Thats awesome about goodwill, goodwill in Oregon is a joke, the clothes are more expensive than brand new at Ross or TJMaxx. Goodwill up here makes a fortune for their overpaid director of northwest operations.

I am having a bad shopping day. Paid for a sitter to go shopping and found only 1 top.

I hate that I dress like a slob, but I hate shopping.

Too bad about the bad shopping day, Ennay. So sorry! Sometimes it justs works out like that. The sizing chart link you posted is much closer to what should work for most women, especially when you consider that you want your brand new bra to fit pretty snuggly around the band because it's going to stretch out after a few wearings. For years I've been going up in band size because the stores I shopped at only carried cup sizes in Ds and DDs. No more! A larger cup for larger breasts is the only way to go and it definitely gives me a better look.
Pam

I watched a What Not To Wear Marathon on Sunday. Yesterday I checked a book all about style out of the library. And today ... off I went.
A couple of firsts for me. 1. I let the gal take a skirt off a mannequin for me.
2. I paid full price for a 'new arrival'.
I think I have my black pinstripe suit all fixed up. No one in my neck of the woods should be short tanks or cami's! There's tons out there.

Big shopping spree at TJ Maxx today - 6 tops and a dress all for under $100 total. Love that store. I found another halter top dress for swing dancing. This one is kelly green. A black sweater to replace the one I wore out 2 years ago. A medium brown knit turle neck to go with the Goodwill chocolate brown straight skirt. An off white light sweater weight top with 3/4 sleeves and embroidery around the neckline. A chocolate brown with turquiose patterned dots clingy shirt. A clingy, cringled light peach blouse. And a spagetti strapped white tank top.

Then I went to the store that I really was going to and got a pair of fancy cowboy boats to wear to the Western party at the club this weekend. The shoe part is brown with fancy black tips and the leg part is black with fancy brown embrodiery. They're going to look great with my suede skirt (one of the few clothes I didn't give away 2 years ago cause I couldn't bear to), brown leather vest, and brown cowboy hat. Not sure what I'm going to wear for a shirt yet. Depends on the temperature.

I just read the whole thread!!! Weee!

I definitely sympathize with the "anti vanity sizing" rants! I am 5'7" 130 lbs, I don't need to be a small! I would be very happy as a medium. I am now a sizes FOUR at Eddie Bauer which is just aggravating.

I went on a shopping BLITZ this weekend!

I bought the following:

This outfit - blue top, skirt (except I bought it in the store and got a cheaper, plainer dark blue button down to go with it, skirt was also on sale in the store):


This gorgeous jumper dress, will look fabulous with the black knee high boots I picked up on sale at the end of last year. My white button down is too bulky to wear under it, will have to find something sleeker

This fabulous shirt which I have waited over a full year for it to go on sale - no dice, I love it!!!

A couple of sale things from the Sundancecatalog.com website, including a pair of sand colored twill slacks that will go perfectly with the blue shirt above and a gorgeous denim skirt:

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/shopp...roductID=10404

http://www.sundancecatalog.com/shopp...roductID=10436

I hit the sales rack hard at Ann Taylor and found some awesome stuff. I got 3 short sleeved button down v-neck cardigans in turqouise, dark brown and dark red - they are gorgeous and are fitted and beautiful with camis underneath.

I got this one in dark burgundy!!!

I got this skirt too which looks nothing like this in real life - it's not so...up and down, it's much more triangle like. Both my new turquoise and dark brown sweaters look fabulous with it

I also got the HOTTEST outfit ever. Seriously, it is hot like "the fi-yah."


This is the skirt - it is seriously swingy and flirty and a wonderful soft knit material. It is spicy!!!

This is the top - it is completely low cut and form fitting.

Definitely the hottest outfit I have ever put on, it shows every curve in the most FLATTERING way.

I also desperately want these two shirts, but I am trying to stay on the SALES racks. So I didn't get them! (as a note: I was a size 4 in these two shirts!!!)

http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/pro...=Cassis&size=4

http://www.anntaylor.com/catalog/pro...r=Black&size=4

I love shopping so much!!!

