Sunday, March 16, 2008
Can't get no....
If 60% of the American public is overweight, why can't I find anything to wear?????? I have spent a very frustrating weekend shopping. Now I generally like to shop. But this has been very frustrating. I am looking for a power suit. Something "real nice". And I'm willing to spend money on it. I'm not trying to get it cheap. I admit I did go to 1 outlet mall, but only because there were 2 stores there that carry plus sizes. I tried on 2 suits. Both were just bad. They Jones New York Woman Outlet had 2 suits and a few things for parties and a bunch of leisure wear. Well, 3, but there seemed no point in getting another suit that was the same as the one I had. Liz Claiborne Outlet-0. So off to the real mall. Carsons- 1 suit. yech. Macy's- None. Carson's at least has the good grace to put the fat ladies department on the same floor as the other ladies clothes. Macy's has a tiny little corner with almost nothing in it. My mom went with me on the voyage of non-discovery. On day 2, when we went to Northbrook Court and tried the Macy's there, I had to explain to her that the fat ladies' clothes can't be with the other clothes, because the fattness might rub off. Or maybe the skinny ladies just don't want to look at fat people. Nothing at Macy's there either. At Lord and Taylor, the other ladies clothes are upstairs. Fat ladies are downstairs. However, they have a decent sized department with a variety of clothing that a real person might actually wear to work, as well as dress-up clothes and leisure wear. Some things were on sale. Just like with skinny ladies. The suits- again 2 of them, left me unmoved, but, some of the other things were pretty cute. The sales lady was helpful and found me a little sweater to wear under my old suit. We walked the mall. We went to Coldwater Creek just because there was a sale. The sizes there start at PS and go to 2XL and they just all go on the same rack and everything they carry comes in all the sizes. No one faints in that store. The skinny clothes don't get fatter and they don't seem to be going out of business even though skinny ladies and fat ladies shop in the same space. I bought a pretty little pink jacket, just because. We walked to Nieman Marcus. I asked a clerk, supercilious as only those Russian immigrants can be- I asked, "Plus sizes?" She looked at me as though I was INSANE, said "NO", and not another syllable. Of course not, not there. 60% of American women may not shop there. They don't want them. So then I went and bought a new pair of heels at and tiny Free Spirit shop where I met a lovely woman whose daughter is getting married and who supports Obama. So, I guess, I'm wearing the old suit. Which I suppose says a lot about buying classic clothes. It also says a lot about the fashion industry. Who is buying all those clothes? I walked through Macy's and saw a Jones New York Outfit that I tried on at the outlet, but Macy's won't carry it in my size. I just can't figure out why. Fields would have. That's not economics, that's predjudice. And that's just stupid, because my dollars have exactly the same fat content as a skinny woman's.
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1 comment:
Love the music.
Oh dear, this reminds me that I have nothing to wear for my 5 days at my employer's conference in a few weeks. I have the suit I bought for the last one but the zipper split in the pants and while I could have it repaired, I'm fairly certain they would not fit anymore.
I found it at the local Lane Bryant, which is next to Dress Barn, but I "feel your pain." I haven't checked lately, but actually the Macy's here has a nice section on the same floor next to the regular women's clothing and the petites -- and with a pretty good selection of clothes, mostly business-appropriate (in fact more of that than casual-wear). However, I do live in a part of the world wear plus sizes are very much the norm (unless you go to our PTA meetings, where the SAHMs prance around in their fancy trousers and leather high heels and boots and generally are smaller sizes than their daughters -- although, funny thing, it's been a long while since I've been to a PTA meeting -- though these people do emerge for awards ceremonies, which I do attend). Having some stores, however, does not make it easy or less depressing. I think they've talked about the problems with plus-size designs on What Not to Wear -- often going for the big prints, etc. that look terrible, even when the designers are really trying.
There's someplace online I was directed to for professional plus sizes, but although the intent was good, I thought their tastes were awful, too. And I can't imagine buying stuff like that without seeing how it, well you know, drapes or falls. *Sigh*
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