Dear designers:

[MouseEarsJenny]

Dear Designers,

When I was fat, I used to assume that my weight was the reason I couldn't find attractive clothes that fit nicely. Now that I've lost more than 70 lbs, I've decided it's time to start blaming YOU.

Why, oh why, do all the shirts that fit my waist have a big old gap between buttons at my chest? And if I fit the shirt to my chest, why do the sides have inches of extra material on either side of my waist??? Can you not comprehend that many women have bigger breasts than waists? Hm?? Aren't you the ones who praise the "hourglass" figure??

And since I have to work with middle schoolers, could I have another choice besides cleavage plunge and halfway up my neck? Some kind of middle ground?

Not to mention, just when I thought I would get away from the horrible patterns and endless black on the plus sized side of the boutique, why did you decide that this year's spring dresses would all feature garish patterns and lots of black? Do you know black isn't a spring color?

And why is it that men claim to love breasts, but the prettiest bras are all in A -C cup sizes??

And let's not even get started on swimsuits.

Sincerely,
Skinnier and Still Sad

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

We are leaving for WDW in 6 weeks. I have been shopping several days a week for the past 3 weeks. This is what I have found:

I am a size 8 or 10 in shorts and capris. I have TONS of shorts on hand already. I need shirts. Shirts, it turns out, are impossible to find.

If I want a plain, scoop neck T shirt I am out of luck. Because scoop neck T-shirts are knee length and fit like a wetsuit IN SIZE XL!!!! HOW can I be an 8/10 in bottoms and XL shirts are SKIN TIGHT? HOW is that possible? I am not any bigger on the top than I am on the bottom! Oh, the shoulders in the XL are too big, while the rest of the shirt is too tight.

Fine. Let's try another brand. Shirt fits in the store. Size large. Good. Bring the shirt home, wash it in cold, dry it on Medium, and now the shirt is 3 inches shorter than it was. Now it BARELY touches the waistband of my shorts! Unacceptable.

Back to the mall. Try on a shirt in Medium. Too tight. Same shirt in Large, too big. Forget it.

I see shirts slit down to the belly button, shirts that are the same thickness as a single layer of Kleenex, and my personal favorite, T-shirts that are $45. Seriously? All I want is a FEW SHIRTS!!! No cap sleeves, no exposed midriffs, nothing that fits like a flippin' LEOTARD!

 

[golfgal]

We are leaving for WDW in 6 weeks. I have been shopping several days a week for the past 3 weeks. This is what I have found:

I am a size 8 or 10 in shorts and capris. I have TONS of shorts on hand already. I need shirts. Shirts, it turns out, are impossible to find.

If I want a plain, scoop neck T shirt I am out of luck. Because scoop neck T-shirts are knee length and fit like a wetsuit IN SIZE XL!!!! HOW can I be an 8/10 in bottoms and XL shirts are SKIN TIGHT? HOW is that possible? I am not any bigger on the top than I am on the bottom! Oh, the shoulders in the XL are too big, while the rest of the shirt is too tight.

Fine. Let's try another brand. Shirt fits in the store. Size large. Good. Bring the shirt home, wash it in cold, dry it on Medium, and now the shirt is 3 inches shorter than it was. Now it BARELY touches the waistband of my shorts! Unacceptable.

Back to the mall. Try on a shirt in Medium. Too tight. Same shirt in Large, too big. Forget it.

I see shirts slit down to the belly button, shirts that are the same thickness as a single layer of Kleenex, and my personal favorite, T-shirts that are $45. Seriously? All I want is a FEW SHIRTS!!! No cap sleeves, no exposed midriffs, nothing that fits like a flippin' LEOTARD!

Don't laugh but Walmart has the BEST plain t-shirts. Look for the White Stag T's that are $5.99 or something like that. They are the BEST. They are very soft, NOT form fitting and surprisingly hold up very well. I have a bunch in white, black, navy, tan and peach.

 

[EMom]

Just because I am petite does not mean I have the chest of a 9 y.o. Just because I am short does not mean I want to wear capped sleeves and pretend it is 1950. And my 5'9" DH should NOT be able to hold up a "petite" dress in front of him and have it reach the FLOOR! What are you sizing for......Petite Amazons?????

