Archive for the 'Clotheshorsery' Category

Bum-looker

Published at September 12, 2009 in Iron and Clotheshorsery. 0 Comments

I’ve lost some weight since I began with the iron, enough to necessitate some new clothing purchases.  I bought “real” clothes first  — workwear and the like — since I have to be out in public and all.  I put off buying new workout wear since I don’t really care what I wear to work out in, as long as my boobs are hoisted and all important bits covered.  But my bras were beginning to get shot, and I was getting holes in my workout pants.  So I got a bunch of new outfits, in the smaller size.

And — hello!  Now that I’m wearing formfitting workout pants (I previously had too-big non-clingy sweatpant-like things) and shirts that come no lower than the top of my hips, I can see that I now actually have a curved ass.  Curved on the top, no less.  And fairly prominent hamstrings as well.  I’ve actually managed to overcome my flat-assed genetic legacy by doing squats.

Yay!

Unfortunately, the bras didn’t work out as well.  I got them from Figleaves, which does very helpfully tell you that a UK F is equivalent to a US G.  But I didn’t look quite as carefully at the sizing on the particular bra I bought, which seems to have been made in France, where an F is the same as a US F.  I could have returned them, but, eh, it’s only one cup size, and it would have taken weeks to get replacements.

There’s another reason it was a good idea to get new workout clothes: it’s easier to check my form in form-fitting clothing.

It’s good to have skillz

Published at June 7, 2009 in Clotheshorsery, Domesticity, Books, Fun Stuff, I see fat people and Vanity. 2 Comments

I went to the reading of Kate Harding and Marianne Kirby’s book on Friday night at Re/Dress, a plus-sized vintage/resale boutique in Brooklyn. I’m not the world’s biggest fan of shopping, in part because at my size, it’s difficult to find *anything,* let alone anything fashionable and at the same time age-appropriate* or suitable for my body type (please let the tyrrany of the Empire waist come to an end). But I also get grumpy in stores, which makes vintage shopping kind of a trial (and when you add in the musty smell that is inevitable among vintage clothing and which also turns me off used bookstores, well), because you kinda have to look at EVERYTHING because everything is one-of-a-kind.

Not my idea of a fun way to while away the afternoon. And it’s not like I can even get into shoe shopping, because of my big feet. I do have jewelry, though! Which is important when you wear the same drab old outfit nearly every day. Continue reading ‘It’s good to have skillz’

Eep!

Published at March 22, 2009 in Spend!, Clotheshorsery and Vanity. 10 Comments

I just spent an ungodly sum of money on a dress. A fancy dress. A dress I may never wear but once.

But, damn, it’s a nice dress. And it makes me look fantastic. And it’s fancy enough for a fancypants black-tie-optional event, which is something I’m going to next week.

I’d spent the whole afternoon Saturday looking for something, anything, that I could wear and look good in and feel good in and maybe not have to fork over almost as much as I would like to spend on a flight to Iceland for. Lane Bryant had some cute dresses, but they all had Empire waists — which make me look simultaneously hunchbacked and pregnant — and also had major static issues. Most of the stuff at Macy’s either had Empire waists, needed special underwear, or was matronly.

So I went to Leelee’s Valise, a store I try to avoid because it makes me want to spend money. But damn, they have some gorgeous stuff.

And let me tell you, after an afternoon spent trying on stuff that looked cute on the hanger but made me look horrible, it was nice to be handed a pretty broad selection of beautiful, well-made dresses that made me look great. And the killer one was this knee-length Tadashi dress with a black ruched-chiffon bodice and skirt and lace-over-nude sleeves with a little bit of sparkle (something like this one, but with a portrait neckline). I walked out and looked at myself in the mirror and was almost speechless. I looked really damned good.

I actually bought a different dress at first. Not that I didn’t love the Tadashi, but that price tag was giving me fits. And I don’t go to many fancypants black-tie-optional events, so I figured that I’d be better off buying a cheaper dress I could dress up with accessories and probably get more use out of. I will most definitely be going to cocktail parties and dinners at library conferences. Librarians, I am learning, network like nobody’s business. Nobody likes a good conference, complete with opening receptions and closing dinners, like a librarian. But the Tadashi might be a bit much for that kind of event — though it might not, but I won’t know until I actually go to one.

