Clothes Shopping

I'll start by saying I lost 3 pounds this past week. YAY!

My triumph was quickly trumped by the need to buy an outfit for an engagement party this weekend. I don't know if the anxiety began when I knew the party was approaching and I'd be the fattest one there, or when I was in the dressing room looking in the mirror at the 2367th outfit that 'didn't do it' for me. Either way, I spent two days mulling over whether I should wear jeans or a dress, and what's the point cuz I'll look horrible anyway. Nonetheless my shopping experience was less than desirable. After 3 hours of shopping, I eventually settled on a top with jeans and flashy earrings-a safe way to deflect fatness is to wear flashy jewelry btw. People look at your jewelry and not you. If you don't believe me about this, go into any plus size store the next time you need jewelry-they have the most awesome stuff. I get more compliments on my costume jewelry...I just don't tell people where it comes from!

The whole night got me thinking about Plus Sized shopping in general. There are so many limiting factors to shopping plus size. For starters, you have to plan what you're going to buy weeks in advance. There are very few actual stores at your disposal. A non-fat person can hop in a car to the mall and have 30+ stores to choose from. We have maybe 2-3 stores tops. So unless you do your homework for EXACTLY what you're going to buy in those few stores, you're best bet is to shop online. That's the only browsing you're allowed to do. So if you need something fast, like I did on Friday, you're screwed.

You're also limited to the trends you're allowed to be part of when you're plus size. Since you're already at the disposal of the few stores that make plus sized clothing, you really have to fall at their mercy that they will be designing to the up to the minute fashion trends in order for you to 'try' to fit in with everyone else. I've often found that many stores don't do this. I understand that some fashion trends are NOT made to be worn by the big girls...like tube tops, skinny jeans with boots over them, mini skirts, etc. However, I am still under 60 and want to look young.

Finally, some plaus size stores change their size scale. Instead of having normal sizes, they convert their entire store into the 1X, 2X and 3X sizes. Some even have odd measuring systems and give them various numbers like 2, 4, and 6. Maybe they do this to make us feel better? I'm not sure, but I know my size. Don't try to make me think otherwise. It's so confusing.

If you're plus size, and are interested in knowing what stores I'm talking about, I'm going to list all of the stores I've shopped at and rate them according to the following criteria on a scale of 1 to 5:

Price
Style
Fit
Accessories
Availability




Lane Bryant
Price: 4 I love LB, but I can't always afford their clothes. Their clothes are VERY well made and last a long time.
Style: 4 They do a good job at keeping up with the trends. They've got DKNY and SEVEN jeans on board, and they have a wide variety of clothes from skirts to jeans.
Fit: 4 Their clothes fit well, and most of their clothes are true to size, however they resize they jeans with a weird size scale that I was never able to understand. Otherwise I would have given them a 5.
Accessories: 5 They have awesome accessories from jewelry to shoes to lingerie. Purses, scarves, fashion tights...and they're all reasonably priced
Availabilty: 5 In the last couple of years, they have made sure to have a store in just about every mall. Even in some strip malls. They also are online and are linked with other plus sized stores.

NOTE: Sometimes I"m embarrassed to shop here because LB is always in jokes about fat people. It's not the store's fault, but yours if you make the joke. I shouldn't have to be shamed for shopping here.


Fashion to Figure

Price: 5 They're clothing is very inexpensive. However the quality fits the price.

Style: 5 If you're younger and want to look somewhat like you fit in, this is the place for you. Especially if you're trendy and looking for a fun night on the town.

Fit: 1 This is where they fall short the most. They have that 1X, 2X, 3X sizing scale. They say they cater to sizes up to 26, but I think that is not true. I am a size 20, and could not fit in ANYTHING in this store. Very upset that I wasted my time.

Accessories: 3 They have cool belts and stuff like that, but they don't look made well. Plus they keep trying to sell me this girdle thing that's made of rubber and smells funny.

Availability: 2 They only have 9 stores open at this time. However you can buy online.

Avenue

Price: 4 I want to give them a five, but I often get confused by their sales. The total is never what I expect it to be when I get rung up. The prices are good, and when there is a sale they're awesome!

Style: 3 They have some nice trends, but there are a lot of clothes that are matronly. This is not the place to go if you're young.

Fit: 3 I like their tops, but I hate the way their pants fit. They run a little big and I always seem to get a camel toe

Accessories: 5 Love the stuff. BIG shoe selection. 

Availability: 5 According to the website, they have over 500 stores open accross the country. 

NOTE: As much as I like this store, one pet peeve I have with them is the company gives their employees incentives to push for you apply for a credit card. They don't always take no for an answer. You need to stay firm on your no, and they also try to get you to sign up for magazine subscriptions. YUCK!

Ashely Stuart

Price 5: Great prices and good quality clothes to match for the most part

Style 5: They have a nice selection of trend and style along with a nice business line. 

Fit 4: Everything fits well. I wasn't crazy about the skinny jeans. They were too big at the bottom.

Accessories: 5 They have some WILD jewelry-right up my alley!

Availability: 3 They don't have many stores in NJ, not sure about other states. Many of these stores are located in unsafe towns to drive alone to.

Roman's

Price: 3 I give them this score because they up the prices up front, and then have all these different specials going on at the same time. Often times, if you see an item you want that's new, wait a week and it will be on sale. 

Style: 3 The first few pages have some nice clothes. However, go deeper in the catalog and it's old lady city!

Fit: 4 This is a good thing, but often times their sizes run large.

Accessories: 2 They really only sell shoes. And all of their accessories are dated. Not really up to date.

Availability: 1 They don't have any stores. So you have to order way in advance for an event.

Other stores that have nice plus size selections are Macy's, GAP, Old Navy, Dress Barn and Talbot's. Although these stores aren't completely sold on the plus size bandwagon. Not all Macy's carry full plus size departments and GAP and Old Navy only go up to size 20 and even those sizes are available only online. However they quality is great and it's nice to buy a name brand like everyone else. Dress barn is great for dresses!

As I shop more stores, I will rate them accordingly. If you know of any stores that sell plus size clothes that I didn't mention, let me know. I'm always looking for new places to shop. I also feel the need to state that my opinions of these stores are strictly my own, and I don't endorse one store more than the other.