Like one of the previous posters, I apologize for the fact that my rather ample chest will be on display for all of Texas to see this summer. The shirts are cut too low and it's too freaking hot to layer. I refuse to wear a turtle neck in the summer. My DH thinks there's no need to apologize, but that's just him. And please, designers, when you put a floral print on a top, DO NOT place two big honking flowers directly on the girls. The LAST thing I need to do is announce their arrival with dual posies. Worse yet, don't put a flower on only one side...Then I just look lopsided.

And get rid of those hideous 1970s garish prints. Solids are fine, thanks.

 

[kaytieeldr]

I also don't understand how a pair of pants in the petite section should need 4-6 inches hemmed off?

This. I'm the seemingly oxymoronic petite plus. I'm five feet nothing. Stores - even catalags, even my favorite shopping sources QVC and HSN - that sell pants and jeans in a petite cut have those inseams ranging from 27" on up.

Let's see,,, I'm 60" tall, Eeyores Butterfly is 58"... twenty-seven inches is almost half our heights, yet any typical person's (and we ARE typical, just short) inseam is much less than half their body height. Yeah, I see a problem here.

My solution has been to order crop pants from the shopping channels. The inseam is generally 23", sometimes an inch or two longer. Problem with that is, the rise is too long - the crotch hangs halfway to my knees! I did find one fantastic product, though, if you're plus-size!!! The Woman Within catalog, also at womanwithin.com, has a pair of wide-leg crop jeans with an elastic drawstring waist. The PETITE inseam is 24 inches, which is the perfect length on me - no hemming required! Search for Mainstreet Blues Palazzo - but don't panic when you see them, remember the models are super-slim (for some reason, Redcats thinks we like seeing the garments on skinny people ) and the legs aren't as full as they appear.

I was thinking the same thing!!! Sorry, to the 4'10" poster, I'm not laughing at you, just that can you imagine if a designer had to try to please ALL of us. I think they try to work with a specific height range and I think petite lenghts generally work well for someone that is about 5'2". I know that "average" length clothes seem to be geared for someone around 5'5".

That's great for average length clothes for average height people. If that's average, then what's petite? Why do pants designed for petite persons - i.e. a range starting x number of inches below 5'5" and ending x+y inches below 5'5" - need an inseam of 27, 28, or 29 inches? Why does the inseam need to be almost half as long as the entire body?

=============

And now, I'd like to introduce everyone to a site I just read about in Reader's Digest yesterday. Let me start off by disclaiming: I don't know if (or think) it's especially inexpensive, but - check out myshape.com. Personal fit, personal suggestions, you can even design your own jeans. I'm in the middle of registering right now, but they need about thirty measurements from you and I'm here alone. It looks like it will really work!

 

[diz8297]

I'm with all of you looking for dresses with sleeves. I lost a lot of weight, and have extra skin on my upper arms. No matter how much weight training is gonna fix those babies. Sooooooo.....unless the world wants to see me with "wings" would all of the designers please be so kind to offer dresses, both for work and evening, that have some upper arm, flattering, covering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Much obliged!!

 

[OceanAnnie]

I am a C cup, so not much bigger and I have to move into the "full figured" bras to find some that are not padded. I HATE padded bras so instead I wear one that is too big. Your choice is either a sports bra/non-underwire or padded.

I can't stand padded bras either! I laugh to myself over the padding and the lack of substance of the bras! They are so flimsy! I need support! If I'm going to the trouble to wear a bra, I want it to do the job, not feel like it's barely there. It's so funny/frustrating to shop for bras. I pass over just about every one I see.

I don't like to shop for bras. If I find a bra I love, I usually buy a bunch at the same time so I don't have to do it again for a long time.

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Don't laugh but Walmart has the BEST plain t-shirts. Look for the White Stag T's that are $5.99 or something like that. They are the BEST. They are very soft, NOT form fitting and surprisingly hold up very well. I have a bunch in white, black, navy, tan and peach.

I have a "thing" about Walmart. I don't like Walmart. DH doesn't like Walmart (he works for a vendor that supplies product to them). So I don't go there. But if the shirt saga continues I might have to. Thanks for the tip!

I wear Wacoal bras. They are FABULOUS! Underwire, NOT padded, no seam across the front of the cup. The problem is that they are expensive. The one I bought yesterday was $46. But they come in a wide range of styles and sizes and they fit really well. I have a bunch in weird colors, because those are the ones they usually have on clearance!

