Friday, June 22, 2007

Shopping Online ROCKS!!!

I have mentioned that I was looking for a dress for a possible wedding I may be going to in September.

The thing is, the big women's stores sell dresses that are shapeless or clingy!? or with enough pattern to have a blind person know something is going on. Ugh.

So I started looking on the internet for plus size women's clothes.

While looking at possible dresses I knew I wanted something that would detract from the fact that I'm not a skinny minnie.

Low and behold there were sites that recommended certain dresses for certain body types. I'm pretty sure I'm more pear shaped and the online shops would let you search for dresses that would be flattering for this kind of figure.

I found many dresses but I would end up wondering what size would really be right for me. Would a normal woman's 18 fit me or do I have to go with a woman's 20W. So I was a bit antsy about ordering dresses that might not fit me and oy vey! the measuring charts are bogus. I mean, they have to be!

Then there is the fact I live in Canada and a few places just won't ship here and if I had to send the dress back how much would all the shipping be? There was one dress that I absolutely loved and while humming and hawwing it was sold out and gone. Dammit!!

All the same, I knew what I was looking for and decided what the hell, I would look in a few stores around here. There are some seriously fancy clothing stores in my town because 'la-di-dah' people live here (Bob and I are the white trash element) but I have never set foot in any of them, even when I was a size 7.

So I go up tonight and enter one of the stores that looks scary. I don't even try and pretend I'm something I'm not and immediately ask if they stock any dresses in a size 18. The young woman was delightful and said that although they didn't stock them they could order them in.

Meh. Okay then. I explain that I want an A-line dress with ruching around the bodice to give the illusion of a waist with a bit of sexy.

Bloody hell if they didn't have the dress I had seen on a few websites that I had thought would be just right (not the dream dress but very nice). It was a size 14. Offffda.

I'm all fuck it, and walk into the dressing room. I pull the dress on over head because I'm not stupid, it ain't coming over my hips, and actually get the dress zipped up. Holy shit!

Now, if my name was June then the song, June Is Busting Out All Over (I hated that play) would have been a perfect backdrop. Since there is no one else in the store I walk out of the dressing room and tell the sales lady I don't want any crap, just the truth.

The lady was quite nice and said that she thought I had picked the right kind of dress.

Basically, it's flattering in it's shape but yeah, my boobs aren't on the menu for the dinner so I'm thinking an 18 but also I wasn't keen on the under color of pink (it was brown over pink but I really like the brown over blue).

I see another dress (to the right) that I had also found on the internet and decide again, I'll try it on even though it's a 14. Poor dress couldn't handle the boobage. Again, I came out because I like the neckline of the dress but the ruching was kind of hitting the middle of the bustline and I was figuring it should be below the bust. The lady thought the first dress had a better cut and flattered my shape better (I'm thinking she knew an 18 would have been a hard squeeze).

I did see another dress and asked her what she thought and bless her for honesty she said it would be too clingy and it's clearly not what I want. Another dress with the same structure was there and I enjoyed the colour but it had a bow at the hip - yeah, let's NOT draw attention there!

Turns out that while I was changing she found the dress I wanted to order in the brown over blue in a 16 and asked me to try it on.

Okay.

We have lift off!! It was great and we agreed that the straps of the dress probably needed to be taken up about an inch. I bought the dress on the spot even though I didn't have one girlfriend there to say 'OMG, are you out of your friggin' mind!?' What was really nice was that I said something about how I managed to do that fast and she said that it was nice to help someone who knew what would be flattering on them instead of trying for something not suited to their shape.

Thank ya!

The good news is when I came home I asked Bob if I could model the dress I bought.

He liked it. He really, really liked it.

I won't be doing any pictures in the dress until I have a proper tan (super white cleavage!), sexy shoes and my hair just a touch longer. About the length in the picture of me and Cody. It's much shorter right now because I cut it for pool season but I know that by the end of August I'll just have to cut my bangs and my hair should be at a good length.

This is a picture of the dress on the left but it's with brown as it's undertone. Mine has a blue undertone - in the dress above the blue is very noticeable whereas in the dress I have it's just hinted at.

Now I just have to be invited to the wedding. *snort*


10 comments:

Kristie (J) said...

Wow!! Those are gorgeous dresses! And Huzzah to you for finding the right dress!
And now that you've posted your pic - you'll have to post one when you're ready to wear it *g*

Anonymous said...

I love those dresses! In fact, I want one.

Anonymous said...

LOVE the dresses! I actually just bought my first dress earlier this summer. When I say first dress, I mean my first cute/sundress type dress. I too am a pear shape, and I've ALWAYS had problems finding a dress I finally decided to hell with it I'm just going to to every department store and try on all different styles to see what (if anything) looks nice. Low and behold (afer many many a dress), I found an A-Line dress AND it was a size 12!! (I ususally wear 14 or 16.) Woo hoo! So, I know how freakin' frustrating trying to dress a pear shaped body!

Rosie said...

I realized recently that I have a total of like 2 dresses in my closet these days and they are both formal wear.

I think I'll steal your idea as I want a few casual/business type dresses and start by doing some research online.

Ya done good kiddo!

Mailyn said...

Bob and I are the white trash element

LMFAO!!! Dude, I saw your pic. You're not a cow!

That dress is beautiful. Wait a minute, they make WOMEN's dresses with bows?!?! Who the fuck is that for? Little Bo Peep?!?! LMAO!

Tara Marie said...

Very nice--I want one :)

Jenster said...

Beautiful!! I'm looking forward to your tanned, longer hair pic!

ReneeW said...

I love the dress! You have good taste. I hate shopping for dresses because I get to the dressing room with all the mirrors then turn around and look at my big butt and saddle bags. Yikes. No freakin' way. I have to find a dress for my daughter's wedding next year and it's scaring me to death. I think I'll look for something in this style. I have a pear shape too and I think it would work for me. You are lucky to find this sales clerk. Stick with her, a good one is hard to find. Mailyn is too funny - totally agree with her.

Anonymous said...

Cindy: We've all seen your picture now, so no more comments about being a "cow." You're so cute, that doesn't even remotely apply.

CindyS said...

Kristie - Yep! I'm a happy camper.

LinnieGayl - you should be able to find these dresses online and Nordstroms seems to have tons of great dresses!

Mollie - See, just going out and trying stuff on is enough to depress me for the day so I'm glad I did my searching before I went to the stores. I'm enjoying shopping for clothes that I know will flatter but I will still wear my shorts thank you very much ;)

Rosie - I own two dresses (one from when I was thinner and I love it so I'm keeping it) and one for this size but it's that black dress sheath that is in all the plus size stores. Ugh. Have fun with it!!

Mailyn - Wait till you see the pictures of our backyard with Bob's signs - I like a lot of colour and Bob loves old fashioned porcelain signs so we finally got them up this week. Pics to come soon ;)

Tara Marie - thanks! Nordstroms in the States.

Jenster - Thanks and I'll be sure to find just the right lighting to have my picture taken ;)

Renee - I won't be fronting with you, I'm going to shoe horn my way into a pair of spanx before I put on my dress ;) You are much smaller than I am and I think you will find something flattering for you fairly easy. It never hurts to just go online shopping and look for a style that you would like and if you know your shape, there are suggestions for dresses that will work. Once you do that you know what NOT to try on so yeah, I did do the butt check and it's not small but I'm hoping the spanx will pull it in enough that the front of the dress will be where everyone is looking ;)

Linniegayl? Moo? ;)

CindyS