A lot of people find shopping frustrating because they can never seem to find their right size. Some will even go so far as to assume something is definitely wrong with them or the way they look because of it, which is ridiculous! Designers design for a few sample sizes, and that's it. They don't really take into account that someone may have a large bust, and small waist, or may be taller than average.
Don't be surprised when you get home and something doesn't fit because you assumed that the size on the label was correct. Designers from brand to brand have created a lot of the frustration people feel when trying on clothes because you may be a 12 in one brand, an 8 in another, and a 14 in yet another. Never is this more true than if you are additionally buying any type of clothing from an overseas company, label, or designer. Try the clothes on in the store.
1. Try on items later in the day when things like feet and stomachs tend to swell to their fullest. Items should not be pulling or stretching in the zippers, pockets, or buttons.
2. If something is too tight or too small in store or too itchy, it's not going to get better when you leave.
3. Sit down, stand up, move around in the garment to mimic movements you would naturally do in the clothing. If you cannot function easily in them, take a hard pass.
4. Go up a size. If you have a large bust or bottom or thighs, etc than the piece you are trying on EVEN IF you normally wear this size, go up a size to fit the largest part of you and have the rest tailored down later. Yes, we know, life is so cruel and unfair, but if you want garments that actually fit you, have them fit to you.
5. Unless you're in a crop top, if you raise your hand and you can see your stomach and you don't want that to be seen, your top is going to continue to ride up and make you uncomfortable when wearing it.
6. The back of your trousers or jeans should not be a big droopy mess or conversely so tight, someone behind you can see your heartbeat. A tailor can correct this if you buy a size that is not already too tight on you, but rather loose, so they can tighten it to fit.
7. The break on your jeans or trousers should not be so long it is dragging on the floor and ruining your hem with each step nor should it be well above your ankle. If you have the pants on, if you are noticing a droopy or too short hem right off the bat, go for a different inseam length immediately or if the pants are too long...you guessed it, tailor it or use hem snaps to fix the issue.
8. Get professionally measured once a season if you've lost/gained weight or just to have your correct measurements. This will help you when you buy items online that you cannot try on before hand. I would not recommend you trying to take your own measurements as you cannot easily see all parts of you that someone else can.
9. And ladies, go for a bra fitting on a regular basis. So many women are in the wrong bra. A bra should not dig in at the shoulders, your straps should not constantly be falling down, or be so tight, you have spillage of back fat or bust, nor should bras ride up on you, or be so loose that their is rippling in the cup. And yes, cup sizes, above full body measurements do tend to change with things like weight loss/gain, pregnancy/age/surgery...all things that can effect any one, so do yourself a major favor and find out your real size. No one will know, other than your bra fitter who's seen it all, what size you really are.
10. Shoes should not pinch, rub, cause pain, have your toes spilling out of the foot bed, be so loose that you're sloshing around in your shoes, and you absolutely should be able to easily walk in them. Just like with clothing, as cute as a shoe is, if any of the above is true, do not buy that shoe as you will regret it with blisters and pain that you do not want. Rounded toe shoes are better for your toes, as are heels with a thicker heel base, and a longer space between the heel and the section of your shoe where your foot falls.
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I wear Plus sizes, and each clothing manufacturer/retailer has their own size guidelines. For me, at my favorite stores, I wear a 4X in tops/dresses and 2X in bottoms. That means something that accommodates a 56" bust and smaller hips. Many companies assume that large and lovely ladies are going to have big hips, but I don't. Most of my fat stays "upstairs" and on my waistline. 56C underwire bras are nearly impossible to find, so I currently wear an elastic/hook extender with my 54C Outwire bra. My feet got bigger from edema (swelling), so that put me in 8W instead of 7M. But I rarely have trouble finding footwear unless it's to accommodate prescribed orthotics.
When I want to get matching shirts/jackets for my boyfriend, I go to the Big Men section. He gets a 3X Tall, and I get a 4X regular. Finding things in local stores is difficult, so I prefer to shop online.
In my college days I worked at one particular store that actually did go all the way up to size 26, and would make the same versions of the clothing from petite to plus, however, when it got to the plus sizing, all the tops lost all their curve and were just made like squares, the same with the skirts. Although a lot of customers would be excited to see their size, they often left disappointed because they were expected apparently to wear these tent like outfits with no curve appeal. It is a known fact that nearly 65% of plus size women 'have to,' not want to, but 'have to' shop online to find anything that works for them and big name designers often refuse to create larger sizing because they believe there to be no market for it despite the fact that in the US, the average size of a women is now a 14. Getting a good fit straight off the rack these days for most sizes is just impossible.
This comes in handy. I almost never bought myself some clothes since i was a really damned broke student.
