My main goal in my weightloss journey is to be healthy! #1, numero uno…absolutely HEALTH is the most important thing! But…a VERY close number 2 is not shopping in plus-sized stores.
Can I take a minute and say how ego-crushing it is to have to shop for “plus sizes”! Why are they plus? Why aren’t they normal sizes but just bigger? I don’t understand that! Why do they have to be in a different category of stores instead of just being a regular clothing store?!?!?! I even heard one place that called them “mamma sized”. Ugh! I can tell you that at 18, when I was FAR from being a mom, the last thing I wanted to hear was that I looked like I had already had kids. That was really GREAT for my confidence!!
Also, did you know that a size 12 is considered a plus size?!?! A twelve! And if you’re a model then size 10 is plus! What lunatic world looks at a size 10 woman and says she’s the person to represent overweight women? Morons! That’s who! A woman’s pant size is just a number…I’ve seen women who were a size 14 that were in better shape than most and had zero flab!
Any way…I digress…
So one of my biggest goals is to no longer have to shop in these stores. It’s not that these are bad stores, or that the clothes are sub-par, or that the clothes are ugly or different… I just want to be like my friends! I want clothes with the same labels! I want to be able to go shopping WITH them! We don’t have to share clothes or be the same size…but it might be fun to have a matching shirt!!
I’m always embarrassed when someone asks me where I got something that I’m wearing. It’s almost shameful to have to say the plus-sized store name that I go to. Sometimes I lie and say I don’t know. I always fold my jackets or hoodies in a way that no one will see the tag if they pick it up. I don’t want them to know where I got it. It’s crazy…I know. I even used to cut the tags out of my clothes.
I’ve also noticed that the clothes in the plus stores are waaaaaaay more expensive than others. A t-shirt at Old Navy can be $10-$12, while the same one at Torrid is $40!! For a woman who has to worry about more than just looking cool it can be hard to build a wardrobe. If I didn’t have bills or kids I might be able to blow all my money on the coolest clothes, but I can’t do that. I know what you might be saying, more fabric costs more money. You might be surprised to know that this isn’t always the case with men’s clothes. Often it doesn’t matter what size they buy…if a shirt is $15 then it’s $15!
I’m looking forward to the day that I’ll be able to walk into ANY clothing store and shop for myself. That’s my #2 goal! I’m getting close…and I’ll be sure to let you know when it happens!
xoxo Jamie
The Healthy Hypochondriac 