Frump to Fab 2018 - Fabulous Dahhhhlings

silvasava

Grey day here too LL & wouldn't you know my window cleaner is coming today! Pottering indoors today. Big batch of spaghetti Bolognese being made - getting autumn ready with some stocks of comfort food in the freezer. Fabbing today will be another liberal application of moisturiser & maybe a review of my wardrobe.
Have a good day ladies x

humptydumptybits

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Consistent accurate sizing of clothes does matter imo - so one can monitor for oneself whether you're getting bigger, smaller or what.

I'm going to be at a bit of a loss when my real size 14 clothes wear out or I get fed-up with them and chuck them out anyway at some point - as I won't have my "Comparison Point" to tell whether the size I am is bigger/smaller/the same as then. It's very easy to kid oneself that label size 14 clothes are the same size as real size 14 clothes and thus allow one's weight to creep up 2 sizes to what it was. Ask me how I know:cool: - and hence I "tell it like it is" that our clothes have been vanity-sized in recent years and I'm too honest not to tell everyone that that is what has happened.

A tape measure is your friend.

humptydumptybits

silvasava wrote: »

I've pretty well given up with sizing Humpty - I just look at it and measure against me. I don't really care as I've bought sizes 10, 12, 14 and 16 just to get a good fit as there doesn't seem to be consistent sizing anywhere!

It is so frustrating isn't it, makes online shopping such a gamble as a 10 in one shop just can't be relied on to be a 10 in another shop. I know there has to be a bit of variation because of style, if someone has to wear a 14 because they have a big bust then it doesn't mean they need a 14 in a skirt but as you say the variation is so large. I worked with someone who was so hung up on sizes that if a certain shop/style meant she needed a bigger size than she considered her "real" size then she wouldn't buy it. We used to say to her that it's just a label, you can cut it out if it bothers you but she would literally walk away from something she loved that really suited her just because of the label.

moneyistooshorttomention

Maybe she was walking away intending to go on a diet?

I know my reaction to the fact that I'd got to where I could see I was going to need to buy 2010's size 16 was to "walk away and start dieting - as I'd clearly let my body get out of control" and not to buy the item and cut out the label.

It's pointless to buy clothes for a bigger-size-than-one-intends-to-be imo and I've only bought a very few & very cheap items of clothing at label size 14 in the last couple of years, to do temporarily - as there's no point in buying "proper" clothing for this size (as I don't intend to stay this size). I don't want to waste my money spending £300 on a winter coat or £700 on a raincoat (yep...that's the prices I've spent before/have in mind) unless I know it won't be getting too big for me at some point. So - what I did instead was buy a charity shop raincoat and an alteration it needed (about £20) and a charity shop coat (cleaning needed) for about £20. I won't be too upset at chucking out £20 x 2 = £40 and replacing with "usual quality". £1,000 down the drain after losing weight would be rather a disincentive to lose that weight.

Gives an added incentive to diet as well if one knows "There aren't going to be any decent new clothes (of the size-dependant) type until I know I'll be keeping them" (ie they're in my size I intend to be).

The only buying "normal level clothing" I've done (of the size-dependant variety) over the last couple of years is I've bought 38C bras for when I lose a bit more weight and one 36C bra (my proper size - that I'm going back to) so I can "test" to see when I've reached that size again.

Southern-Girl

humptydumptybits wrote: »

I don't get why current sizes aren't real? Rules change, standards change and the sizes the industry use now are real, it reminds me of old dears who used to be constantly changing prices back into "old" money because pounds, shillings and pence were real and decimal currency wasn't. Well it was in all the shops and banks I used.

This is exactly what I was thinking! I haven't got a clue what size I was 30 years ago.............just a lot lighter than I am now :rotfl::rotfl:

maman

I think clothes shopping is a huge gamble. It's not just between shops that vary but within shops. I've often tried several pairs of jeans of the same size in as the cutting/machining is poor so they vary even with the same label.:mad:


What also annoys me is that the shops aren't really that interested in feedback. Of course we know that for some peculiar reason M&S won't listen to its customers but it's other shops too. I needed to buy a Large size for the dress I had in Zara the other week. If I'm Large then I don't know where all these Small and Medium people are hiding! In a decent brand I'm a size 12 veering towards a 10. Even then the dress is a bit small across the bust (I'm a 34D) and it's very long even though I'm 5ft 9. I phoned Zara to tell them because I thought the description online was all wrong. They couldn't have been less interested!:mad:


That's enough angry faces for one morning. The sun is trying desperately hard to come out here and it promises to be 20 degrees after lunch. I'm off into the city centre for my podiatry appointment. Not much time for browsing today though as I'm out dancing later. Still warm enough for dancing in a cotton skirt and no tights. Hope I can keep that going until half term.:)

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

Silva thank you for the information about 10% Ibuprofen Gel in Boots. I stick to the 5% Ibuprofen Gel that is sold in Poundland because it works well for me and it is a £1 compared to £5.99 for the same quantity of gel. As I now have to live on the Assessment rate of ESA (Employment and Support Allowance) which is only £73.10 a week I have to be very disciplined with my spending habits.

Maman I believe I get pain flare ups, when I am acting like I have no health issues and end up pushing my Arthritic body too far. Last weekend I behaved more sensibly and when my sister R wanted to go to the pub late on Saturday evening, I told her I was not up to going and that I needed a rest. I also decided to give Karaoke a miss on Sunday to get some more much needed rest.