I woke up too early, poured a mug of coffee, and went shopping with Glory! What a blast!

How about a soft knit turtleneck under the jumper? Since it's black, you can do a lot with it. I'm seeing a lot of deep jewel tones for fall, all of which would work.

Love the black and white shirt! It has that floaty feeling without looking like a maternity top.

I bought an Anne Klein denim skirt yesterday at a ridiculously cheap price, almost identical to the one you got. A denim skirt is almost as versatile as jeans, plus it's dressier. Good choice!

The Ann Taylor cardigans are classics. What's cool is that the colors for summer were so dark this year that we can buy summer clothes on clearance and wear them all fall and winter.

Your outfit is awesome! When will we see a picture of you modeling it?

Buy the two Ann Taylor tops now! What I've found is that the smallest sizes are often gone before they make it to the sale racks. I especially like the banded one in cassis. It would be a shame to lose it.

Thanks for taking us along, Glory!

I had to drop off a prescription for DS yesterday (he's had strep for a month and this is antibiotic #3) and they said an hour wait. My choices were to stay in the grocery store or hit the mall across the street. Yep, I picked the mall.

More sales everywhere! Everything was 75 - 80% off. How can you resist?

And I realized that it's not a problem to buy something for next summer ... because I'll be the same size as I am now. What a revelation! When I was heavy, I never could buy a season ahead because I'd always be determined to lose weight and didn't know what size I'd be. Or worse, I'd buy something in a smaller size "because I'm going to lose weight" and never be able to wear it because, of course, I never actually lost weight.

What a change to consistently be the same size, season after season, year after year. It's really worth investing in nice clothes if you can keep wearing them until they wear out (as opposed to outgrowing them!) And you can actually build a wardrobe by adding pieces that work each season. What a concept! Who knew?!

Nice Glory!!!! I LOVE it all. Cardigans are great. They always look smart and neat and are so much sharper then a plain T. That flowy black skirt is gorgeous. That's a great denim skirt as well. Thank so much for sharing. That was fun!!!

My oldest daughters friend is getting married, her first friend to do so. We went shoppping looking for a dress yesterday. We went to Annie Sez. She found a beautiful dress. Since I was there already....... So yeah I found a very, very gorgeous sweater. Short, thick, gray, large-buttoned, mock turtle neck, cuffed sleeved to the elbow with a skinny belt. Wow, that's a lot going on for one sweater. I also bought a beautiful fitted rayon/lycra wine colored with some black floral running through the bottom of it turtle necked shirt.

Meg, like you I won't be wearing these for a couple of months. It was great to be able to buy ahead of time. yay!!!

I love shopping, I may have mentioned that previously .The only problem is, and I don't mean to sound cocky or concieted, but, and here goes - EVERYTHING looks great now. It's so hard to choose. In the old days there was so little to choose from and everything looked horrible. Now, how do you choose when every store is an option and then you try on 8 shirts, 5 skirts, 3 pairs of pants, etc. and they all look good? Such a dilemma.

I bought something like the cassis top yesterday. It's red and quite long. I tried it on with looong straight pants. DS#1 was first upon the scene and said "that makes you look really tall". I love it!

I'm loving low necklines with a lace cami underneath. It's like an extra splash that makes you look like you know what you're doing style-wise.

While I was playing dressup last evening, it's come to my attention that I've made a few mistakes. Between, just plain stupid purchases and being lighter than I thought I could be ... I think I need to spend part of today in our room, housecleaning and thinning my closet.

Meg

Hey Meg! I had a great time reading the whole thread last night and seeing what every one else was buying this year (I didn't see any of the big wide bat wing jackets in my shopping expeditions!!).

I know EXACTLY what you are saying about being able to buy clothes for the next year. I can shop summer sales and still wear the clothes NEXT summer - it is a wild and liberating thought!!

For the jumper, I will probably consider turtlenecks, but I definitely want to wear a crisp white shirt under it - I have loved the look for years, it's so mod. Sadly, my white button down was bought the first summer of maintaining, when I weighed 140 and could never dream of being "small" and bought everything as a medium, it's just too...bunchy under the arms to wear under it. More shopping is needed!