 

[Octoberbride03]

IN the sizing dept: Can we please just follow the MEN'S lead and go by measurements? Honestly I'm tired of having a closet full of pants that are 4 different sizes. My waist was the same measurement for each pair yet they're all different sizes. And i buy them in the SAME store

Also I'm noticing at Target that last yr's L is this yr's XL How is this possible when I've lost 10lbs of of last yr's weight and still fit into the L from last yr Since I am working on losing even more weight I'll be really PO'd to see myself go from the XL to a XXL.

 

[Christine]

I'm with all of you looking for dresses with sleeves. I lost a lot of weight, and have extra skin on my upper arms. No matter how much weight training is gonna fix those babies. Sooooooo.....unless the world wants to see me with "wings" would all of the designers please be so kind to offer dresses, both for work and evening, that have some upper arm, flattering, covering!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Much obliged!!

Sssshhhhhh....the clothing designer's don't want you to know this but in order to keep the prices of clothing going through the roof they had to get rid of something. You know how Edy's Ice Cream had to "shrink" the half-gallon of ice cream so they could still keep the price at $4.99 so now you're not quite getting the half-gallon?? Well, they had to do the same thing here. They figured they were spending a lot of extra money making that sleeve both in fabric and labor, so, viola, they got rid of the sleeves. That's why you can't find them anymore. And when they *must* have a sleeve then they have to make the length of the shirt much shorter OR they have to cut out the whole front of the shirt.

Sorry ladies YOU CAN'T HAVE BOTH!!!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Add:

*My 9yo is not 17. And while it may be the "in" thing to dress my child as a 17yo. I'd prefer to dress her like a 9yo who is still, well....9.

*Words on the bum--why is that even necessary? I don't want anyone reading my butt and really don't think a child's butt should be the focus of any observer.

*Mom jeans--I don't like them, try to avoid them--so designers...can we make jeans for a "hip" endowed, small waisted woman that doesn't make me look like Steve Urkel.

*Motherhood Maternity--please realize that many pregnant women don't just grow a basketball. The girls get bigger, the hips might get wider--so don't tell me that my pre-pregnancy size (S,M,L) is what I should be shopping for. I shall call you, "Liar Liar Pants on Fire" Maternity.

*Shoes: Just b/c I have size 10/11 wide feet...doesn't mean that I want to look like I'm wearing granny's cast off shoes. Just b/c I have flat feet, doesn't mean I want an arch near the ball of my foot or my heel. Just b/c I want to (and can only) wear about a 1 inch heel, max--doesn't mean that I don't deserve a cute shoe. So please--remember that us large footed women--want nice shoes, too!

 

[Ephany]

I spent the afternoon looking for slacks and lightweight blouses to wear under my lab coat. I found ONE shirt that didn't make me cringe. All of the tops I liked (from the same company in the same size as my winter tops) were too small! The ones I bought in the fall are almost too big and yet these were so tight I could see things that didn't need to be on display! How the heck are they the same size?!

The selection was just awful all around, colors, weird patterns (BLECH), and cut were all off. I just need some plain, work appropriate shirts that will wear well and don't draw attention to my chest. I was so annoyed that I didn't even make it to the slacks, that will have to wait until I forget how much I hate clothes shopping.

Oh, and what's up with all the sleeveless summer dresses? I want sleeves so I can wear the cute dresses too!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Dear Residents of Michigan and Ohio,

I would like to apologize in advance that my cleavage will be on display this summer. I always try to keep it covered, really I do. Most of my v-neck tops can be layered with a higher neck shirt underneath.

But this summer I will be 6-9 months pregnant. Virtually every maternity top I can find is low cut. Even if it looks decent on a mannequin, it becomes low cut once it is straining against my ever growing chest. I'm sorry, Michigan and Ohio, but it just might be too hot this summer to wear two shirts at a time! So kindly glance away from me.

Thank you.

And F-you, designers.

~ A Mom in a Village

 

[AustinTink]

"Baby Doll" cut tops and dresses are not flattering on anyone. I am not pregnant, and don't wish to look like I am.

YES!!!!! I'm so sick of this style. When will it go away????

 

[rie'smom]

I wear a D cup but my waist is smallish-27. If I wear something Empire or baby doll, I look pregnant. One thing that works for me and may for you is a polo type shirt or really any shirt with a little lycra. It shows that you actually do have a waistline and accentuates your curves. For the first 48 years out of 52 years, I never wore a polo shirt. Now, I wear them all the time.
I do not like low waisted jeans. There are not many women or many girls for that matter that do not have a muffin top when they wear them. Some might not take a rear view when they walk out the door but trust me, it isn't pretty.

