FASHION - Rambling about jeans and stuff!
Just general clothing news rambling. I've been needing a new pair of black jeans. I saw somewhere (an online ad? Not sure) that Just Jeans were doing women's jeans fitted in three different ways. You could pick what flaw jeans normally have for you, and then see if they had a solution.
For me, they did work. My jeans normally have a gape at the back which hangs out a fair way. The bold curve jeans that I put on in the store were astonishingly flattering, very suddenly. They certainly made me look very different, and they fitted my thighs and rear, while actually closing at the front without being a tent. So if you happen to have a curvy hourglass shape, there's some good news for you.
The bad news: They cost about $90-$100 and were only available in straight leg, not boot cut (though actually for once straight leg looked good on me since they fit sleekly). More for me, since I'm short enough I had to have the cuffs pinned up and shortened.
The probably worse news (for some): In the store in Chadstone, when I said I was a size 12, that translated to a 'size 32'. Due to a fair amount of herp derp on my part, I didn't immediately click that was an inch measurement. The poor assistant ran around for a long time but couldn't find anything larger than a size 31. Since my waist is 31' anyway, they actually fit (I usually have to go up a little to fit my butt), but I was kind of astonished that there were no 14s, no 16s, no 12s...just size 11 and under. Apparently you can get size 34s usually - they were just all sold out because everyone buys them and leaves the other sizes! - and I've seen anecdotal evidence elseblog that says those fit a Target 18, but I have no idea. A Target 12 is big on me, so I'm confused.
The assistant was pretty much convinced I should wear a 29' waist or something, and there was a bit of horror at the whole accepting being something as 'big' as a 31 inch waist. She REALLY tried to sell me on it, very hard ('These are not going to fit you in a week, it's very big'). Contemporary sizing has changed again - a bust size of 37' is now an 'XL' and I'm 2-3 inches bigger than that. Given that it goes up inch by inch, I guess that makes me a 2-3XL in the bust? A waist of 31 inches is an XL. Oddly, my hip size at 38 is an 'L', so all those charts which tell you how to pick a dress are just never going to work for me. Essentially, however, by contemporary charts I'm at the top end of the chart in the XL sizes. This is also true of brands like Friends of Couture.
Yet despite all of this, I wear a Target 'medium' in most things (usually tops), occasionally a 'small' (usually bottoms). Maybe Target's gotten very much into vanity sizing, or contemporary sizing is taking into account our higher Asian population, which has a tendency to need more petite sizes?
We really just need inch measurements across the board. All clothing should have accurate inches on it, and for women, we need hip, waist, and bust measurements on everything. Chaos brought me home a really nice jersey dress last night that he saw somewhere, and it fitted nicely over hips, waist, but the bust was so squished it pulled the armholes to painfully tight - I couldn't lower my arms. My boobs aren't THAT big, seriously, not compared to most people I know, so hmm, what?
I have a Bravissimo bikini to wear at the beach this Christmas - very much not my usual style, in hot pink silk with golden sequins, but I'm kind of looking forward to it, while trying to not give into the urge to diet really hard before wearing it. I'm thinking about getting another bathing suit as well for wearing while the first one is drying off, which means going to Brava in Prahran. Might not be able to manage it, due to costs, now that I think about it.
Got a very, very nice t-shirt from Cue with a cut out panel in a sort of 'Aeon Flux' type look, and Chaos got me a piece of black metal jewelry there which is all asymmetrical. Impulse buy! It is very pretty though. Right now, the Cue clothes are wonderful (and they all fit in mediums, hmm, though they mostly do 'XS' and 'S' in what's on the rack), but too expensive for my tastes. I just like the hyper urban modern look. I was rather mortified to see them listing themselves as 'for young women', since young I am not! I just don't like blending hugely into the crowd for my 'nice' clothes.
I am liking a LOT of the clothes I see in The Sartorialist, most of what the men wear, however. The photographer does not seem quite as daring with his choice of body types in women, but most guys should find a version of themselves in his archives somewhere. One thing he does do is photograph all ages! Very much appreciated, especially the wonderful old Italian gentlemen in their tailored suits with the matching kerchief in the pocket. Very suave.
I also really like this picture of a Milanese woman with sparkles on her earlobes. Isn't she awesome.