I do love the two non sale shirts, but I spent a LOT of money this weekend, just stopping to breathe and recover!

Robin

Ha - Robin, I LOVED your post. I had the exact same problem my first summer maintaining - for the first time in my shopping life, nearly everything I put on looked...good. When I was heavy, if something looked remotely acceptable it was so rare, I had to buy whatever it was immediately! It has been very tough to actually stop and be picky - is it on sale, is it machine wash, what does it go with, do I already have shoes?? It is a dilemma, but a glorious dilemma.

I remember June 2004, I had a huge event in San Diego, where I was going to meet a ton of people who only knew me online. I shopped and shopped and shopped and it was so horrible. Nothing looked good, I ended up with an XXL skirt from Eddie Bauer (the orange/beige one from my "hey, look at me pull my big skirt sideways now that I am thin" picture) and a pair of dark blue striped pants from Lane Bryant with a HUGE flowy blue caftan top. That shopping experience and the fear of meeting those people were part of the catalyst for my big change which happened the next month.

Hey - speaking of pics, didn't you promise us more pics? Did you save a big skirt? If so, you GOTTA do the "hey, look how ridiculously big my old skirt is over little ole me" pic, love those!

Susan

My very stylish friend Carly is always after me to wear more camisoles under sweaters. When I was heavy, I wanted to wear button down shirts so badly (my boobs were too big to wear button downs), with cardigans. It seemed so clean and crisp. And...apparently, 10 years ago. My friends are dragging me kicking and screaming into 2007 fashions. It is hard for me to feel comfortable with clothes that are "fitted" to me - if I can feel my clothes, they must be "tight" becuase I am fat! It is a tough mental block to get through.

Hey Susan - how about something like this for your LBD (Little Black Dress)?

That dress is lovely! And those shoes! I'm browsing black pumps right now.

Thin layers ... thin layers ... I hear ya ... I wore shirts over turtle necks. The longer the shirt, the better.

Ooo, I that dress! Susan, you'd be a knockout!

Here's a news flash from the world of insane sizes and shopping ...

I was in Macy's today, picking up some things that they held for me overnight while I could find my coupons. I had to ask the sales clerk to undress a mannequin in order to get the ONLY size small sweater in a style I wanted (the rack was full of Ms, Ls, and XLs of course). So I said: hey, we need to tell the buyers to order more smalls.

She said that's not how it works any more. Apparently stores buy "packages" of clothing from manufacturers that are all pre-sized. For example, the sweater I wanted came in a group with assorted other styles and they all came in predetermined sizes. She said, for example, there would be one "small", two "mediums", three "larges", and two "XLs" in a package.

It still stinks that it's so hard to find smalls, but that's why. It's not the store's fault; it's the manufacturer's for the way they "package" the clothes sizes. Crazy, huh??

Your best bet is still to undress the mannequins.

That's how I got my black pencil skirt yesterday ... size 2 ... she stole it off the poor mannequin!

OMG. That's EXACTLY what I do. I can't find my size, I head to the mannequin. They always put the smallest sizes on them. Now, why do you think that is? It's funny, because I even remember when I was shopping for clothing for my girls when they were little. I would see the small size on the mannequin and then I would look for their size. As they were getting older, the sizes on the mannequin were no longer what they needed and truth be told. The clothing DID look better in the smaller sizes.

I understand it's not the stores fault, but sheesh, I can't stand that all the small sizes sell out first just because there's so few of them. The manufacturers need to make some adjustments.

Who would have ever thought that I would go from wearing the very largest size in the plus-sized stores to the very smallest in the regular stores? Certainly not me. And in less then a year, to boot. Mind boggling. Simply mind boggling.

Glory, clothing was a huge catalyst in my decison to shed the pounds as well. I was wearing the very largest size in the plus-sized stores and that was only if it was full-cut. If it wasn't full cut, it wouldn't get around me. I was TERRIFIED that I would wind up naked. I mean can you think of anything scarier? I think not.

Glory, I love all the clothes you picked out. Looks like a very successful shopping trip.