"May I help you?"

Weird, weird couple of days...

I'm traveling, and struggling to figure out ways to stay within calories...

But, today, I went shopping. I tried on a pair of size TWELVE JEANS.
They fit on my legs and butt-- couldn't zip them, but they were no tighter than the first time I tried on 18s....

Feeling bold, I went into three regular sized stores, including....drum roll please....

ANN TAYLOR!!

Where I FIT into their size XL.

Now, this was a really big deal for me, because back when I was in college, I wanted to shop at Ann Taylor in the world's worst way, but in those days, they only went up to a 12 and I wore a 14...

Now, granted, in those days, I weighed 160 pounds and what they called 12 then is probably an 8 now. But even so....

I was SO SCARED when the saleslady came up to me... but she did not act like she thought I was too big too big to be in there.

I realize that maybe another 10 to 15 pounds and I'll be completely out of the plus category.

Way to go....funny thing...I went to The Loft yesterday, a place I have always wanted to shop and tried a few things on to see how close they were to fitting...Guess what?Everything fit!!! And the saleswomen brought me more stuff to try on and that fit too! Isn't shopping in "regular" stores fantastic?!

At Christmas time, I went into an Abercrombie and Fitch at the Mall shopping for my 19 year old daughter. I felt completely in*fricking*visible as NO ONE helped me. I was there to spend around $200 and couldn't get any help whatsoever. I don't mean to sound bitter but the teen hotties only glanced at me and then looked away.

I was at first worried that someone would direct me to Lane Bryant but then I just got PO'd that apparently fat ladies are rendered invisible upon walking in their store. Shopping as a big girl can be trying! Shopping as a former big girl sounds like it's a lot more fun!

Congrats on shopping at Ann Taylor, Kudo's to you!

Heh Ann Taylor was one where I walked by that damn store 3 times before I walked in. Ended up trying on some tops that were too big. I was amazed.

What an amazing feeling!!!

Well, their clothes aren't too big yet-- but I COULD have bought something, though I didn't.

It's such a bizarre feeling-- I'm going to become a total shopaholic if I can buy clothes anywhere I want.

Weird.

In a good way.

Isn't shopping in Ann Taylor the WEIRDEST? I LOVE it, and it's been a goal of mine for so long (not that I can afford anything in there) that I can hardly believe I'm able to wear their clothes now.

As a teenager I had an Ann Taylor denim jacket because it was the only thing in the store I could fit in. Nowadays I can walk in there and buy a size small top. Small! That's crazy talk.

I think they train their employees to treat everyone that way at Abercrombie. I go in there (against my will) to buy cologne for my teenage nephew and they are always totally rude to me too. It seems to be part of their corporate culture, along with the deafening music.

Oh, yes, this is me now. Good thing we have a great thrift store (got my favorite Ann Taylor blouse there!) in my town. Banana Republic is another favorite. Their clothes are as well-tailored as Ann Taylor.

Ugh. Abercrombie is the worst! They probably just didn't help you because the kids who work there are nitwits. But you know what? They missed out on your business because of it. I had the same experience in Pottery Barn-- I wanted to buy a rug for 600 dollars-- nobody would wait on me so I just walked out. Probably not weight related, but maybe I just didn't look rich enough or something.

When my son was about 15 he was really good looking and he got stopped in the mall a whole bunch of times-- they kept telling him they were "recruiting" him to work in the store because of how he looked. He got all big in the head, thinking he was going to be a model or something, but he was too young to even get hired.

I thought it was unbelievably stupid-- like they were picking out the good-looking athletic kids and telling them they "represented the brand" as a way of getting customers. YUCK.

Passing for "normal" is still something that I can't quite wrap my head around. I looked through my current wardrobe the other day, and other than a couple of pairs of shoes and boots (I have huge feet. I will always have huge feet.) and one denim jacket that's probably too big now -- I don't know, it's been too bloody cold to wear it -- I do not own a single item of clothing from a fat lady shop anymore.

Now that the average size is 14...which used to be a 16, or 18...the whole idea of discriminating against us "plus people" seems really strange. Don't get me wrong, I am still yearning for the day when I can wear a 10, but in the meanwhile, I hate that most stores only carry "normal" sizes and the whole concept of a separate department featuring the "matron look" is so demoralizing. People should dress well no matter their size.

It IS an amazing feeling to shop in *those* stores. Just amazing. It feels so normal and regular and ordinary, but on the other hand it feels so STRANGE and DELIGHTFUL and EXRTRAORDINARILY SPECIAL. I get the biggest kick out of it still. *Me*, yes *ME*, *I* get to shop everywhere and anywhere - after suffering for so many years...

Keep up the great work!!!

it will be so cool to be able to shop wherever you want!

I aways like the fact that there were "departments" for size categories. If there were size 0-30 of each thing on one rack, it would be so difficult to find your size. Having plus size departments and shops made it easier to weed out the items I couldn't wear and made finding something I could much less of a chore. Also, still today I will walk past the women's dept/store and see really cute stuff. In my opinion there are some darling clothes for plus size people, but with any quality clothing if you want something nice, you have to pay for the price. I really think the fashion world has accommodated the plus size woman well in the last couples of decades.

The Coldwater Creek outlet near me is like that. Granted, it's an outlet store, but they have sizes ranging from 0-22, I think? in regular, petite, and tall, all bunched together randomly. I get SO frustrated trying to find my size (which I never do anyway, since the petites are always gone immediately) in that place. Oh well, I mostly just like their jackets anyway.

I've done most of my shopping at consignment stores for the past few years. I was thinking the other day, if I went to the department stores I used to shop in, where would I look? I've never shopped for myself in any department other than "women's" and for my girls in the teen department. I wouldn't know where to look for my size anymore.

Being 5'1", Ann Taylor was one of my staple stores before I gained weight. At my highest weight, I was able to wear thier cotton shirts with letter sizing (S,M,L,XL), but not any of the clothes with number sizing (2,4,6,8,etc.). I will say that I have paid off my Ann Taylor credit card because I don't really shop there much now!

The Abercrombie store really missed the boat - since it was Christmas time you may very well have been shopping there for a gift. They don't know. I thought it was interesting two Christmases ago when all of the retailers were slashing prices that they kept thiers high. I get the marketing concept of prestige pricing, but thier stock plummeted because of it. The store was really hurting. Then, to add in anecdote stories like yours - it just seems like they are getting what they deserve! Abercrombie and Limited Brands are both headquartered here in town. Living here and knowing people that work at both corporate offices you really get a flavor of what the companies' stand for. (I really like LB.)

I went into Fashion Bug a few weeks ago because they have the Right Size jeans line (different shapes and lengths). Both FB and Lane Bryant are owned by Charming Shoppes (LB is another C-bus HQ) so they have similar products. Anyway, these jeans are the same as the ones for twice the price at LB. But, the Fashion Bug set up is that all of these jeans are mixed in. There are jeans in a size 2 on the same rack as jeans in a size 22. I will say that I agree with Lori - it's nice to know where to look to find my size. And it's kind of nice not to have to look at the itty bitty sizes when I am shopping. I feel great for going down a size, but I don't really need the perspective of how much further I need to go staring at me at the same time.