I will not debate the issues surrounding obesity. Everyone knows obesity is bad for you. But let's face it, there are a bunch of us out here in the world, like it or not. I don't know a single person who is happy to be obese. But it's hard to keep a positive attitude regarding medical issues, regular exercise, and a healthy eating plan when you look like crap.
Clothing does make the woman--or man. At least it can give you a real boost when you know you look your best. And 90% of the bigger sizes in clothing on the market are incredibly ugly. It's no wonder women wear sweatpants and sloppy t-shirts. At least those items are comfortable. And don't even get me started about undergarments. No one wants to wear the horribly uncomfortable underwear that's available.
Here's my wish list...
a) Just because I'm a big girl doesn't mean I'm a tall girl. Why are all the sleeves and pant legs three inches too long? Chances are if I'm on the chunky side, I'm short. Having to roll up my hems makes me feel like I'm wearing my sister's hand-me-downs. And I don't even have a sister.
b) Why are all the tops too short and too wide? And once you wash them, they're shorter and wider? Com'on, now. Do I really need a top that exposes my belly? Really?
c) And on that same line, why are the sleeves so narrow they feel like sausage casing? Is there really such a shortage of fabric?
d) Or there's no sleeve at all. Listen up! There are very few obese women out there who are comfortable exposing their arms! What's with all the tops with no sleeves. Or such short sleeves they end up in a wad in my arm pits. Gross.
e) And finally...the worst fault. The fabrics and patterns are atrocious. Most of them remind one of tents and sofas. I have the vision of the clothing factory. The guy that chooses the fabrics has two bins. One for the smaller sizes (pretty colors and attractive small prints) and the other for the large sizes (burnt orange, hot pink, blinding blue and prints suitable for drapes or furniture).
I could go on. Why are all the large sized sports bras only in gray and white? The smaller ones are in blue, pink, yellow, red, turquoise, purple. Do you suppose the designers think obesity also means we're color blind?
Sigh.
The BBW just want to look as attractive as possible while we're battling to get down to a healthier size. It would be nice if the industry pitched in to help out.
anny
Word. Don't know if it will make you feel better, and I'm not trying to start a debate about it in your comments, but there's plenty of evidence that eating well and exercising - i.e., what you do - has a greater impact on your health than what you weigh. (Ducks as rotten vegetables are thrown by everyone.)
ReplyDeleteOverall, I have to say I'm just plain sick of synthetic fabrics. They feel bad and they do weird things after you wash them.
I don't know a single woman who feels great about buying clothes or about what's available for her body type. Not one, from the smallest to the biggest. It is a matter of trial and error.
p.s. if you Google the word "Fatshionista," you will find a plethora of blogs by women trying to solve this problem.
Then there's the dreaded bedazzler. When I *do* want a t-shirt, maybe with a cute saying or print, I *don't* want stupid little sparkly bits on it. Why does every single plus-sized t-shirt have to have those?
ReplyDeleteAnny - it doesn't matter what size you are - whoever manufactures jeans makes them waaaaaay too long. I'm 5'6" and I occasionally wear heels, but I am sick to death of having to buy jeans designed for women who are 5'9" - minimum. The average woman is 5'6" tall. Annoys the hell out of me.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I hate the fact that every manufacturer/designer has their own idea of sizing so say an 8 in one brand is the same as 6 in another or a 10 in another. There's no consistency.
Elizabeth--
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for stopping by! Yes, yes, yes on the non-organic fabrics. Ick, ick, ick. They're terrible. And thank you for the recommendation for Google. I'll definitely look that up!
Oh, yes, Cindy! The SPARKLIES! Do we seriously need sparklies on our boobs? No.
ReplyDeleteHeh, Julia! That changing size thing is the pits. I wish they all had to use the same sizing chart. And the jeans? Forget about it! I looked at some capri pants yesterday. Uh-huh. I tried them on as they were a color other than BLACK! And they came down to my ankles. Not quite long enough to use as long pants. Sux. :-(
ReplyDeleteI loathe the tag BBW. Women are women. They're not labels. If we stopped labelling things then maybe we'd treat everyone the same.
ReplyDelete