Thursday, April 19, 2007

A Tale of Shopping..


I went on a minor clothes shopping spree this weekend. All of my clothes have been hanging on me and I was tired of swimming around in them so I budgeted some money out and off I went! I thought I would share the experience, some good, some bad, but always entertaining, right? :)

When I moved back to Spokane from Anchorage in September of last year I bought a bunch of clothes because I had nothing really to wear. I bought 5x shirts and 32w pants and everything was a little roomy and comfy but the smaller size down just didn’t look flattering and/or didn’t fit at all. With the recent weight loss and with a good look at my clothing I noticed I wore everything really large. People have been pointing out of the last couple of weeks that my clothes were too big (I’ve been asked to create a box to get rid off that stuff too and NEVER WEAR IT AGAIN, lol) so I decided to finally do something about it!

I first went to Catherine’s. For those of you who don’t know it’s a plus size store that carries from 1x-6x and although they may have a few trendier pieces they primarily cater to the larger size professional and older woman. The only reason I shopped there in the first place is because the only other store in town that had clothes that fit shut down. (That would be the Avenue, I loved that place!)

The service was horrible! There were probably 4-5 associates in the store and we were the ONLY customers. Not only did we not get greeted, no one asked us if we needed help or directed us to a dressing room, didn’t help us when we got to the dressing room, and didn’t ask us if we needed anything as we came out. When the lady at the counter asked who helped us I looked her directly in the eye and said, “Absolutely no one.” I think she was a little taken aback by it but I wasn’t rude, just factual. I managed to find three shirts, one in a 3x and two in 2x’s. The only reason I bought the 2x is because it’s cut in a triangle like shape so they are very wide at the hem. I think I’m at kind of an in between phase since the 3x’s seem tight but the 4x’s are very loose. If I could get rid of that stupid fat between my breast and my hips (the middle tier on my cake-like torseo) everything would look so much better! Anyone have any exercises tips for that spot??

We then left and went over to Lane Bryant. I worked there briefly in high school and for years I’ve been too big to shop there so I really didn’t have my hopes too far up. Imagine my surprise when I put on a size 26 linen pants (bought them of course!) and a 26/28 top.. Yay! I had to buy both, they were amazing. I even bought a red satin bra although I think I bought it in a bigger cup size than I actually am as my boobs seem to float around in them. ^_^

After that fun experience we went to Fashion Bug and tried on a ton of shirts. What I found was I could wear the 26/28 (not the 30/32s, yay!) but a lot of them were too short. I have a very long torso and hangy belly and I refuse to wear anything that has that mound of flesh hanging out. I found one shirt that looked fantastic and bought it. While I was checking out I eyed another shirt on the hold rack. I checked to see if they had it in the store in my size but the only one they had was the one on hold! I begged them to let me try the one on hold on just to see if it fit and I’d try to find it somewhere else. They were kind enough to let me try it and it looked so cute on me that I asked when they were taking it back off of hold. It was Saturday and they told me it would go off of hold Monday if the person that asked for it didn’t come pick it up. I called first thing Monday morning and lo and behold, the person didn’t come get it! I went and got it after work that same day, yay!

So I’ve found out I’ve lost 4 pants sizes and almost two shirt sizes! I bought 6 shirts, one pair of pants, and one bra for about $150. (I’ve decided to only buy clearance as I’m losing weight so I don’t spend too much) It was a good shopping trip! ^_^

3 comments:

Honi said...

RUNNING AROUND THE ROOM CHEERING AND SCREAMING FOR YOU.. WOW THAT IS SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO AWESOME CONGRATS... I WENT SHOPPING IN MY CLOSET YESTERDAY AND TODAY.. MUCH TO MY CHAGRIN THE CLOTHES I THOUGHT I COULD WEAR NOW WERE TOO BIG.. WHICH I GUESS IS A GOOD THING.. BUT THEY HAD NOT FIT FOR SO LONG THAT I HAD MISJUDGED WHEN THEY MIGHT FIT.. I MISSED GETTING TO WEAR THEM.. SO FAR I HAVE LOST 19.75 POUNDS.. I HAVE GONE FROM A 18/20W AND 2X TO A 18/16W AND EXTRA LARGE AND LARGE...WHICH IS COOL.. BUT I AM SO IN BETWEEN SIZES IT IS NOT WORTH SHOPPING.. I AM DOING THE WALMART THING AND CLEARANCE THING TOO ... AGAIN CONGRATS!!!! on the shopping...

Unknown said...

I'm really happy for you, Vamp. That's got to make you feel good. Congratulations!

Debbie
(no blogger account)
http://www.ILoveToCheatDiet.com/blog

Unknown said...

Congrats! It is a great feeling! Keep it up! I jsut found your blog and I am enjoying it a great deal!