Man did it smart to walk by all those cute, small clothes yesterday

So yesterday was part two of getting some clothes that FIT. I have currently, one skirt, 2 pairs of pants and 3 shirts that fit. And they are all for winter. Everything else is a couple sizes too small - including everything for spring and summer. There is no getting around getting a few outfits until I shrink down and even then, I'll probably need to get the next size down too - a few things.

I went to TJMaxx and Marshalls and perused their clearance racks in the plus section. You know, that place I never wanted to have to shop in - ever again.

Seems my size is between a 14W-18W depending on the manufacturer/cut of the item. And between 1X and 2X on top. I managed to get a few tops and a skirt and one pair of jeans to get me by, but I wasn't overly excited about anything I saw on any of the plus size racks, clearance or regular.

To get to the plus size racks, you have to walk past all the misses sizes and man are there a lot of really cute things. Pretty colors. Cute designs. Just fun! The plus sizes? YUCK! And it wasn't just my attitude, they were dreary and dark and boring. But I found a few coordinating things to get by, so it will do.

To add to that feeling that they don't know how to make cute plus size clothes, last evening I watched a couple of episodes of Under the Gunn, a spin-off of Project Runway. One of the episodes was "dressing the real woman" and as usual, most of the women had nice bodies that are easier to design for, but one was curvier than the others. Guess whose outfit looked the most ill-fitting on the runway? As is the case every single time on these shows. Designers - we are not models. We have shapes... LEARN TO DESIGN FOR DIFFERENT SHAPES!!! Learn that some women are big on the bottom. Some are big on top. Some are straight. Some have big thighs. Some have short torsos and some have long torsos, and so on.

That is why you find designers that work for you. Like, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren pants are much more likely to fit me and fit me well that other designers. When I was thinner, LuckyJeans did too. Other brands do not fit me well, but in plus sizes, it's even more hit or miss.

Anyway, back to shopping. I have also needed to get some more fitness clothes. Man did I feel out of place and like a fraud in the sports store day before yesterday. That and almost everything on the racks were for people with no jiggle and nothing to hide. I don't know what changed, but 4 years ago there was more variety for plus size fitness or "larger" normal size fitness clothes. Then, I could find fitness skorts, short sleeved tops that fit, but weren't skin tight and short. Now? I see skin tight bottoms or super short shorts and everything's sleeveless or long sleeved. Skorts? I found TWO - both in clearance sections. I loved my fitness skorts! Now I'm sad I didn't keep them!

I also tried on some swimsuits. Oh lordy. It's always bad, but if I thought I looked awful in suits at 165-175 pounds, Pfft, I look plain dreadful at 240 pounds! ACK!  I'll probably have to order something from LandsEnd, which, when I had gotten thinner, they didn't fit right, but for now, it's probably my best bet.  I want to start some swimming to get back into fitness and probably some water aerobics - especially as I'm still bothered by some injuries.

In a nutshell, shopping for clothes was painful and not a pleasant experience. Soon, hopefully by the end of this summer, I can start to wear some of my bigger saved clothes and do what is commonly called "closet shopping." I have some lovely clothes - once I can fit them again.