The general fashion/style/please dress me thread

Pocketwatch, a really nice pen, in one memorable occasion a calling card...

So: insufferable, a poor idea, and a piece of paper. Like I said.

BRARANT TIME!

So the other day I was shopping for clothes with a friend of mine and her sister (I had one pair of pants, now I have two!) and we were in the H&M. My friend wanted to buy a cheap but nice bra, and a couple of bras looked good on the rack. It turned out that like, 80% of them were push-up. My friend was all "WTF! I don't want a push up!" and we spent the rest of the afternoon walking around bitching about the H&M. What the fuck kind of standard is that? First of all, most women with larger boobs don't feel like they need push-up. And what kind of message is it for women with small breasts? That they shouldn't be happy with what they have? If you aren't and you use push-up that's fine of course, but it shouldn't be the norm. Also a lot of younger girls shop there, so is this just another sexualisation of young girls?
Later on we talked about it being a 'new corset', because it is. And it's fucking stupid.

I went to Target and got myself a nice pair of black pants. This is the first pair of pants I have owned that were not jeans in a very, very long time.
I feel like there are so many more clothing opportunities available to me now. <3

That's pretty much how my experience was shopping for bras before I was too big to need a specialty size. Luckily most of the push-ups I got had removable padding, so I just threw the bra bananas away.

Women's clothing tends to be cut to be close-fitting, because it's flattering. Putting anything in the pockets fucks up the lines. You will notice that even when women's clothing has pockets they're often too tight to actually put anything in -- think women's jeans. Women carry purses for a reason.

This is not entirely true. There are plenty of situations where pockets can fit into women's clothing and not screw up the lines. We're not all wearing latex catsuits, here.

A flattering fit doesn't mean skintight, and this applies to both genders.

Ran across this article today, thought it was pretty good:

Finding your own style in a business workplace.

One of the things in here that I think is great advice is the idea of trying on clothes that flatter you, make note of the labels and cut/style, and then shop around for less expensive looks.

Please note the use of the words "tends" and "often."

I have no desire to get into semantic hair splitting with you, nor is it the topic of this thread.

Then I would love to know why you started doing it.

I am dropping this now.

Yay, I already love the idea of this thread!

If anyone needs help with women's fashion, I actually know a lot. My first day at my college newspaper, they told me the only columnist opening was fashion, so (after a mini freakout) I studied like crazy and now I have this shit down!

I can also help determine which colors look best with which skin tones ｡◕‿◕｡

I have always been on the larger side, as breasts go, and because they grew in so quickly, mine don't really have the um, perkiness that most other women have. A push up bra is essential for me. I am very happy that they make push-ups in my size. I would feel really self-conscious without one.

I'm sure everyone will be glad to know that I have no wisdom to offer on bra style or shopping, other than it's apparently a very aggravating experience.

You're right, I didn't really consider that option. But my point still stands, being that it's a shitty standard. Especially for the target audience (young girls/women) of H&M.

It does make things difficult. I tend to go to Victoria's Secret and just ask for a selection of demi bras in my size, because most stores like H&M don't carry bras with large cup size and small band size like I need. They really just focus on the body styles they want, instead of girls with different types.

I don't know much about bra shopping, but I have heard from others with experience that many people do not know their bra size, because they have been woefully misinformed. Their recommendation was to go to a good shop -- not Victoria's Secret, something like Nordstrom will do -- and get fitted properly. People have reported discovering that they'd been wearing the wrong size for many years, and felt much better once they were wearing the proper size.

I shop at Hunkemöller (does the USA have Hunkemöller?) or Livera (the USA definitely doesn't have Livera). I don't really know my bra size either, but I don't really give a shit. Honestly, if a bra fits I just buy it and then I don't have to worry about it for another six months, I'm happy enough.

I've seen Victoria's Secret get ragged on before as far as having sub-par quality or service - where does that come from? I've never had a bad experience there, and that includes getting helped in finding my size.

Mainly because they only carry up to DD in their stores, and they will try to put anyone who comes in into their bras, giving them a wider band instead of a larger cup size. Cacique (Lane Bryant's Plus Size bra store) suffers from the same problem.

I... what? I... I don't know?!?



It's like I've smoked a bowl of salvia.

I love that! If you don't put a pattern on a pattern and just wear a black shirt on it, it looks great imo.

I was thinking plain black/navy/cream top, 70s style brown suede jacket. There's two problems though, that bit of blue at the side and it's £40.

I walked in on the last day of the January sale and looked positively lost in a store besieged by discount-hungry women and still got excellent help - since I couldn't decide which pyjamas I liked most when the lady had managed to scrounge together three complete sets in the right size (I wasn't in love with any of them) I ended up getting all three (hey, US prices with a 75% sale discount so why not).
My wife was very pleased, the service in the store was fine and thanks for the recommendation.

I basically need to take someone into a goddamn mall with me and have them point at things. I tried going to Target and just tossing on every little thing that caught my eye. it didn't end well...

I can't seem to find things that work with my skin tone when it comes to colors! I know black and grey and that is kind of it. I want color, I just can't seem to pick the right color. You'd think I'd be able to, considering I do art things and play a game that is all about dressing people, but all of those virtual people manage to have the same stick-thin body type and certain colors with certain body types is asking for trouble.

