Friday 18 February 2011

Too short, too Tight, too Much Butt Crack!

Forgive me for missing a couple days here during my week to blog. My youngest son came down with a horrible virus, then yesterday a family matter came up, so I took my daughter out to see her grandparents. While we were out, we had breakfast and then the three of us took the baby and did some shopping.

Now my daughter isn’t a typical teen. She’s eighteen and wears clothes until they practically fall apart instead of begging for the latest new style. Since her jeans are all in dire need of replacement, we concentrated on buying news ones and getting other odds and ends she needed such as undies and a new bathing suit for warm weather, which is right around the corner (I hope!).

I noticed something while shopping. Why is it that a woman can find all sorts of lovely panties, bras and other under garments, but today’s bathing suits are hideous?

As my daughter and I combed through three big, round racks of bikinis, I looked over at her and asked, “What is it with the crappy patterns and designs that make your eyes cry for mercy? These colors and patterns look like someone ate a box of crayons and yakked them up.”

“Oh, Mom, they’re not that bad,” she replied.

I held one up and gave her “the look.”

“Well,” she said, “maybe that one is.”

“No, they ALL are!”

And whatever happened to bikinis that use good elastic in them so that the swimsuit molds to the figure and compliments it? Every swimsuit I saw yesterday was all about strings tying at the hips, strings threaded through where the elastic should be, and strings through the tops just like the bottoms.

My daughter has such a bikini that someone gave her last summer. Every time she wore it I was thankful I hadn’t wasted money buying such a suit because when wet, the bikini sags across the bottom and droops around the bust line.

I didn’t like the style of the late 70s when I was entering my pre-teen years and I don’t like it that the style seems to be here again and lingering. Granted, this is just my opinion, but I heard moms and teens talking in various department stores about this style issue, not to mention the mom’s complaining about how short many of the prom dresses were on the racks.

Whatever happened to young girls looking feminine? Whatever happened to women being able to find clothes that flatter their bodies instead of what fashion “thinks” is feminine or sensual?

Give me the styles that compliment a woman’s figure instead of shouting ‘look at my boobs and ass!’ Give me feminine, stylish. Put away the droopy drawers, gaping tops.

Not long ago, the dau and I were over at St. C's mall at a store called Gabriel Brothers. We were both looking for jeans. My dau isn't nearly as tall as I am, but she has the same shape as her mommy. She has boobs, a waist, and hips. She started yanking jeans off the racks in irritation then slamming them back on them again. A woman nearby kept giving us odd looks as she moved toward us. Finally, she came around the rack I was sorting through and asked, "Is it just me or are all jeans made for stick figures, board asses, and short legs?"

"No, it's not just you. We're having trouble finding jeans that fit too."

"I tell ya," she said, "I've been to nearly every store in town, and no one carries decent jeans. And I don't want relaxed-fit jeans unless I'm outside working. I hate ordering stuff online when I need it now, and online stores ream me on the shipping and handling."

I knew exactly what she was talking about. Relaxed-fit jeans fit me around the waist and through the legs re length, but they always look like they're three or four sizes too big no matter if I wear my size or try dropping down a size.

I get so tired of seeing every young woman's or girl's ass crack in the nation popping up to say "howdy-do!" when I go out to shop or turn in a restaurant and see three inches of bare ass three feet away. It's cute on a baby, yanno? But not on a full-grown body. I'm sick of seeing guys wearing jeans so that the crotch is down around their knees so it looks like a load of shit is pulling them down, and I'm sick of pencil jeans that look like they've been spray-painted on.

The fashion industry needs to wake up. People come in all shapes and sizes. We're not all runway models whose ribs are showing like starved dogs.

And when the hell was a size 9 considered plus size????????????????

What’s your pet peeve about today’s styles?

21 comments:

trinity said...

You are so not kidding me. The jeans they have for plus figures are ugly!!!! I'm a 18 or 20 I sure as hell don't want to wear jeans that come up to my freaking boobs!! Or jeans that are made of polyester! I swear I can't find anything. Then I had the extra money to find some decent clothes what happens they closed the only freaking store that had decent plus sizes!! Not to mention Victoria Secret store the biggest size they have there is a C cup!! Please! I was a C cup in high school! I want a nice bra and undies too!
Trinity

Faith Bicknell said...