 

[pearlieq]

Dear Designers:

1.) Clothes for fat ladies are not just clothes for skinny ladies made wider. We have different needs and proportions. Making the shirt longer would be a good start. My belly hasn't been cute since the 2nd grade.

2.) Just because I'm fat doesn't mean I hate myself and how I look. Please stop making giant flower-printed tents and expecting me to wear them. I'd like something that is actually tasteful and stylish, please.

3.) I'm not looking for an outfit for my Weight Watchers weigh-in. You can stop making 90% of shirts in tissue paper thin spandex or whatever the heck that mutant space-age gauzy stuff is. It helps a lot if the fabric actually has some body to it and doesn't just cling to my cellulite and ride up.

Sincerely,

Money to Spend, but Nothing to Buy!

 

[Mrs.Reese]

Bathing suit bottoms should actually cover the bottom. I am not fat. I am curvy. Should you need advice on how bottoms should fit please consult the ladies department of Hanes underwear. They cover and are not so tight that I have acquired fat rolls.

Solid colors for shirts would also be nice. Patterns = bad. Solid = good. Come on my cat can understand this.

 

[sunshine girl]

Dear clothes designers, pleeeease stop creating all these 3/4-sleeve sweaters! When I'm cold at work and I need a sweater, I need the ENTIRE SLEEVE. My hands are the first to get cold and a sweater that stops in the middle of my forearm just doesn't cut it. Should I require 3/4-sleeve I can push up normal-length sleeves on my own.

I swear, I was in J. Crew one day in search of a cardigan to wear at work for when I get chilly, and I was starting to think they only create sweaters for people with 3/4-length arms or something. And these sweaters were often "tissue weight" which does NOTHING in a chilly office... I suppose this would be great for when I used to live in Miami and just wanted the sweater for decorative purposes, but for functionality here in Ann Arbor, the tissue weight thing doesn't resonate at all!

And I'm tall with long arms so it's especially ridiculous on me, since normal sleeve lengths are usually too short, too. Boooo.

 

[bananda]

I can't stand padded bras either! I laugh to myself over the padding and the lack of substance of the bras! They are so flimsy! I need support! If I'm going to the trouble to wear a bra, I want it to do the job, not feel like it's barely there. It's so funny/frustrating to shop for bras. I pass over just about every one I see.

I don't like to shop for bras. If I find a bra I love, I usually buy a bunch at the same time so I don't have to do it again for a long time.

i wear a D-cup but need a really small band. i was forced to buy a padded bra because it was the only thing that actually fit me. and i hate wearing it.

Dear clothes designers, pleeeease stop creating all these 3/4-sleeve sweaters! When I'm cold at work and I need a sweater, I need the ENTIRE SLEEVE. My hands are the first to get cold and a sweater that stops in the middle of my forearm just doesn't cut it. Should I require 3/4-sleeve I can push up normal-length sleeves on my own.

I swear, I was in J. Crew one day in search of a cardigan to wear at work for when I get chilly, and I was starting to think they only create sweaters for people with 3/4-length arms or something. And these sweaters were often "tissue weight" which does NOTHING in a chilly office... I suppose this would be great for when I used to live in Miami and just wanted the sweater for decorative purposes, but for functionality here in Ann Arbor, the tissue weight thing doesn't resonate at all!

And I'm tall with long arms so it's especially ridiculous on me, since normal sleeve lengths are usually too short, too. Boooo.

im short with long arms. i can rarely find long sleeved shirts and jackets with long enough sleeves. i bought a jacket and hoodie from forever 21 online and the sleeves are slightly too long. i was over the moon. but we dont have a forever 21 store in austalia


and another thing. i wear size 6 shoes. or at least, i did last year. sizes must have gotten bigger because i know my feet aren't shrinking. but does anyone make cute size 5 shoes? no. i have to buy shoes in european sizes which i can only get at one store. and there's not usually a lot of choice in a size 36 unless i want an endless supply of ballet flats. i love ballet flats, but i would like some cute heels.

 

[paintnolish]

Leave shoulder pads in the design graveyard. They didn't look good in the 80s. They don't look good now.
I totally agree with the cap/puff sleve shirts, shortie shorts for little girls, things encrusted with glitter for little girls, and stretchy jeans. Yuck.