Pooh-sized ladies... clothing shopping vent!

[Jungle Skipper]

Had to chime in and let you ladies know, I feel your pain, as a Pooh Bear myself, finding clothes for a big man is a pain anymore too...if I'm fat, I must be either:

a) 10 feet tall
b) A "Home-Boy"
c) A Frumpy old man

Sigh...I feel your pain...I HATE shopping for clothes.

Jungle Josh

 

[macs4us]

If you are "pooh sized" you want a straight leg, because a tapered leg creates a "V" making you look larger.

I shopped Eddie Bauer and Lands End for plus size. Eddie Bauer carries up to a Misses 18/XXL in store, but you can often find the Women's size on the clearance racks (as catalog returns) or in their outlet stores. They also have free shipping promos online. Sears has Lands End in store, and you can return catalog purchases in store.

Select Macy's have a nice selection of plus size as well. I have gotten Tommy shorts and pants that were orginally $50 - $80 for less than $20 on their clearance racks. I've gotten some nice Karen Kane items there as well.

 

[Tina]

Fashion Bug has nice pooh size women's clothing we also own Lane Bryant and Catherine's our prices are a little cheaper

KimOhio, you sound like you work for Fashion Bug in your post. Am I correct? Can you tell me what happened to the LA Blues jeans? They used to be perfect for me. Now they are just horrible. What did they do?

 

[hockeymom7691]

I'm another fan of the Avenue. I've never had much luck at Catherine's, I always thought their clothes looked "frumpy" but I haven't been their in awhile.

Avenue can be a bit pricey but you can get on their mailing list (you don't have to have their charge card), you get some great coupons. I usually go right to the clearance racks and use my coupons. Their clothes fit nice.

I have pretty good luck at Kohl's & Kaufmann's.

My big gripe is that if I choose to wear a sleeveless top (ugh-only in my own yard) that the arm holes are so huge you can see my belly. Now I have big heavy arms and that still happens. Drives me crazy!

 

[Kirby]

The jeans that I really like are Lee's with the side elastic. My hips are much larger than my waist and any other brand of jeans just bulge out at the back in the waist line.

I'm a women's size below the waist and misses above. I find it hard to find nice dressy clothing because the women's 1X tops are too large. They are also too long and I'm tired of people asking me how much longer till the baby's born. I like tops that end above my hips or even with them, not below. Trying to mix and match between misses and women's is hard.

I also like the Briggs brand for pants but they are hard to find in women's sizes in other fabrics besides polyester (yuck!). Just because you are large doesn't mean that all you can wear is polyester!

I loved to buy the Bobbie Brooks brand at Wal Mart but they stopped carrying it this year for some reason.

 

[enchantedpixiedust]

Hi everyone

Enjoying this thread, helps to know everyone is having this problem.

I'm petite plus too - over the last couple years I've gone up and down a LOT size wise. I'm just a little over 5', Lane Bryant cropped jeans seem to work really well for me both size & length wise. (something I don't have to hem!)

Now - here's my next dilemma. I have a WDW trip next month, but I have no summer clothes. I went through the shorts I have (I've lived all summer outside of work in capris), nothing is comfortable anymore. If I wear Tshirts I can't stand having them hug my rear or hips, so if they don't they look like a tent. Add a hip pack onto that and it's just not a happy time.

What have you guys found that fit well & is comfy for the parks?

Thanks!

 

[Mel6197]

But my biggest problem is that even though Im Plus Size, One part of my Body is NO wear near Plus size.. So Bra's a a almost impossible to find. It just doesnt seem fair that not one ounce of my extra weight is in my ****s...
And whats with all this no sleeve crap? My arms are chubby, or to find something that fits around my stomach I have to get a bigger size, which means a bigger armpit opening, and then you can see bra's... Oh well..Ive been doing some of my shopping in DOTS.. Kinda like a 10 dollar store, and since Im losing weight I dont want to spend big bucks on clothing that "hopefully" will be too big on me....

 

[Mel6197]

But my biggest problem is that even though Im Plus Size, One part of my Body is NO wear near Plus size.. So Bra's a a almost impossible to find. It just doesnt seem fair that not one ounce of my extra weight is in my ****s...
And whats with all this no sleeve crap? My arms are chubby, or to find something that fits around my stomach I have to get a bigger size, which means a bigger armpit opening, and then you can see bra's... Oh well..Ive been doing some of my shopping in DOTS.. Kinda like a 10 dollar store, and since Im losing weight I dont want to spend big bucks on clothing that "hopefully" will be too big on me....