What about Lane Bryant stores, Trin.

Anonymous said...

Hey, you ladies aren't the only ones. Granted, we men generally have rather limited choices when it comes to clothes. But when an older man has to choose from what is "hip" today, I worry about the future of the male of the species.

First up, tents are for sleeping in, not wearing. A 38 inch waist does not mean 72 inch hips and legs. I know I've put on a little weight over the last few years, but come on, get real. And you "dudes" that think it's cool to wear your baggy pants down to your knees, I have a nail gun that says other wise.

And who ever thought that shirts for men should have enough material in them to make a parachute out of, is an idiot. Oh, the the style is Hawaiian, not "I just puked up this mornings breakfast."

Jeans and pullovers, fine. But even those are getting harder to come by, at least decent ones. Sweetie might like the way I fill out modern jeans, but only she is allowed to see that package, not the whole world. I swear, the last pair of jeans I bought, in my size, I was terrified to bend over. Thought I'd stop the flow of blood down to my legs.

I guess I'm just going to have to stick with traditional clothing. Good thing I've been building up a closet full of kilts ;-)

Faith Bicknell said...

LOLOL! Karl, I know exactly what shirts you're talking about. I bought a pack of shirts yesterday that were made like that just so I could have them to bum around the house in. They're roomy and oh-so comfy, but I certainly do see your dilemma for the guys' side of the coin.

Marci Baun said...

Well, I love going to the stores for A, who is 6 1/2, and only being able to find tart-in-training clothes because she's grown out of the toddlers section. The pants that should be her size are so big around the waist they fall off of her. She's somewhere between 5T and 6 in length. Seriously, there must be 4" difference in pant length between 5T and 6.

As for clothes for women, I finally found some pants that fit me. Mind you, not jeans, but slacks. They are made by Lee. And, the best part, they were $24. Even if you bend down, there's no gap. Perhaps that's why they are called the "No-Gap Waistline" Lee pants. They have room for hips and fit comfortably, not loose or tight, around the waist. I love these pants! (g)

Trinity,

So, you are saying you don't want a pair of those Pajama Jeans? (g)

The smallest they have in bra size at Victoria's Secret are B cups, if you want fancy bras. So, there's discrimination both ways. Oh, and if you are broader around the ribcage, forget it.

Marci Baun said...

HAHAHAHAHA, Karl! I need your staple gun. (g) I'd go around and staple up the pants on those kids whose pants hang just below their butts. On second thought, perhaps it's best I don't have your staple gun. (g)

Marci Baun said...

BTW, Faith, my bikinis are for swimming. (g) No ties, except around the waist to ensure the bottoms don't fall off when I dive off the blocks or push off the wall and under the boobs, which I use to winch even tighter. (g)

Molly Daniels said...

I love my Land's End jeans:) I used to buy Eddie Bauer, until I -ahem- gained some extra weight, and the largest size on the shelf was 16.

And I'm with you on the swim suits! I'm a diver and a lover of water slides, so I sure as hell don't want to have a 'swimwear malfunction' when I go off the diving board or while having fun with my kids on the slides! Two years ago, I went down my 1st tube slide, and discovered a) I'm slightly clausterphobic when I can't see where I'm going and b) when I stood up, I had to hold up the line for several seconds when my suit decided to imitate a thong. NOT fun!

Anonymous said...

The colors are ugly and the materials they use are cheesy.

Then there's the fact that the sizes have changed. They now consider a size 12 to be a Plus size. Excuse me? I have been a size 12 since high school and I've never been considered a Plus size. I could wear a Medium and it would fit, but since I like to where blouses a bit bigger for the comfort factor, I would wear a Large. I brought home a large top and compared it to one of my old tops that was marked as large. The new large is noticeably smaller than the old large.

Nothing is fitted anymore. No darts to give or enhance your feminine curves. Just sacks to wear over your body unless you like showing off your ass and tits then there's plenty of clothes for you. I prefer classy and feminine.

My mom is on the small end of the Plus size and she has an even harder time than I do in finding clothes that look good and fit properly.

I do have to say I have found Gloria Vanderbilt jeans, the Amanda series, to fit really well. They have a bit of spandex in them, aren't too skinny in the legs and are reasonably priced.

Faith Bicknell said...

HAHAHAHA @ tart-in-training!

