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10 pounds down 32 pounds to go!

Tuesday, August 22, 2006

it's your turn now to stand where i stand

you ever notice how every line of every tori amos song would make a great post title. amazing.

when i was home this weekend, buying myself out of house and home, i saw the best want ad ever. wanted: director of procurement. i could kick some procurement ass. i've got to remember that the next time matt comments about my shopping. it's not a bad habit, it's job training. just like eating cakes is no longer wanton calorie consumption, it's market research. serious dessert demographic studies are taking place in bakeries everywhere i go. i'm nothing if not a professional.

as y'all have been seeing for weeks i've been lacking the motivation to do anything but maintain. or stand stock still (industry term). but i think almost fitting into those 12's at the limited has finally got me motivated. they have a way of cutting their clothes that makes one's ass look like j. lo's. if i'd had a machete and a vacuum handy in the dressing room i would have made those pants fit. and it would have been worth it.

i've had a love/hate relationship with the limited for a few years. ever since they stopped making the 14. when a lot of the big players in the industry started producing larger and larger sizes, they went the other way. that really pissed me off when i first walked in and realized that nothing they sold was going to fit me. they had been there for me all those years while i worked my way up from the size 10 that i never thought was good enough to a size 14 that they discontinued.

i was mad at them, because i got too fat for their clothes. what the hell was i thinking? it is not the store's fault that i ceased to fit into their clothes. they did stop making their 14, but if i almost fit into their 12 that is one hell of a generous 12. regardless, it's not their fault i didn't exercise enough, or cook decent food, or do any of the things that would have kept me a size 10. those faults were all mine and there's no one to blame but myself.

but that store, i love that store. i love the clothes. i love the decor. i love the feeling i get when i'm there. every salesperson was nice to me. none of them gave me the look that says "you're too fat to shop here" even when clearly i am. i wonder about their management structure. that's the kind of store i want to give my money to and i can't. meanwhile the gap, with their uber perky yet passively hostile salespeople and vicious lighting, gets one of my superwoman checks almost monthly.

the limited made a choice to turn away from the money that would surely flow like the mississippi if they stocked clothes for larger women. i wonder what will happen as the skinny become fewer and fewer. will they bring back the 14, add a 16? as much as i applaud retailers who cater to the larger sizes i have to respect the limited for their decision. the gap doesn't stock a 20 because they believe that big is beautiful, they do it for the money.

as much as i don't buy that being fat is necessarily a choice, i don't believe that retailers are bound by duty to cater to everyone. they have a right to meet the needs of whomever they want to. they'll either make money or they won't, that's the bottom line. i re-read one of my old posts where i was maybe a little mean, it was an article about petite women having trouble buying clothes. where is this rule written that says every store has to produce what you want to buy? i'd love to take a copy to the pheasant lane mall and demand that woven skirt in a 14. let's write a rule that says it has to be affordable and tax free too. that would rock.

as always, if you want something you have to go and get it for yourself. we have to show them what we want with our dollars. complaining alone isn't going to make any difference. if you're still not happy, find a tailor. it isn't any more expensive than buying 20 outfits you hate that rot in your closet to end up at the goodwill in 5 years. anyway, my new goal is to fit in the limited's 12. that skirt is the holy grail. as of now.

17 comments:

i i eee said...

Amen to the Tori Amos! That's how my blog got its title.

I think having clothes that you'll have to work to fit into can really be quite the motivation. I'm still working on trying to fit into some pants I bought a couple months ago. Here's to fitting in our holy grails, fo sho.

Jennette Fulda said...

Don't forget to keep your receipts! Now the cost of all those cupcakes can be written off as a tax deduction :)

I was reading blog recently which made me realize sizing conventions and the decisions retailers make about what sizes to stock is actually a very complicated issue which I still don't fully understand.

Rebecca said...

i agree...retailers do not have to cater to bigger sizes

what i dont understand though is why they continue to stock the stores with 4's and 6's yet there is never,ever a frickin 10 or 12!

Amy said...

you would think the abundance of 2's and the lack of 2's would mean they would stock more 12 since that's what brings home the bacon.

Rebecca said...

youd think right?

i worked for a non-profit agency and American Eagle is a sponsor and gives us shirts.

well, the Detroit area had an over abundance of XS and S, but not enough L and XL.

Cali on the other hand had too many L and XL but not enough XS and S.

now, i'm sure the companies are very aware of this so why don't they do something about it!!!!!

Amy said...

that's really interesting. did you read pq's link, it talks about poor=fatter rich=skinnier. not that i don't appreciate detroit's finer qualities.

Rebecca said...

interesting, fo who...;)

Rebecca said...

ha! i mean fo sho..no who...hahahahahaha..

i'm a dork!

Amy said...

interesting fo who was better, so huffy.

Kyra said...

I can't ever find anything that fits me right anyway, no matter what the size. I apparently live in the land of small and average. I can't find Talls out here to save my life - except, in sears I found a whole bunch of talls size 0. SIZE 0!!!!!!!!! You know what the odds of an amazonian heighted woman being a size 0 is????

Wendell said...

All dressing rooms shouuld be equipped with a machete and a vacuum. Perhaps clothing is naturally repelled by women of its size, and everything in our size hides when they see us coming. I'm a gal who's small on top and I wear an XS top sometimes, on account of having the chest of an 11 year old. I've lived all over and I swear this is the most elusive size. Actually, this could be the poor=fat, rich=skinny thing - my budget is even smaller than my jugs.

Unknown said...

I've been lots of sizes in the last 5 years and the size you want is always the size you can't find. At least in the item that you simply must own or die.

I thank God that most stores only carry up to a size 14, because being tired of not being able to shop anywhere but Lane Bryant and the Gap is what finally helped me overcome my inertia and actually do something about my weight.

Of course now I'm pretty comfortably parked in a size 14, so maybe I need to acquire a lust for the Limited.

Debbi said...

I loved this post. So full of determination and common sense. No whining. No angst. Just putting it out there, one foot in front of the other, steadily and surely until you fit into that skirt! Bravo!

Amy said...

kyra you should move to bangor because every damn store here stocks talls like it's sliced bread.* and as i discussed on the phone with a friend earlier this week, i am a penguin. i might be 5'6, but my legs they are not long. and lo i cannot find pants short enough or heels high enough to dress thee olde legs.

*that's the best analogy i could come up with, time to take my ball and go home.

JessiferSeabs said...

I was told, by an Express employee, after RAGING abotu the lack of 14s and then GLEEFULLY fitting into a 12, that the 12s ARE 14s... they just relabeled them....

MayQueen said...

Really? Did they also take their slacks and relable the short sizes as regular? Because that would make my day.

/Nobody likes me and my stubby legs
//I spend too much time on Fark
///slashies!

Lily T said...

Maybe they call it Limited because only a limited people can wear their clothes.

Good luck on your quest!