One of my aims with this weight loss, is to get to a size where I can buy clothes from 'normal' clothes shops, as opposed to 'fat person' clothes shops... It really upsets me at times, my sister is super skinny, and is always buying these pretty outfits from clothing shops around here, nad i'd LOVE to be able to wear those sort of things... or at least feel part of the 'club' by wearing clothes from Glassons, or from JayJay's, or from Max, or from Stax..... All those shops only go up to a size 16.. and it bugs me... do they think that ALL young people are a size 16 and under?

I get so depressed when I go shopping for clothes.. i have to go to all the old lady shops, or to the 'plus size' shops... makes me dislike myself, and envy all those girls going into the 'normal' shops.......

Who is with me on this?

It is odd that with such a high population of plus sized women that designers don't make more fashionable clothing in larger sizes. Lately, i stick to Old Navy, they have plus sizes in their american stores. Just larger versions of what they carry for smaller people. I really appreciate that. I may be fat.... but i'm not frumpy!

That is part of the reason that got me deciding to lose weight. I hate having to pay so much more and not being able to go on shopping sprees esp. when there's a great deal going on. Old Navy is okay but I find myself at jc penny's more often. I agree that I also hate having to order stuff and wait like forever for it to get to me. It sucks! I don't mind shelling out more money for desinger stuff cause it cost already but for clothes I wear to relax in or those I use more often to go out in, yeah it sucks hard. As long as I get to my goal I will not let it eat me only drive me if I need the fire.

I hear ya on this one. I get most of my clothes from the same store... pretty much my entire wardrobe is from the one plus sized store around here that sells decent looking clothes. I can't wait until the day that I can shop wherever I want.

I was sick of that as well. I am finally at the point where I can shop at the Gap.......and that is a big thing for me.

I completely understand what all of you are saying. Be fat makes shoppping SUCK. Clothing designers think all girls are made one weight and one height. I totally hate it cause I am 5'3 and 179 pounds. So of course all my size 14 pants drag the ground on me. What sucks even more for me I have to fit into a wedding dress soon and I am totally bummed about it when I should be totally excited. Its not fair. We want to be trendy too. One day we all will

I hate it too. I can't wait until the day comes that I can shop in the normal sizes and at normal stores. Even if I hit the plus sized section at Target or somewhere like that, I usually find racks and racks of really ugly clothes and maybe one or two ok things that are entirely overpriced.

Have to ditto that. Old Navy is the one place I've found a few plus sized things that I really like.

I'm totally with you! I went shopping yesterday at the mall and all of the cute spring things are coming out.

grrr, it's totally motivation though!

The plus size stores around here are all the same- litterally- they are all owned by the same company. Their clothes are either glorified pillow cases with elastic waists. Lengths of skirts range from obsenely short (what's up with that?) to floor length polyester nightmares! Tops are either Tent like monstrosities that hang down to your knees or skanky spaghetti strapped numbers that would not be flattering on any plus sized person!

It forces me to drive accross the border to Grand Forks so that I can buy things that are cute and age appropriate and work appropriate!

Since my surgery, I have been able to at least buy tops- t shirts or sweaters- sometimes blouses in regular stores. That has made a huge difference in my shopping experiences. If only i could have convinced them do do a butt and thigh reduction at the same time.... I should have held out for a woman surgeon, she would have understood! lol

Blarg, it totally bugs me that when half of American women are a size 14, size 14 is the highest that "normal" clothing sizes go.

Size 16 was the point at which I decided to lose weight.

Trends appear to be changing... it used to be that clothing stores and catalogs only went up to 14... now at least, more of them are going up to 16. JCrew has 16s now. And Old Navy has a good strategy of making the same clothes for everyone. Let each individual lady decide what looks good on her, rather than some European designer dude.

Ugh, I hear you! Also, even those plus size stores that are sometimes hip go in cycles, so they go through entire seasons where everything is either too hideous and grandmotherly, or too skanky for anyone at any size to wear.

I'm at the point now where I'm starting to shop in regular stores (which really does feel amazing, so keep at it!), but what really bugs me is that there's often a size gap between normal and plus size stores....even within the same designer! It drives me crazy (although it's probably saving me money)--if I go someplace like Macy's, the plus size stuff is far too big, but a lot of the normal sized stuff is just a little too tight for wearing in public. ;-) But I suppose it still does feel good that when I find stuff that fits, it's usually in the normal section....but I can't wait for the day when I don't have to do the back-and-forth between sections and stores...

I feel the same way! It's like, just because I am plus-sized does NOT mean I only wear grandmother clothes or business suits (which is often all I can find in department stores). I only really shop at Lane Bryant, Avenue, and Fashion Bug (I have some pants from Old Navy, but their plus shirts don't fit me). LB is SO expensive, and Avenue and FB don't tend to have the best quality, so I actually almost never buy new clothes anymore.

I was with a friend once when I was home on a break from college, and she invited me out clubbing with a group of our old high school gang. I told her I didn't really pack any clothes for clubbing, and she was like, "That's okay, I need a shirt, too, so we'll just stop at the mall and grab something before we go." I ended up not going--she just didn't understand that I couldn't just find something quickly at the mall! Sorry, but unlike her little size-2 butt, I couldn't just run into any store and pull something off a clearance rack and have it look fabulous

The best is when I go into one of those stores like AE and the buckle to look around at shoes or something, and they ask everyone else but me if they can help them.