I shopped almost exclusively at Lane Bryant at my highest, so nope.
Now the clothes that fit me best are for bottoms:
Levi's
Calvin Klein
and for tops/dresses, well, I seriously need more (and ones specifically for busty women!) but AJ Rumina has worked well so far and I can't wait to try BiuBiu eventually.
I used to love shopping at The Limited when I was a 12/14. I hope they fit just as well as they did back then. Until then, Ulla Popken and Lane Bryant tend to fit me really well, but I'm tired of paying through the nose for Lane Bryant's clothes. They always fall apart after a couple months. I'm constantly fixing unraveling seams, etc.
Someone linked an article yesteday on another thread and in that article the woman said that she has "her designers". As each designer doesn't design for the same body. I am very lucky in that I am very equally proportioned, but my waist is a bit thicker now that I'm middle aged.
My mother in law fits LLbean well (though she is not fond of their styles) because they tend to run big in the hips and smaller in the waist. So, when i try on clothes there, the size 10s waist is tight, but the hips are a bit too roomy. Good for her, not so good for me.
So, I guess it makes sense that I have a few "go to" designers.
In another vein, I went shopping with my mentee a few months back and it was a weird experience. She is 16, I was 41. She isn't 5' tall and I'm 5'6.5" tall. She has a long torso and short legs and small boobs. I have a short torso, long legs and big boobs. And then, she wears a size 6 and at the time I wore a size 14.
Everything that she liked and I mean everything was stuff I could never wear in a million years. Stuff that I like, she could never wear. And you do get to a point where you don't even look some places or at some designers because you just know it won't work for you. So every store I went to it was just for me and every store she went to it was just for her.
I am beginning to run into the too big of boobs problem though even with my favored designers. When I was at my heaviest, it wasn't a big problem because I guess they assume fat people have a lot of back fat and extra boob fat. Now that I'm thinning out, the darts for the boobs are too small and they smash them down flat. It fits around fine, but not in the way it should as I lost the back fat, but the boob fat will remain as ive always been chesty. They give too much room in the back and too little in the front for my measurements. I have tried on 2 size ten dresses in the last week where I ran into that problem. And I have no idea if that is something a seamstress could alter nor not,
I am beginning to run into the too big of boobs problem though even with my favored designers. When I was at my heaviest, it wasn't a big problem because I guess they assume fat people have a lot of back fat and extra boob fat. Now that I'm thinning out, the darts for the boobs are too small and they smash them down flat. It fits around fine, but not in the way it should as I lost the back fat, but the boob fat will remain as ive always been chesty. They give too much room in the back and too little in the front for my measurements. I have tried on 2 size ten dresses in the last week where I ran into that problem. And I have no idea if that is something a seamstress could alter nor not,
Sort of.. I recently got a number of dresses taken in at the waist. I need to take a couple of more pictures but then I'll post them on my blog so keep an eye there. The darts are a problem, though, because even though I have a dress that fits in the bust the darts might be too high. I also have an issue that designers make the backs way too big for me and the fronts too small, which is something trickier to alter (I can be done but that might take extra seams). For now I'm making do but I definitely want BiuBiu dresses soon to avoid a lot of these problems... I also mean to try Pepperberry but BiuBiu is first on my list.
sontaikle- Seriously! I so want to make a trip to Poland to try on all the beautiful bras/clothes there, sigh...
I love New York and Company and have shopped there for business attire. I find their clothes are flattering no matter what size I need (they have everything up to 16-18).
I also like American Eagle jeans, I love the way they fit.
I find this to be the case, too. At 279 I was SQUEEZING into an 18 "artist" style/cut jean at American Eagle. (I clearly should have been a 20, but they dont make AE jeans in 20's, lol, and I refused.. ) Today, I sit in a 12 "artist" cut/style jean from American Eagle. It fits me the same, but with much less muffin top, lol. I find that it fits my bum, hips and thighs perfectly. Except for the fact that I wear a "short" legnth when I'm 5'7", thanks to a LONG torso, lol...
My cousin who is built VERY similarly to me and I were talking about this the other day, as she prefers american eagle jeans too.. We think they are just cut right for our bottom shape. Of course, shes like, 40lbs less than me, so at least I'll have an idea what I'll look like then, lol...
Melissa, I found that losing weight didn't change my body type that much. A few years ago I went from 270 -> 180 and found that I still had the same problems finding clothes to fit me correctly. Shirts are pretty easy if the style isn't too long, but pants are the problem. I'm long waisted, my widest point is a few inches below my waist, with a flat butt, with thick legs. The trend towards lowrise straightleg pants was great but now that 'skinny jeans' are back I'm having a problem finding anything wide enough to fit my legs. If I do find something that fits I tend to go back to that style/brand again and again.
Same designers before, during and after?
