Show Off Your Shape

Rosebuds, I agree Eddie Bauer has good choices. I travel between the UK and US twice a year and stock up on clothes there. My friends always put in their orders after looking on the websites. The US does have more choice in individual sizing. Has anyone tried buying slightly larger clothing and having it tailored to fit? Where I live, there are hundreds of Asian tailors to choose from and they are quite reasonable. Nothing feels so good as clothes tailored to you!

Why do men have such an easier way of buying clothes - a 32" is usually what it means! Tried buying a skirt at the weekend that said 16 on the label- couldnt even get up my legs- so my size 10 sister ended up getting it instead! Isnt it about time sizes for women were standardised so that we didnt have to take the whole shop into the changing room!?
For the girls having trouble with fitting because of the big boobs- try Bravissimo. They have various shops and a good website. Great underwear and clothes that you pick your size then how curvaceous you are so that your tops and jackets fit better. Hope this helps.

hi I'm new around here but wanted to put a little bit of info out there! This summer I was desperate for a reasonably priced outfit for a friends wedding! Being 5ft9 and anywhere between a 18-22 (depending where I shop!) I popped into my local Peacocks store, i was amazed they go up to a size 22-24 in some lines they are fashionable and not too shoddily made! they also carried a good range of shoes up to a size 8 too! so i bought about 4 dress, 3 pair's of shoes, and skirt and top for just under £100!! enough to see me thru the wedding and supply a few items for work too! George at Asda is another of my basic shops, with a dash of Matalan as well.
None of these stores are at the "high fashion" end of the market but be selelctive and check them out every week and you will be surprised what you can add to your wardrobe!.

I hate clothes shopping! I've inherited my long body and short legs off my dad and chunky thighs and big waist off my mum! I'm 5' 4" but only have 30" inside leg. Most trousers don't fit because they're far too long in the leg, skin-tight around my thighs and barely fasten at the waist. Most fit nice around my bum despite all the rest though! If I try on the next size up then they're just massive all over. I have however found some perfect fitting jeans and cords for my shape - Marks and Spencer (but NOT Per Una). And they're only £25. Highly recommended. They also come in three leg lengths.

Evans is the only shop that does clothes to fit me. Etam has just closed down where i live and they did'nt do my size. I have tried to find other shops that do larger sizes but i have not been so lucky. Can anyone help me with on line sites. I would be so grateful.

Hi, i hate going shopping for clothes, I am a size 8 and 5"2" with a small chest. clothes hang off me, I am not slim, I am thin and very pale, I eat very healthy meals and love chocolate and cakes but cant put weight on. I have a good job and have to have smart clothes, Trousers are too long in most suits. I can, if I treck around enough, get good clothes for work but if I am going out all the latest fashions are mostly size 10, strappy tops make me look anorexic or hang down as I dont have a bust to hold them up. Most of my clothes come from Tammy Girl as they are the best fit but not very good if you want to be a sophisticated wife at her Husbands work dinner!, So I buy shoes as I know they fit, the only problem is I have 38 pairs of shoes and no outfits to wear with them????

Hi Dragonfly, I too have the same problem but I am a size 6/8 and 5"1" but I find Miss Selfridge sizes are great and also River Island is brilliant for trousers/jeans

Having always had problems finding clothes to fit my figure I take a size 18/20 because of my bust have a size 10/12 waist and a size 12/14 hips, short legs but not considered petite at 5'3", I have now taken to making my own clothes. At least this way I get clothes that fit me perfectly without the worry is it to tight/loose in certain places.

i have ebay a help. i can usually find something different there and cheap. iam a size 20 and yes busty like the rest of you. only i dont find jeans suit me, a i have a smaller waist size 16/18 and a 20/22 on the bottom.so i dont find jeans look good.

Hi ! Just a little bit of advice for the more ample chested of us ladies out there. Please go and get measured properly by a trained fitter. For years I was walking around in a 40DD. I went to a specialist underwear shop in Hull (yes I live near there and despite what has been said recently it is a good place to live!!) I came out feeling sooo much better and in a 34 FF !!! Now my boobs are where they should be and not hanging around my waist, and even tho' I am still a 'big' girl, I look and feel great. (sorry but I still have the same problems with clothes as the rest of you, but at least i feel and look much better now!)

Men do have the same probs... my hubby is 6'4" and most shirts are not long enough or drape like a sack!!!

I have the probs many of you have, 5' tall, 44" bust with my ubm being 33" so wear either 34 FF or G and they are so hard to find. when picking sizes, check the way they measure bras as some go by under bust as a comparison to give cup size, some over bust. It is most confusing!!!