With regards to label sizing, in my late teenage years when I was incredibly skinny and only weighed 7 stones 7 pounds I still found that depending on the designer or shop sizes were not uniform or universal. The smallest size I could wear for my 22 inch waist was size 8 but I could go up to as large as a size 12. So in my opinion nothing has really changed much when it comes to the sizing of Women's clothing.

I do not use clothing size labels to give me accurate measurements of my body, I use a tape measure once a week to record my measurements. This is a great incentive to lose weight for me personally as even when I am the same weight on my digital scales, I could have lost an inch or 2 somewhere on my body.

I went to see the film Yardie yesterday evening at my local Odeon and I really enjoyed the film even though there were some aspects of the film which were a little advised, like having the lead character have a wig of dreadlocks which looked nothing like the real thing. The story line could have been stronger in places, but over it was good story telling. I would give this film 7.5/10

lessonlearned

Well my poor handyman is having a right old struggle with the digging. There are the most enormous woody roots underneath the surface. There’s no way I come have coped with that lot. I feel rather guilty if I’m honest. I had no idea it was that bad.

And it is so cold, the wind is coming from the east and it is horrible.
Hopefully it’s just a one day wonder and it will be a bit warmer tomorrow.

Whilst on the subject of shopping it’s the god awful cheap and Nasty fabrics that get me (and the shoddy stitching of course). I don’t know if anyone watched the programme Drowning in Plastic last night but it mentioned synthetic fibres and micro plastics such as those found in exfoliators etc. It isn’t all just about plastic bags, bottles and fishing lines. Apparently fleeces and those microporous cleaning cloths are some of the worst offenders. They get into the water systems via washing machines. It is truly horrific what we are doing to the planet.

I have stopped using any products with micro beads and as far as possible anything with sodium laurel sulphate. I am now resolved to going back to natural fabrics and yarns if I can, buying and consuming less.

sashybo

Hi everyone,

Congrats on the house move LL.:T

Have been lurking & reading along. Still struggling to get into any real routine with exercise due to a combination of shift work, DS & laziness. I have at least been doing a 40 min walk once a week when taking DS to playgroup, coming back up the hill is a real workout pushing the pram!

My local Mr M's has expanded their ladieswear section & some of it is quite good quality actually. I bought two cotton tops with boat necks & 3/4 length sleeves for £6 each and two pairs of black leggings for £7 each.

The leggings are quite thick & have a nice stretch without being see-through. I wore them to do some yoga & they were really comfortable to exercise in. So I'm pleased with the Mr M stuff so far, they have jeggings too for around £12 but not tried those as yet. I buy quite a few things for DS there & they are always lovely and wash well so thought the ladieswear was worth a punt.

To join in the clothes size debate, I thought that retailers changed the sizes every so often as the body shapes of the population change. That's why sizes from years ago are smaller, people are generally taller etc. I think it's always been the same though, you just have to try things on. I agree that it's so frustrating not knowing what size you will fit into even in the same shop. In some I'm a size 12 & in others a 14 and I have no idea when they start with small, medium & large! Except I'm generally not a small as that usually means my boobs or bum or both won't fit in it. I was really skinny at 18 & it was a shock for me when I finally got some curves in my 20s, although I always had "sturdy" calves. :rotfl:

Jeans are a particular nightmare for me as they need to have enough stretch to get over my calves & bum but then they can be too big on my waist & I'm forever hitching them up. :rotfl: You should see the state of me trying jeans on in a changing room, I have to sit, kneel & bend to make sure the jeans aren't lowering & flashing a builder's bum. :eek::rotfl: I'm really paranoid about this as always kneeling & bending over to pick up DS or play with him at playgroups etc.

humptydumptybits

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Maybe she was walking away intending to go on a diet?

I know my reaction to the fact that I'd got to where I could see I was going to need to buy 2010's size 16 was to "walk away and start dieting - as I'd clearly let my body get out of control" and not to buy the item and cut out the label.

It's pointless to buy clothes for a bigger-size-than-one-intends-to-be imo and I've only bought a very few & very cheap items of clothing at label size 14 in the last couple of years, to do temporarily - as there's no point in buying "proper" clothing for this size (as I don't intend to stay this size). I don't want to waste my money spending £300 on a winter coat or £700 on a raincoat (yep...that's the prices I've spent before/have in mind) unless I know it won't be getting too big for me at some point. So - what I did instead was buy a charity shop raincoat and an alteration it needed (about £20) and a charity shop coat (cleaning needed) for about £20. I won't be too upset at chucking out £20 x 2 = £40 and replacing with "usual quality". £1,000 down the drain after losing weight would be rather a disincentive to lose that weight.

Gives an added incentive to diet as well if one knows "There aren't going to be any decent new clothes (of the size-dependant) type until I know I'll be keeping them" (ie they're in my size I intend to be).

The only buying "normal level clothing" I've done (of the size-dependant variety) over the last couple of years is I've bought 38C bras for when I lose a bit more weight and one 36C bra (my proper size - that I'm going back to) so I can "test" to see when I've reached that size again.

Sorry you missed the point, she didn't need or want to go on a diet. The clothes did fit she just didn't like the label so she would buy something in say M&S because a 12 fitted her but she wouldn't buy something she liked in say Dorothy Perkins because she needed a 14. She didn't change sizes between shops. The label doesn't really matter, she was a 36in bust in both shops and the label on the dress didn't make a jot of difference to that.


Obviously if you are dieting you don't want to buy clothes that won't last but that is surely about the fit not the label?