Hey there, Molly. I went down a tube slide once. Let me reiterate: once! It was at Jekyll Isand's Summer Waves. Never ever again. That scared the bejeezus out of me! Sliding along at warp speed where I can only see MORE tube is not my idea of fun or thrilling.

I have a couple pairs of Gloria Vanderbilt jeans and I love them! They fit great! I found both pairs on clearance racks too, lmao!

Nicki (D.N.) said...

For you girls (and guys, Karl) who think being the skinny-stick person would be easy to fit,

I'm a 26 inch waist IF I'm bloated up to my neck. I have trouble even wearing XS because it falls off me sometimes.

And with jeans? I HATE HIP JEANS! I want the waist-drawn jeans, that widen at the hips, and shape the body! (I know, I know, MOM jeans.) But I love those things because I beat obesity in 2009 (I was 202 pounds and a size 16, and now I'm lucky if I fit a 16 in little-girls' pants) and when you lose 75 pounds in a year, you're gonna have clinging flab-skin.

I don't want hip jeans in size 0. I want waist jeans in size 0. Is it too much to ask that we skinny-minis don't have to wear MILEY CYRUS everything???

I hate Miley! I hate hip jeans! And for god's sakes, I wanna shop in a Vicky's Secret! I have an AA to an A if I'm lucky, and at one point I was a D (according to the Vicky's Secret girl, which horrified me).

Why can we girls who lose a massive amount of weight never find the clothes we want?

*Sigh* Rant over.

Faith Bicknell said...

LOL, one of the points of creating Four Strong Women is to allow readers to come here to rant.

That said, LMAO @ Miley Cyrus comment! OMG, don't get me started on that topic.

Anyway, I think that was the point of having a tailor make our nicer clothes decades ago. I'd make my own clothes if I could afford a sewing machine--has anyone seen the price of those lately???--and the supplies that goes into making clothes. Oh, and don't forget the time too.

My grandmother could whip up a beautiful dress in no time.

trinity said...

Faith that's the store they closed! That was the only one around here.
Trinity

trinity said...

No I don't want pajama jeans! Yuck! I've even gone in the mens section hell some of their jeans fit better then the womans! I don't have a butt so my ass is flat, but I have the hips. As far as tops forget it! Blouses never fit across, buttons pop off or I have a nice gap in-between the buttons. Yes I have a big rib cage too to go along with the big boobs!
Trinity

Faith Bicknell said...

Hmm...wonder if Lane Bryant went bankrupt because the one in our mall at St. C shut down too.

trinity said...

I wouldn't doubt it. It seems all the good stores are closing especially the ones I like.
Trinity

Marci Baun said...

I don't think they make clothes for real people any more. No matter your shape, nothing fits. Now, I feel like an old fart, but it's true. Nothing fits.

Marci Baun said...

Trinity,

They still have Lane Bryant in So Cal.

Janice Seagraves said...

When I got married my wedding dress was a size ten. I was proud of that size. Now that is considered fat? Come on! I didn't even have a tummy.

My daughter has no hips. I blame my hubby's genes. It's hard for her to find pants because she also has a butt. A nice butt, but they don't make jeans for woman with a butt but no hips. So she ends up wearing some kind of stretchy pants.

Janice~

Emmy Ellis said...

Waist jeans have come back in fashion over here. High Waisters, they're called. Maybe you'll see them in your stores soon?

:o)

Fiona McGier said...

Lands End has jeans that they call Fit 3, or relaxed, but that means they are up to your waist and have room to move. The other fits are under your waist, and excuse me, but after 4 c-sections years ago, I don't want anyone to ever have to look at my flabby abs area again! I also have some Newport News (catalog ordered) stretch jeans that fit so well I ordered multiples of the same color: black and blue. As for finding cool stuff that fits, Torrid is a trendy store that calls size 14 a "0", size 16 is a "1"...etc. I love their corsets and "date" clothes! But I stick to Lands End for work clothes.
My husband is convinced that since all of our clothing is now made in the far east, that since they are mostly tiny people, they don't know how to cut/design clothing to fit large people with ample curves.
He also hates shoes, claiming only partly tongue-in-cheek that their intention is to cripple all of us with bad feet from wearing ill-fitting shoes, so they can take over our country and we won't be able to stand long enough to object!