 

[Lisa F]

My absolute favorite all time place to shop is Lord and Taylor... at least it was when I lived near one, but I am hoping to start shopping there again. For professional clothes, things like Elisabeth (Liz Claiborne) and Jones Woman (Jones NY) always make classic styles that last forever (I still have the clothes I bought from there). Maybe it was just my particular L&T but it seemed like nothing ever sold at full price there... if you go back a week later it would be on clearance, plus the 15% off coupons they constantly sent me and I was in heaven. $100 worth of clothes could buy me several full outfits of really nice stuff.

For jeans, I always used to prefer a tapered leg because I think that's what was in when I was a teen. Now, though, I tend to favor wide legged jeans and chinos and not only are they a bit more "in" but I think they do keep me from looking like a caricature of a pear with feet.

 

[lovemygoofy]

I buy quite a few of my nicer suits at Casual Corner for Women Annex. They are a bit pricy but very nice suits in linen or cotton or whatever you want. I enjoy that they are all lined inside. Most suits you buy from cheaper places aren't lined inside and don't keep the shape very well. I buy from Lane Bryant stores some and also from Cato's for casual clothes. Goody's has some nice stuff too if you want jeans bc they care levis, which I love. Good luck to ya'll finding good clothes. It's a never ending search for the prefect intimates then onto another store for the jeans and then probably somewhere else for tops, etc, etc, etc....

Tina

 

[CookieGVB]

I usually head to Fashion Bug and Catherine's. Fashion Bug - there's always a coupon and a sale going on. Catherine's is a bit more pricey, but if you hit a sale, they have some nice clothes. I'm not spending too much on clothes, because I'm heading for smaller sizes!

I find tips watching "What Not to Wear" on TLC. I remember them mentioning the tapered leg deal. If it starts out small on the bottom, it only makes you look wider as you go up. I know they'd have an absolute FIELD DAY with my Disney tops, though.

 

[missypie]

I sure wish one of us knew a clothing manufacturer to whom we could email a link to this thread!

I think that there must be some master list that they all circulate about what Pooh sized women have to wear: polyester, in either black, navy, or wild prints. Why don't they make the same clothes they make for their other size, and just cut them to fit? Face it, wearing black may make you look 3 pounds thinner....but it's not going to make you look 30 or 60 pounder thinner...women know that...why don't the manufacturs know that? They just need to make attractive clothes like their wife or daughter would like to wear!

 

[Lisa F]

While we are ranting, the thing that drives me the most nuts (and people have have alluded to it) is that they don't seem to have any sense of proportion in so many of the clothes. It's like they take a size 10, put it on the copy machine at 200% and call it a size 20.

I think that someone could make a fortune marketing clothes that are well proportioned and sold based on body type... you know how jeans are "petite" "average" and "tall"? How about marketing clothes that are marked "apple" "pear" "hourglass"?

How about jeans that are roomy in the seat and thighs but don't have an extra foot of fabric on the waist for pears and hourglasses or jeans that fit on the waist but don't look like someone took a pin and deflated someone's butt for the apples. Or how about tops that are tailored for the various body types... something that is more tailored around the bust and shoulders and arms but flares around the butt for the pears, or shirts that are big enough to fit your ****s without having the shoulder seams down at your elbows for the apples/hourglass types?

Would it REALLY be so hard to actually LOOK at the body of someone that is not a size 6 and design clothes for the way those bodies are shaped rather than assuming an equal distribution of fat from head to toes?

 

[Missy1961]

Originally posted by Lisa F
While we are ranting, the thing that drives me the most nuts (and people have have alluded to it) is that they don't seem to have any sense of proportion in so many of the clothes. It's like they take a size 10, put it on the copy machine at 200% and call it a size 20.

I think that someone could make a fortune marketing clothes that are well proportioned and sold based on body type... you know how jeans are "petite" "average" and "tall"? How about marketing clothes that are marked "apple" "pear" "hourglass"?

How about jeans that are roomy in the seat and thighs but don't have an extra foot of fabric on the waist for pears and hourglasses or jeans that fit on the waist but don't look like someone took a pin and deflated someone's butt for the apples. Or how about tops that are tailored for the various body types... something that is more tailored around the bust and shoulders and arms but flares around the butt for the pears, or shirts that are big enough to fit your ****s without having the shoulder seams down at your elbows for the apples/hourglass types?