I wish this guy would spend a month or two in Melbourne. He was here briefly in Chapel Street, but a longer time would be fun, I think. Though possibly not in Winter - we really do all switch to just wearing huge black coats and carrying black umbrellas then. Melbourne is the gothiest of the Southern Hemisphere cities in Winter!
For me, they did work. My jeans normally have a gape at the back which hangs out a fair way. The bold curve jeans that I put on in the store were astonishingly flattering, very suddenly. They certainly made me look very different, and they fitted my thighs and rear, while actually closing at the front without being a tent. So if you happen to have a curvy hourglass shape, there's some good news for you.
The bad news: They cost about $90-$100 and were only available in straight leg, not boot cut (though actually for once straight leg looked good on me since they fit sleekly). More for me, since I'm short enough I had to have the cuffs pinned up and shortened.
The probably worse news (for some): In the store in Chadstone, when I said I was a size 12, that translated to a 'size 32'. Due to a fair amount of herp derp on my part, I didn't immediately click that was an inch measurement. The poor assistant ran around for a long time but couldn't find anything larger than a size 31. Since my waist is 31' anyway, they actually fit (I usually have to go up a little to fit my butt), but I was kind of astonished that there were no 14s, no 16s, no 12s...just size 11 and under. Apparently you can get size 34s usually - they were just all sold out because everyone buys them and leaves the other sizes! - and I've seen anecdotal evidence elseblog that says those fit a Target 18, but I have no idea. A Target 12 is big on me, so I'm confused.
The assistant was pretty much convinced I should wear a 29' waist or something, and there was a bit of horror at the whole accepting being something as 'big' as a 31 inch waist. She REALLY tried to sell me on it, very hard ('These are not going to fit you in a week, it's very big'). Contemporary sizing has changed again - a bust size of 37' is now an 'XL' and I'm 2-3 inches bigger than that. Given that it goes up inch by inch, I guess that makes me a 2-3XL in the bust? A waist of 31 inches is an XL. Oddly, my hip size at 38 is an 'L', so all those charts which tell you how to pick a dress are just never going to work for me. Essentially, however, by contemporary charts I'm at the top end of the chart in the XL sizes. This is also true of brands like Friends of Couture.
Yet despite all of this, I wear a Target 'medium' in most things (usually tops), occasionally a 'small' (usually bottoms). Maybe Target's gotten very much into vanity sizing, or contemporary sizing is taking into account our higher Asian population, which has a tendency to need more petite sizes?
We really just need inch measurements across the board. All clothing should have accurate inches on it, and for women, we need hip, waist, and bust measurements on everything. Chaos brought me home a really nice jersey dress last night that he saw somewhere, and it fitted nicely over hips, waist, but the bust was so squished it pulled the armholes to painfully tight - I couldn't lower my arms. My boobs aren't THAT big, seriously, not compared to most people I know, so hmm, what?
I have a Bravissimo bikini to wear at the beach this Christmas - very much not my usual style, in hot pink silk with golden sequins, but I'm kind of looking forward to it, while trying to not give into the urge to diet really hard before wearing it. I'm thinking about getting another bathing suit as well for wearing while the first one is drying off, which means going to Brava in Prahran. Might not be able to manage it, due to costs, now that I think about it.
Got a very, very nice t-shirt from Cue with a cut out panel in a sort of 'Aeon Flux' type look, and Chaos got me a piece of black metal jewelry there which is all asymmetrical. Impulse buy! It is very pretty though. Right now, the Cue clothes are wonderful (and they all fit in mediums, hmm, though they mostly do 'XS' and 'S' in what's on the rack), but too expensive for my tastes. I just like the hyper urban modern look. I was rather mortified to see them listing themselves as 'for young women', since young I am not! I just don't like blending hugely into the crowd for my 'nice' clothes.
I am liking a LOT of the clothes I see in The Sartorialist, most of what the men wear, however. The photographer does not seem quite as daring with his choice of body types in women, but most guys should find a version of themselves in his archives somewhere. One thing he does do is photograph all ages! Very much appreciated, especially the wonderful old Italian gentlemen in their tailored suits with the matching kerchief in the pocket. Very suave.
I also really like this picture of a Milanese woman with sparkles on her earlobes. Isn't she awesome.
I wish this guy would spend a month or two in Melbourne. He was here briefly in Chapel Street, but a longer time would be fun, I think. Though possibly not in Winter - we really do all switch to just wearing huge black coats and carrying black umbrellas then. Melbourne is the gothiest of the Southern Hemisphere cities in Winter!