But now at least is a good time. I have a job and i could buy a few pieces. Hopefully it will be a good outcome.
The trouble for me is finding the correct size since I'm a big boy. Especially shoes. My shoe size is 45 EU. And the shops here don't sell that many shoes with that size. And another problem is for each general shoe shop there is there are at least 3 more shoe shops, that sell only shoes designed only for women. 😒
And some of these stores offer like 20 shoes for men while there are 100 shoes for women.
Anyway shopping clothes seems like a pain for me for that reason.
Shop at Zappos. com. The definitely have your size and 100s of pairs of shoes :) Yes, it's a pain to not be able to try on the shoes first, but unlike a lot of other companies, they offer 100% free returns and shipping. It's very hard for me to find shoes as well, especially running shoes. I bought and returned 6 pair from them before finally finding one simply because my local store never had the shoes I wanted to try in stock.
... correction... sorry, I can only assume you are not in the US by the sizing, and I just checked and they do not do international shipping---but I would still advise finding something comparable or maybe even asking GaG where you can find a shop with shoes in your size in your location.
I hate it, that men's fashion isn't as big as women's fashion. Women have so many choices in clothing and we have a limited range of choices. I'd like to find clothing for men of all tastes :/
But who said, that men can't have an eye for fashion? I sort of do.
It is a bummer if you really do like and appreciate clothing. I recently went shopping with one of my guy friends looking for an outfit for he and his son for an upcoming photoshoot, and I was rather bored having to choose between a plaid shirt with buttons or the plaid pullovers with the zipper or the plaid long sleeves (seriously, what is it with you guys and plaid?). I mean, it was all boring and all in the same shades of black, blue, red. Meanwhile, go over the women's, and it's tulle, and polka dots, stripes, stars in every color of the rainbow, and shorts, skirts, pants, jumpsuits, dresses---absolutely, 100's of ideas. It's part of the reason it takes us forever to get dressed.
Don't give up though. If you really are into fashion, there are a lot of male fashion vloggers who share your frustrations all the while showcasing their own style, which even I find myself envious of sometimes that any human being can look that good in their style all the time.
Yeah. Our limitation in clothing choices is really unpleasant. I figured why women need more time picking the right clothing and you said it.
I kind of want to go shopping clothes with girls. Women seem to be more interested in fashion and clothing than we generally do.
But i can't since i have no girlfriend. Oh well. Finding a girlfriend is so difficult.
Plus i want to see what outfits girls like to see. Because i do hate wearing suits and i can't feel like myself in those 😣 i kind of feel like an object in suits.
I highly recommend it. Even if you don't have a girlfriend, a good girl who is a friend or even a sister can help. In my high school days, my brother would always ask me to help him pick something to impress the ladies, lol, and I would ask him for the guys. It's funny how you're so sure what you've picked is it, but then he would say something like, that makes you look this way or that, and I, the same for him, and it was like, never thought of it that way.
There is the problem. I don't have any girls ;( 😢ðŸ˜
...
And i think the girls kind of don't really like me :/
I want to meet some but i wouldn't know of places to meet some cool and single girls other than online dating.
So yeah. I don't know what to do anymore. I guess I'll just pick up what i like to see on myself 🤔 at least i can't really go wrong with it.
I didn't understand when you said that the guys have limited options. IF it's not about the size, I must say, guys have countless of the options. I just wish that there were lesser burden in the society to dress up. I'd be much much more experimental. Guys go for the same fashion because it's always a safer option to dress up than dressing down. We have lots of patterns, prints, fabrics and what not? And I'm speaking all this when I'm living in India where you have so limited options. You are in the west, you get at least 4-5 times more colour options and custom made articles, not to mention the variety in the first place.
BeeNee - I think plaid shirts look good (even though I don't own any)
@YourFutureEx I think the reference was in comparison to women's clothing, the options are far less. There are simply just more clothing options for women to wear. If you've ever gone to a formal event in particular, it become blatantly obvious. If you go to most department stores, even in the US, where the majority of people shop, if you look at the men's racks, although there are indeed thousands of patterns and designs available... in theory, the majority of what is actually on display IS the same stripe/plaid/solid tops, and the pants are the same solid/stripe/plaid.
Indeed.
First things first: There are more women's clothing than there are men's clothing in stores. I'd say out of 100% of all clothing in a mall or store, 25% of the products are for men or general (for both men and women okay to wear).
The second criteria is the size, which narrows the choices down
The third one is a problem: Women have so many kinds of clothings available (dresses, heels etc...), which were made to wear for women only. Men don't really have a big array of clothing types available to them. There are the regular clothings like jeans, pullover, sweatshirts as well as suits (although even women sometimes can wear suits if that suits them UNLIKE DRESSES AND HEELS!).
So there is that.