I'm suprised no-one has mentioned shoes... since we have gone on to more european sizes, I'm not always a 3 and 4's can be too big. Who defined normal???

Thanks Deb4444, I have been to Miss Selfridge this morning, I bought 2 tops and a nice pair of trousers, Good sizes but not a great choice in petite. In reply to TiggerGB2 about shoes, I have lots of shoes and they range from 5, 5.5 to size 6 depending on were I buy them and the style, I find I cant order mail order as I have to try on shoes and walk around and I hate ordering them and having to send them back. :

oh dont we all have the same problems i think unless your 5'10 and a size 8 finding clothes is increasingly difficult - i am about half an inch to tall for petit trousers yet i have no hope of normal length fitting me: try www.wooch.co.uk they are an accessorie shop yet they have introduced a back to basic collection of tops i am slightly top heavy myself and find that plain tops are best like camis and tanks and then spicing them up with a nice cardi!

Hello all
What a good half hour's read i've had with these ones. I would love to go on a shopping trip just once with all of you together. I too have problems - i'm short (a tad under 5'), i'm an 8-10 at the shoulders, 10-12 on the bust, anywhere between 12-14 on the bottom at the hips but skinny legs. I'm sick of the problems of shopping - nothing seems to lie right etc. I'm only a little overweight - no excuses I just had lovely cakes for a while! And find it hard to resist them. My biggest biggest problem in the clothes market is SPORTS CLOTHES!!!! Why oh why won't they do petite sizes in sportswear? Leggings make my legs look ridiculous and I feel stupid, I can't get dance pants as they're all 30-33" inside leg (who was the one with 30" inside leg thought they were short?), and track suit tops are long in the sleeve. I wear T shirts and 3/4 pants which do still look a little odd but not as bad as leggings. My gym is not full of bimbos - wide age range from 17 to 75 but i still feel odd. Anyone know of sportswear shops that do the trick in the nice gear - has to be in the North East - even the Metrocentre has eluded this market!!
Sue

Hey people. A lot of you should try wearing longer tops which totally skim over your bum, belly, hips, thighs, and disguise short legs and long legs (these seem to be really common problems) As a rule, they look better on taller women because of their proportions, but as long as the top isnt TOO long then it should be ok! They are really fashionable at the moment and they come in all sorts of guises: long cardigans, tunic tops, babydoll tops, wrapover tops/dresses, etc. I think for a lot of you this might help with some of your problems. The only disadvantage is that you have to wear longer jackets with them(because otherwise it looks silly), but hey, if longer-style tops look good on you, then so will longer style jackets!!Anyway, i hope some of you try this because these tops are really clever hehe. xxx

Definately sounds like some of you could do with paying a Bravissimo shop a visit. I never use anywhere else now and the girls are fab. They specialise in smaller frames with big busts. They have shops in London, Oxford, Cambrdge, Solihull, Manchester, Leeds, Nottingham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Glasgow. Get a fitting too, even if you don't think you need one...it totally changed my life. I used to punch my boobs to try and make them smaller, now I love 'em and would miss 'em. I'm a size 10, 30 GG. And yeah, its hard to find stuff to fit, not everything does, but hey, the grass is always greener. Plenty of smaller busted woman would like a little more and find there are certain tops they don't 'fill' so well. Celebrate what you have!!
Few words of advice though, if someone tries to measure using only a measuring tape, turn on your heel and walk out again - it doesn't work!!! Bravissimo use the same methods as Rigby and Peller and the experience is a little less daunting, more relaxed and friendly. I am very self conscious (although less so now) and found the fitter at Rigby and Peller wasn't very accomodating of this fact.
I actually enjoy my visits to the girls at Newcastle, always a good laugh and nice selection.
I have been measured with tapes in M&S and other high street shopd and been told several different sizes from 34B to 38D!!! When these bras clearly haven't fitted, I have been told by the so-called fitter that I am an unusual shape and won't be able to get a perfect fit!!!!!!!!!!!

I think all these posts prove one thing - women don't come in so-called standard sizes. One thing that has always ticked me off big style is that hat manufacturers make hats for men in all different sizes but if you're a woman you're meant to have a 'woman-size' head!??! I can never get a hat to fit because I've a larger than 'normal' head and my friend has had to stuff hats with tissue paper because she's got a smaller than 'normal' head. Though usually I don't wear hats, I'd love to have a hat for those really miserable winter days and I had big style problems when I was privileged to get an invitation to a Royal garden party. No wonder women are going to weddings these days with bunches of feathers stuck to the side of their heads! (Actually I think these usually look rather fetching.)