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Comments 22

thepouncer March 9 2006, 17:56:11 UTC
Harper's Bazaar tells me the peasant look *is* over, and cited Sienna Miller's short haircut as proof. I hope they're right. I'm not a peasanty person.

I have the same problem with wrap dresses, and also resort to grandmother's pin collection to make sure the cleavage isn't too deep. I wish clothing manufacturers would realize that women's bustline differs dramatically, just like waist and hips and shoulders do. Finding a dress that fits well is very difficult.

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vaznetti March 9 2006, 18:12:33 UTC
I like the idea of peasant clothes, but they make me look dumpy and unkempt. (I also like Harper's Bazaar, but for some reason keep expecting them to go out of business.)

I love wrap dresses -- so comfortable! so flattering! -- but they either need to be very well-made or be kept pinned shut. I seem to have left a number of my smaller, plainer pins (also grandma's naturally) in a jewellery box in Oxford. (And I sometimes wonder whether whoever is designing clothes for M&S at the moment thinks that I want to show off my cleavage more than I really do, since I have the same problem with a brown dress I bought from them in the summer.)

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veejane March 9 2006, 18:42:48 UTC
My answer to gappy wraps is the hidden snap, sewn right up near the edge of the fabric.

If you can sew at all (it's a job done by hand), that is.

I occasionally see wrap tops with the snap pre-sewn for you, but usually I end up creating my own modesty-wear.

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vaznetti March 9 2006, 18:50:21 UTC
Hm. That's a thought. I don't have snaps on hand right now, but I used to keep them in for those rippons you use to keep you bra-strap from slipping out of a sundress.

I can sew a hem and sew on buttons and snaps by hand, but that's my limit.

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aceofkittens March 9 2006, 18:19:43 UTC
Yay! Go you! :) You'll be able to arm wrestle me into submission when you see me with your new massive triceps :)

P.S. Do you think we can chat today? I wanted to run something by you! :)

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vaznetti March 9 2006, 18:24:00 UTC
Am signed in now!

Also, I don't think so. I can barely do the reps my trainer has set me. Oh, the pain.

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aceofkittens March 9 2006, 20:40:50 UTC
You are the best. Thank you so much.

I forgot to tell you about the dodgy trainer! He shamefacedly admitted that they're not letting them sell the package he sold to me due to not having the products! He wants to give me more free training this weekend. Hooray! :)

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vonniek March 9 2006, 18:29:33 UTC
Have you tried wearing a camisole under the top of the wrap dress? I usually do this with any top with a plunging neckline, and it works quite well.

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vaznetti March 9 2006, 18:42:51 UTC
I did consider that -- that or a full slip. But the jersey is kind of clingy, so none of my camisoles would work without bunching, and I decided to go for the pin.

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ms_pie March 9 2006, 20:32:27 UTC
I just saw this in a catalogue... A lot of money but it looks like it could be quite useful as a camisole replacement. (I hate it when they bunch!)

http://blissworld.com/shop/detail/CAS-10.SM/359/

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vaznetti March 10 2006, 00:46:26 UTC
Hm. That looks interesting, although I always worry that a setup like that won't give me quite the support up top that I need.

I actually have a couple pairs of silk tanks -- the long-underwear kind -- which I find are very serviceable camisoles, and are long enough to tuck in and all that. But they're too light-colored to wear with this dress. (Clearly, another couple silk tanks are the answer to my dilemma.)

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muridae_x March 9 2006, 19:23:56 UTC
If only M&S would stop displaying so many long, unhemmed, peasant-style skirts and blouses. Isn't it time for that look to be over already?

Alas, that is the biggest flaw with Marks and Spencers. They never realise a trend is over until it's been gone for a couple of years or more. But if you're after timeless classics or underwear, they're the place to go.

I don't think I've ever bought underwear anywhere else.

As for the revealing dresses, the problem is caused by the fact that the designer dummies and the original models who wear them are all totally flat chested, and on them the flaps don't pull wide. The rest of us mere mortals either have to wear something underneath, put in a stitch, or do the snap fastener thing.

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vaznetti March 9 2006, 19:33:20 UTC
I don't think I've ever bought underwear anywhere else.

And really, why would you? I had to buy bras at Victoria's Secret once -- oh, the trauma!

They've had worse phases, at least in my memory. I vaguely remember years when there was nothing wearable at all -- but for simple things like sweaters and underwear and basic work-type clothing, they're wonderful. It's just their attempts to be cutting-edge that end up looking five seasons old. And for seven-foot tall girls with stick-figures, which isn't me, and isn't most of the Englishwomen I know, either.

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muridae_x March 9 2006, 19:50:17 UTC
It's certainly not me. :-)

They are quite useful for their acknowledgement that we're not all the same height though, in the form of skirts and trousers that come in different lengths. I am happy not to have to turn to and rehem everything I purchase the moment I get it home.

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midnightsjane March 9 2006, 19:47:20 UTC
*longs for a M&S*
I hate buying lingerie. I love lingerie, but buying it is a pain in the butt. I was super skinny most of my adult life, until I hit that middle aged hormonal challenge. Gained 25 pounds, and for the first time in 30 years needed a bra. I hate buying underpants: I am not a big person,(5'3", 135 lbs.) but I'm forced to buy extra large, because the model for them seems to be a 6 year old girl without hips.
I think I own one dress, which I have worn once. I wear a uniform to work, and otherwise live in jeans and teeshirts. I hate trying to buy clothes that fit and flatter: the fashion world doesn't seem to care about women who are short, with hips and boobs. Bah.
Congratulations on your continued fitness programme. I'm working up my stamina on my new lateral thigh strider...I did 200 steps the other day before my quads seized up.

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vaznetti March 10 2006, 00:43:48 UTC
I like dressing up, personally, but I agree that it can be hard to find clothes which are cut for real women -- you know, with breasts and other squishy bits. I don't understand the urge to cut womens clothes as if they're to be worn by boys.

Wow, at your workout. That sounds like a lot of steps.

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