So I got the cheaper dress. But that lovely, gorgeous Tadashi dress was still calling to me.

I started looking for shoes. I wanted gold, but so many gold shoes look tacky. But I found these, and fell in love.

I spoke to my sister, who’s also coming up for the event (our aunt is being honored for her work with a Catholic foundation). She was going to wear a black wrap dress that she’d worn to her company Christmas party. I was again hearing the call of the Tadashi, so I offered to let her wear the lace boudoir dress, which would give me an excuse to go get the Tadashi. Which is what I did.

And you know? Now I have something to wear to fancypants events. It won’t go out of style, since it’s classic, I know it looks good on me, if I lose weight I can have it taken in and if I gain weight I can sell it on eBay.

I’ll just have to start going to more fancypants events, that’s all.

Score!

Published at March 11, 2009 in Clotheshorsery. 1 Comment

Just got a $750 Dana Buchman robin’s-egg blue suede jacket for $99 at Filene’s Basement.  And it’s not dowdy!

For that, I will (temporarily) forgive them for moving their women’s department to the top floor in an out-of-the-way location and cutting it by about 2/3.

I *knew* these shoes would get me someday

Published at May 15, 2008 in Clotheshorsery and Crime. 2 Comments

I have a long history of footwear with murderous intentions.

In the ’70s, I had a pair of clogs that I loved. Unfortunately, when you wear your wooden-soled clogs with cable-knit tights and you have unstable ankles, bad things can happen. My mother eventually took the clogs away.

In college, I had two pairs of shoes that tried to kill me. One was a pair of black sneakers that would send me skittering down the stairs, the soles slipping along the edges of the steps, until my foot would catch a horizontal surface. The other was a pair of knockoff LL Bean boots. The boots, like the sneakers, tried to do me in on the stairs. Oh, they were tricky, holding onto snow and ice in their treads, releasing the slush when I was on the stairs in the Student Union or Monteith Hall. I narrowly missed being thrown over the big marble staircase over the info booth at the Student Union, but they got me on the stairs in Monteith, sending me face-first down a flight of stairs.

I managed to catch myself by putting my hands out in front of me, but I still have damage to my right shoulder from that little episode.

I managed to avoid angry shoes for many years, until I started working as a lawyer.  Fortunately, the shoes that tried to get me shortly after I moved to New York were somewhat inept, doing nothing more than causing me some embarrassment and a scraped knee after they made me wipe out in the middle of Rockefeller Center one spring day.

Today, though — another attempt, by a different pair of shoes.  I was crossing Houston to change trains, navigating through road resurfacing and trying to beat the light, when my left shoe took a half step ahead of me.  I landed half out of the shoe and my ankle rolled, causing me to scrape my foot against the asphalt and nearly sending me into oncoming traffic.

Wonder which pair will come for me next?

Sorry about the light posting, and some fashion

Published at August 16, 2007 in Clotheshorsery, Fun Stuff and Vanity. 8 Comments

I’ve been a little ill. There’s a stomach bug going around these parts, and apparently, I caught it.

In the meantime, has anyone ordered clothes from these folks? I found them while looking for caftans, so I could have a nice-looking yet comfortable after-work at-home alternative to the jeans I picked out of the laundry pile. What’s great about them is that they not only have everything on their site in plus sizes, they also have a custom-fit option so that if you’re larger than the standard sizes (which go up to 3X), or if you have particular fit issues, you can have them make something for you to fit YOU. I mean, they have bust sizes of up to 75 inches in their custom option.

I’m in love with the caftan on the main page,* as well as a whole lot of their skirts. I especially like the long geometric paneled skirt.

The biggest drawback, it appears, is order time since stuff comes from India. But hell, if it’s made to measure (and at very reasonable prices), why the hell not?

__________

Okay, it appears they have a rotating image on the main page.  The caftan I like is the cream caftan with Moroccan embroidery.