?

Seriously tho, I have to be in the right frame of mind. Stopping by your favorite mexican joint for a good stiff margarita or 2 helps. I either find tons of stuff I like, or nothing at all. I generally dislike shopping with someone when I have a specific purchase to make, new jeans, for example. I also may ask a total stranger in the dressing room their opinion. I started doing this after baby, when I needed new bigger pants, and needed an honest opinion from someone who didn't know what I used to look like. And who wasn't getting a commision on my sale. If I'm just shopping because I have some $$ to burn, then it's more fun with someone, usually. I pretty much never order from catalogs for the reasons you have found to be a pain, and because I tend to be REALLY picky, and hate getting something that's a pain to return if I don't like it.

[Trilby]

i like your sig line!

[Tonchi]

The problem is not just with you, we are having a women's clothing crisis in this country right now. Ever since they shut down the factories where people who could actually wear the stuff they manufactured worked and sent the industry overseas, we have been at the mercy of crappy materials, 10-year old machine operators, piecework quotas, and sizes that are marked completely differently from what an American can fit into. Because every brand seems to be tagged by reaching into a hat, and even the same brand changes season to season as the factories shift from one Third World country to another, you have no way of knowing if something will fit. You simply have to attempt to put it on, and forget what the label says. No wonder you hate it, the entire experience is too time consuming and unrewarding. We are being sold rags made of synthetic fibers, unlined, and with seams that unravel before you even get it off the hanger, and at twice the price it was before we destroyed our own garment industry. I used to love to shop for clothes, and now I find myself complaining to the salesperson more than going home with a purchase.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by Tonchi

The problem is not just with you, we are having a women's clothing crisis in this country right now. Ever since they shut down the factories where people who could actually wear the stuff they manufactured worked and sent the industry overseas, we have been at the mercy of crappy materials, 10-year old machine operators, piecework quotas, and sizes that are marked completely differently from what an American can fit into. Because every brand seems to be tagged by reaching into a hat, and even the same brand changes season to season as the factories shift from one Third World country to another, you have no way of knowing if something will fit. You simply have to attempt to put it on, and forget what the label says. No wonder you hate it, the entire experience is too time consuming and unrewarding. We are being sold rags made of synthetic fibers, unlined, and with seams that unravel before you even get it off the hanger, and at twice the price it was before we destroyed our own garment industry. I used to love to shop for clothes, and now I find myself complaining to the salesperson more than going home with a purchase.

Thank Walmart. Even if you've never set foot in their store they're calling the shots for almost everyone.
Are you willing to pay more for better quality? Doesn't matter for the most part...you've been outvoted by Walmart shoppers.

[wolf]

Have you tried one of the shopping sites that lets you enter your measurements and have it pick sizes for you? I think that QVC and LL Bean both have a system like this. There are certain lines on QVC that I know fit just right, so buying jeans is a matter of a couple of clicks and new jeans in a variety of colors are at my house in just a few days.

Or is there a particular brand of clothing that really works well for you, in terms of style and fit?

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by wolf

Have you tried one of the shopping sites that lets you enter your measurements and have it pick sizes for you? I think that QVC and LL Bean both have a system like this. There are certain lines on QVC that I know fit just right, so buying jeans is a matter of a couple of clicks and new jeans in a variety of colors are at my house in just a few days.

Or is there a particular brand of clothing that really works well for you, in terms of style and fit?

I didn't know QVC did that! I'll try it! No particular brand really fits--maybe Liz Claiborne is the best. It's just depressing--like Tonchi said, being a size 11 one minute and a 2X the next...pisses me off. And the clothes are, for the most part, crappy. Only size 0-2 have quality crafters. Everyone else has to wear synthetics.

[BigV]

Tonchi:

If you're having trouble with the tags in clothes, imagine how much worse it is when there's a language barrier.

[Tonchi]

Excellent news! I will buy from that brand too

Well, speaking seriously about languages, I am one of the fortunate ones who has no problem with the labels on everything nowdays being in English and Spanish. I'm a Spanish interpreter. I like to play with labels and see if the translation is good. Learning Spanish has also allowed me to bungle through most French labels, although mostly I only see those on cat chows and other items I buy for T'Pau, Queen of the Universe. Thankfully, the clothes made in Bangladesh and India are not intended for purchase by the locals, or we would be seeing labels in writing that nobody would have a prayer of understanding. Nevertheless, during the Christmas sales two years ago, Rampage jeans were manufactured in Vietnam and I went from being a size 11 to a 2X. I was told that the X sizes were for Americans (1-, 2-, and 3X being the former S, M, and L, I suppose) and anything with numbers only was a raffle. Rampage is now out of Vietnam and I suddenly became an 11 again. But that does not mean it will fit either. Maybe we could start a new style of wearing choir robes.....

[Undertoad]

You named your cat T-paw?

[staceyv]

I hate clothes shopping too!! Have you ever noticed how with companies like the Express and the Gap you need a much smaller size? I think they do this to make women feel thinner because they can fit into a size 6 (which is really a size 10)...
It's a pain to clothes shop because it messes up your hair and makeup, makes you hungry and tired, the bright light hurt your eyes, the people crowding you to look at the same rack of clothes pisses you off, you're different sizes in different brands, the light in the dressing room make your butt look terrible- even if it looked good at home, oh, I could go on, but I guess it's enough to say that I agree with you and I don't know any way around it, except maybe to go shopping when you have a few days off of work and you're really bored, so you can tell yourself "I have nothing better to do anyway".

[LabRat]

Tonchi's story reminded me of a time quite awhile back that I was shopping for new jeans. The Express store was having a $20 jeans sale, so i thought I'd check their brand out. At the time I was plenty comfortable in a 6, so I picked out 2-3 pairs in that size in the same style but different shades/washes. It was like a bad three bears story, one too big, one too small, and one relatively right. Even the lengths were different. In the same style! I went back to buying the more expensive 'designer' jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren and Lucky are my favorites because I can pretty much buy off the shelf and the have 'ankle' length which is apparently the new PC term for short. They also still come in styles that a curvy woman can fit into, like 'relaxed' and 'Saturday' styles. Being 5'2'' makes buying cheaper jeans more problematic because they tend to only come in a 30-31' inseam, when a 29 is perfect for me. Oh, and I have several older pairs of Calvin Kleins that I love, but they are harder to find around here. Why is it that when you finally find a style that not only looks good on you, but is confortable to wear, the next time you need jeans, they've discontinued it? Ugh.

[melidasaur]

I read an article that American sizes are actually two sizes bigger than what the tag says, so for example - a size 12 is really a size 16. I don't know if that is true or not, but it makes me sad.

I really like to shop at Old Navy because they make their shirts in a variety of fits - easy fit, perfect fit, tiny fit and they also state the length of their shirts. So many shirts now days are short length - and i just don't really feel comfortable wearing a belly shirt.

[russotto]

Originally Posted by LabRat

It was like a bad three bears story, one too big, one too small, and one relatively right. Even the lengths were different.

That's actually pretty typical, and even happens with guy's jeans (sized in inches). Unwashed jeans run larger than prewashed jeans run larger than stonewashed jeans. The washes cause them to shrink; it is cotton, after all. The designer ones you're used to probably have Lycra and other synthetics in them.

Now, if I can figure out why unwashed black jeans run larger than unwashed blue jeans, but shrink down to nothing even faster... harsher mordant, maybe?

[OnyxCougar]

That's why I wear guys jeans...because I can choose length and width, and big dogs t-shirts, always 4X, and a pair of $20 sneaks from Payless.

Done.


Now Bras....bras are a whole different story....