First world problems
Aug. 3rd, 2009 10:53 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lizbeeI need new clothes. I was looking through my luggage last week, and realised that (a) most of my clothes look the same -- long-sleeved black t-shirts, or, if I want to really shake it up, a long-sleeved grey t-shirt -- and (b) they're getting a bit faded and tatty.
Well, I thought, sooner or later I'm going to get a substantial tax refund. I'll go to Target and put some things on lay-by.
I had a plan. One pair of trousers (pref. tweed, but not jeans, and not that horrible microfibre polyester crap that Target seems to think is the only appropriate fabric for black work pants), two to three shirts (not t-shirts), a dress, a cardigan, two pairs of shoes and a bra.
Several hours later, I had a dress, a cardigan and one shirt. Apparently, I either need to lose or gain weight in order to fit into Target's trousers, and either way I'm also going to have to grow another four inches. There were millions of shirts, but most of them were too formal, too skimpy or too transparent for work, or they were simply not designed to accomodate boobs. As for shoes, apparently people with small feet just don't need them. Although, one thing that amused me -- for $19.99, you could buy canvas trainers so trendy they come without laces. Or, for $14.99, you can buy identical canvas trainers, with laces.
I've been poking through catalogues for other stores, but I'm in a bit of a pickle -- I'm about a decade too old and many cupsizes too big for Supre, but I'm not nearly preppy enough for Myer or David Jones. You people on my flist, you're a well-dressed bunch. Where do you get your clothes? Online options are welcome, at this point. Otherwise, I'm just going to buy a whole lot of new long-sleeved black t-shirts.
Maybe I need to learn to make my own clothes?
Well, I thought, sooner or later I'm going to get a substantial tax refund. I'll go to Target and put some things on lay-by.
I had a plan. One pair of trousers (pref. tweed, but not jeans, and not that horrible microfibre polyester crap that Target seems to think is the only appropriate fabric for black work pants), two to three shirts (not t-shirts), a dress, a cardigan, two pairs of shoes and a bra.
Several hours later, I had a dress, a cardigan and one shirt. Apparently, I either need to lose or gain weight in order to fit into Target's trousers, and either way I'm also going to have to grow another four inches. There were millions of shirts, but most of them were too formal, too skimpy or too transparent for work, or they were simply not designed to accomodate boobs. As for shoes, apparently people with small feet just don't need them. Although, one thing that amused me -- for $19.99, you could buy canvas trainers so trendy they come without laces. Or, for $14.99, you can buy identical canvas trainers, with laces.
I've been poking through catalogues for other stores, but I'm in a bit of a pickle -- I'm about a decade too old and many cupsizes too big for Supre, but I'm not nearly preppy enough for Myer or David Jones. You people on my flist, you're a well-dressed bunch. Where do you get your clothes? Online options are welcome, at this point. Otherwise, I'm just going to buy a whole lot of new long-sleeved black t-shirts.
Maybe I need to learn to make my own clothes?
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 05:43 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 06:52 am (UTC)I feel your pain, but I have no useful suggestions. Me, I shop internationally when I travel. Whenever I travelled to North America I used to bring a wad of cash with me to buy clothes. Now I live here, I can't help myself and just keep buying stuff online, like a person who's been starving and gets offered an all-you-can-eat buffet.
If you are thinking of shopping online from the US, here are some of my preferred vendors:
http://eddiebauer.com -- excellent jeans and work pants, high quality, and their synthetics are *nice* synthetics, so you don't have to worry too much about them. They have petites up to US size 18, which fit me up to bust around 47" waist 39" hips 49". Generally speaking EB's size chart is on the mark for non-stretch clothing, but I drop down a size if the fabric is knit, because their size estimates are a bit generous IMHO for that sort of thing. So eg. if their size chart says I should be an XXL for a tshirt, I would buy an XL, but if it were a woven fabric, I'd buy the XXL. I buy my jeans from EB when they have sales (get on their mailing list) and also tshirts. For instance they have some really nice 3/4 sleeve scoop neck Ts right now that I bought a bunch of. The colours are rich and lovely, and they don't pill or go weird in the wash.
http://oldnavy.com -- cheap and cheerful, quality isn't high but it's on par with what you'd find at Target in Australia. Petites available up to size 18/XXL. Sometimes their pants fit funny; I never buy pants from them without trying on first in-store, so I wouldn't recommend it. Their size chart is accurate for my measurements, which are at the top of their non-plus size range, but I still sometimes drop down a size for stretchy things if I don't want them to be loose. I find that their cardigans are the best thing they sell; I have a heap of them. Their tshirts and anything made of similar knit fabric tends to be a bit cheap and tacky and will pill and look old pretty quickly. I sometimes try Old Navy for style experiments, spending $20 on something I'm not sure about, wear it for a bit, then if I like the style I might buy a nicer version of it somewhere with a bit better quality.
http://gap.com -- owned by the same company as Old Navy, but a bit more upmarket and better quality. Sizes go up to an XL/16 US. I like their cardigans, haven't bought much else of theirs.
http://landsend.com -- a fairly conservative style, but they have some nice stuff if you dig around, especially if you want basics like button-down shirts and v-neck jumpers. I buy their cashmere jumpers and cardigans when on sale. I don't like their pants much at all. Their shirts are too long for me (I need a petite) so I don't buy them any more.
http://fashionbug.com -- I bought a handful of dresses from here recently and they are awesomely cute.
http://jessicalondon.com -- plus sizes starting ta 14W which would be 16 Australian. I have some skirts from here, and a denim jacket which was $14.99 and which I love. They have petite sizes for some things. Their quality is iffy though; I've returned some stuff from JL that was just nasty.
The issue with all these is international shipping and returns. Having experienced most of these brands, I know I would buy certain things from EB, Old Navy, Gap, and Lands End online to Australia, because I know and trust them for certain classes of clothes, and know my size. But I would be cautious buying stuff where I wasn't sure of the fit or style, because I know I'm not very good at returning stuff.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 07:04 am (UTC)Currently I'm around a US size 18-20, which means:
Eddie Bauer jeans: size 18 petite
EB work pants: 18W (I hem them up)
EB stretchy tops: XL to XXL
Old Navy stretchy tops: XL to XXL
Old Navy pants: 18 short
Lands End stretchy tops: XL
Fashionbug dresses: mostly 20
Jessica London denim jackets and non-stretch skirts: 20 petite
At Target in Australia I'm an 18 in stretchy stuff, and can't find non-stretchy stuff because I fall into the awkward gap.
no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 09:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 09:07 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-08-03 08:24 am (UTC)Yes. THIS. Clearly Australia and the UK have similar problems with work trousers :(