Would it REALLY be so hard to actually LOOK at the body of someone that is not a size 6 and design clothes for the way those bodies are shaped rather than assuming an equal distribution of fat from head to toes?

The Just My Size catalogs are doing just that. I got a new one last night and they explain the shape with just those words.
Check it out:
http://www.justmysize.com/

 

[hockeymom7691]

Originally posted by enchantedpixiedust
Hi everyone

Enjoying this thread, helps to know everyone is having this problem.

I'm petite plus too - over the last couple years I've gone up and down a LOT size wise. I'm just a little over 5', Lane Bryant cropped jeans seem to work really well for me both size & length wise. (something I don't have to hem!)

Now - here's my next dilemma. I have a WDW trip next month, but I have no summer clothes. I went through the shorts I have (I've lived all summer outside of work in capris), nothing is comfortable anymore. If I wear Tshirts I can't stand having them hug my rear or hips, so if they don't they look like a tent. Add a hip pack onto that and it's just not a happy time.

What have you guys found that fit well & is comfy for the parks?

Thanks!

What about wearing a tank type shirt or halter with a button down shirt over it. That way you can wear your hip pack and the blouse will cover it in the back and the shirt won't hug your rear or hips because it will be unbuttoned. Just a thought!

 

[EeyoreJMH]

Oh I can certainly understand. I'm a bit short (5'3) and "fluffy" and used to have the worst time trying to find clothes that were not like a potato sack on me (yes, I still have a waist, which must surprise many clothing manufacturers).

However, I've had great luck with Liz Claiborne's Woman's Petites. My favorite place, by far though, is Talbots Woman's. No, I would never pay full price there but when they have sales, they have really good sales. Just last weekend I found two perfect pairs of jeans ($15 each) and a wonderful silk skirt with a nautical theme ($15.75, marked down from $78).

 

[CindysGusGus]

I like Cato's clothes but for some reason all of the tops are too short. I raise my arms slightly and they are way above my waist. Another thing....why do clothing manufacturers always put horizontal stripes on plus size clothing. I saw this at Sears the other day in the little girl plus sizes. All of the regulars were plain and all of the pluses were striped.????

 

[caitycaity]

i really like lane bryant (the store) for jeans. i'm also in agreement with lisa f; you can get some great stuff at lord and taylor. i have to buy a formal gown for an event that we go to every year and they always have nice ones in my size.

Has anyone else noticed that Lane Bryant pants are getting smaller? I lost almost 20lbs. My old LB pants are loose, but when I try on the new pants at the store- the same size is so tight I can barely breathe in some cases.

yeah, i've noticed that too. i thought it must just be me!

 

[sue Z]

I wil give the avenue another vote for everything!!!!
I used to shop at lane Bryant and gave it up when for some reason the jeans didn't fit right!!

I LOVE the jeans at Avenue!! I don't even have to try them on!! I just grab my size they are more fuller the Lane Bryant

I like the underwear better too at avenue!!
Needless to say I swear by Avenue!!

When in Orlando I do my spring shopping for summer up here at the Avenue at the Terrace Pavillion of the Florida Mall!!

 

[2BigKIdz]

Originally posted by enchantedpixiedust
Hi everyone

Enjoying this thread, helps to know everyone is having this problem.

I'm petite plus too - over the last couple years I've gone up and down a LOT size wise. I'm just a little over 5', Lane Bryant cropped jeans seem to work really well for me both size & length wise. (something I don't have to hem!)

Now - here's my next dilemma. I have a WDW trip next month, but I have no summer clothes. I went through the shorts I have (I've lived all summer outside of work in capris), nothing is comfortable anymore. If I wear Tshirts I can't stand having them hug my rear or hips, so if they don't they look like a tent. Add a hip pack onto that and it's just not a happy time.

What have you guys found that fit well & is comfy for the parks?

Thanks!

Honestly the most comfortable "shorts" I have found for the parks are men's swimming trunks. They are comfortable and dry much quicker than other shorts. I also ditched the fanny pack for a small Nike backpack. The backpack also had an outside compartment that my US/IOA refillable cup fit in perfectly, leaving my hands free all day. I got the backpack in Orlando at the Sports Dominator, it was great for the parks.