Can someone let me know where to get a good, sturdy men's belt? Mine always start showing signs of wear within months; mostly because I think I'm getting crappily made belts from like e.g., Macy's and Lord & Taylor.

Belts are typically the kind of thing you don't want to overspend on because most people can't tell the difference and any differences that are there aren't particularly relevant. If your belts are getting worn out...something is seriously going wrong. Can you define 'showing signs of wear'?

At the very least you should own multiple (cheap) belts that you alternate between, that will help with wear considerably. The same is true of shoes (and handbags, etc.).

I guess by wear out I mean the leather starts to get all deformed and etc etc. I mean it's not like they're gone in months; my current belt is going on like 12+ months. It's one of those flip types with the black side and brown side and some of the brown has come off the brown side and some of the black has come off the black side and etc etc... You get the idea. Also I definitely don't have multiples, so maybe that's the solution. Also also it's not like my belly is straining this thing! I've been maintaining my semi svelte physique for its lifetime.

So I guess maybe I should just replace my current belt with two belts purchased from my retailer of choice?

Also: I don't alternate shoes. My daily walker is a pair of Chuck Taylor All Stars high tops (black, of course). Are they worth alternating?

I've had one belt for something like 20 years. It's not reversible so that outer side always faces out and this might prevent some of the visible wear that you're seeing on yours, but otherwise I mean a belt is a strip of leather. That's pretty much it.

Shoes last longer when they have time to rest, unstretch, and dry out from foot moisture between wears. You could get two sets of daily walkers, otherwise identical, and by switching-off back and forth between them increase their longevity by many times. Likewise work shoes, etc.

I asked about advice on not-super-pricy-but-not-horrible-quality Chelsea boots in the old thread and Hunty made some suggestions but I didn't take them and I wasn't totally sure I was okay with the asking price. (BTG also suggested some J&Ms but I didn't like them.) I asked on Something Awful as well a while ago and someone kindly linked me to these two pairs:

http://www.pediwear.co.uk/loake/products/1370.php
http://www.herringshoes.co.uk/product-info.php?&brandid=6&shoeid=2769

These both looked great to me then and now, and the prices are fine. The only reason I haven't ordered one or the other (is one brand better than the other? I know the names but nothing else) is that they're in the in UK, and while I have no real problem on principle with that, and I've ordered shoes online, I've always ordered domestically to make returns easier in case the fit isn't good. I've never actually taken Zappos et al up on the offer, but it was comforting knowing I could when dropping a couple hundred bucks.

Is there somewhere domestically that I can order either of these boots, or ones of comparable quality and price, or a store I can go to in the US that would be likely to have them? Or should I just suck it up and order online from one of these vendors? (Both places are to be trusted with credit card info, I assume?)

Also, are UK sizes just US sizes - 0.5? That's what this Zappos chart seems to indicate, I just want to be sure if I'm doing something like this. http://www.zappos.com/measure-your-shoe-size

I would like to know who are these giantesses that Ann Taylor is making clothes for. I ordered a lovely dress, in my usual size, and it arrived yesterday. Looks great, fits beautifully - and it's got to be 3 inches too long. I'm not short, either (5'6" and change, and most of it is legs anyway). It'll be an easy alteration, but sheesh, even with 2-inch heels it's too long.

Also, this vanity-sizing bullshit has got to stop.

Women's sizes just make no sense. About the only thing that does are men's pant sizes - waist and inseam measurements are the same no matter who makes your trousers. They're mathematically defined. I suppose shoe and bra sizes are pretty logical as well, even if the nomenclature differs from location to location.

But what's the definition of a size 10? What exactly does that mean? It's stupid and the clothing industry should use something that makes more sense.

Just now talking to a male coworker, apparently even in men's pants, which are measured by inches, there are variances between brands. Which makes NO SENSE.

Shoes are about as much of a crapshoot as clothes, I've found. I've worn everything from an 8 1/2 to a 10. Bra sizes halfway make sense - the number is the band size, and that's inches. The cup size is pretty arbitrary.

Cup size isn't supposed to be arbitrary, it's supposed to be a measurement of bust-to-underbust difference. Which of course gives you a huge variation once you get outside the "standard" sizes. There are supposed to be standards, but whether or not vanity shops tend to follow them, well, that's a crapshoot.

(what? I dated a Busty Australian for 8 years, I had to learn these things)

Oh yeah, they're definitely not consistent at all. I bought two pairs of jeans recently that are the exact same size, same brand, same cut. The only thing that's supposed to be different is the wash. But NOPE! The fit is totally different, to the point that I wonder if one was just mislabeled.

"Supposed to" is not a reflection of reality, in this case.

This isn't Nam, Alligator, there are rules!

Tell that to the company that thinks I'm a D cup. (Pro tip: I'm not. Not even close.)

You'd think that, but you'd be oh so wrong. Men's clothing has fallen into the vanity sizing trap as well. Not all 36" waists are the same. Most of them aren't even 36"!

The system makes sense, though.

There's no explanation of what the size system for women's clothing is. In pants, shoes, and bras the sizes at least have some codified definition.