Sheri, my 10 cents worth. You have worked so hard to get the weight off, and even if you do have only a year left before retiring, won't you need slacks after retirement? So try the consignment stores that we are always talking about...tailor them as they say on "what not to wear" Pick colors that go with the tops, jackets, etc that you have and be proud that you can look great. Because you do look great. Heck, girl, you clean up good! If not the consignment stores, after Christmas there will be big sales and you'll find some there. You deserve to look as good as you can feel.
Then if it suits you, start getting down to that size your other pants were....if that's what you want.

quote:

Originally posted by TriGirl:
I did a quick google search on "petite plus size pants" and found this site with different merchants rated by shoppers -- might be a good start.

Thanks, Jen! I found a pair of flat-front slacks from The Avenue that might work--and I have a store in the mall near me. I don't think I want to go near there before Christmas, but I'll check it out when I get back.

Thanks again!
Sheri

Get some BEAUTIFUL (to you) clothes that make you feel gorgeous, sexy, comfortable, motivated and HAPPY right now. Right this minute. Who CARES what size they are. You deserve to be HAPPY right now. RIGHT NOW! Can you hear me now

If you don't want to invest in a lot or can't invest in a lot right now, get two ofs - two pairs of pants or two skirts or one of each so you can mix and match a half dozen outfits with the tops you have now. Life is WAY WAY too short to "wait" until you lose weight to feel beautiful in your skin.

You may not ever go back to the 2004 size and guess what - that's OK!!!! It's 2007. Don't look back! Look up, look forward, look alive. Have fun, be happy and splurge on yourself. There are TJ Maxx racks with your name on them.

Our bodies and metabolisms change as we age which means our sizes change. Manufacturers change the way they size clothes for heavens sake! Yesterdays 8 is todays 4. Todays 12 is tomorrows 24. Who cares. Rip out the tags if the numbers are mood altering.

When it comes to size self analysis, compare yourself to your realistic NOW self. Not your yesterday self.

If losing weight and getting in shape is a goal -- you'll be a whole lot more productive when your self esteem is at the high you deserve.

Wearing clothes you don't like or that are "temporary" or too baggy or too tight or too out of date chips away at happiness, self-esteem and mood. Why on earth would you want to put yourself through that.

Log off and go shop already!!! Have fun, feel good, feel GRrrreat!!!

I did a quick google search on "petite plus size pants" and found this site with different merchants rated by shoppers -- might be a good start.

I shopped in the petites' department at Dillard's here for my MIL and at Ann Taylor Loft for my mom. Both had a lot of nice things.

Sheri,

Can you buy a couple of really nice black pairs of pants to wear during the week and alternate tops?

I wear black pants almost every day and I don't really think anyone can tell which ones are which, and don't notice if I wear them more than once.

The reason I say black is that it is slimming and it goes with about every color, so they are versitile. Plus, I think black pants always looked more dressed up than they really may be.

Dawn

Sheri,

Unfortunately, I relate. You might try what I did (although I, too agree with Jen's summation).

I have one pair of slacks that I love to wear and fits nicely. The brand is Chic. I just tried googling that to see if I could find some more. It didn't work out for me. Maybe it will for you.

And, D…

you are reminding me of my trip to NYC in 2002. In front of the UN, my shorts caught on a barrier that was put up around it post 9/11. It ripped my seersucker shorts wide open. I realize this was probably my punishment for wearing shorts into the city, but it was August and it was HOT! Anyway, trying to find something to purchase to cover me was humiliating. Some of the clerks I came across were just short of rude and definitely didn't have the time of day for me!

Linda

Try Ross if you have them where you are. They have nice clothes at reasonable prices. Dd loves to shop there.

Thanks all.

Jen, tops aren't as much of an issue. I do have some blouses and blazers that are too tight through the tummy right now to be comfortable to ME (I can't stand to wear anything tight, especially not when I'm sitting in an office for 10+ hours a day), but I still have an okay choice of blouses and blazers that do fit.

Unfortunately, many of the pants I'm wearing to work are all the same brand/style and I can't find them anymore (i.e., it appears that style isn't being made anymore). They are the most comfortable slacks I own. The other two pair which are newer are of a style I like, but they are from the Casual Corner Woman which is of course out of business now. LOL

So...this is part of the reason why I have been procrastinating about buying new pants--I feel like I have to start over and try on everything out there to find 2-3 pairs of pants. This is a big deal to me because trying on pants is almost as demoralizing for me as trying on swimsuits because of the way I'm built (big thighs, big butt, smaller waist, so almost nothing fits).

I will start looking around after Christmas and see what I can find. Heck, maybe I can even hit a sale or two at the outlets in Rehoboth while I'm there over Christmas. Though I don't know anyplace left there to buy business clothes in my size now that CC Woman is gone.

Thanks again for the support, all.

I agree with Jen too. Go out and find some things that you feel great in. I know that psychologically it's really hard to have to buy the bigger size but it's better than having your clothes fall apart on you at work.
You also know what you need to do to make this temporary and get back into what you have in your closet.

Real Simple had a great article last month about getting a weeks worth of outfits out of a few key pieces of clothing. You may be able to find the article on their website.

I second Jen's suggestion. I recently purchased a pair of jeans, a skirt, and two tops at Lane Bryant. I'd never been in there before, and was, quite frankly, ASTOUNDED at how good I looked in clothes that fit me and were cut with the assumption that the person trying them on might have junk in the trunk. And--the women working there helped me when I said I had trouble matching my top & bottom sizes. I was not treated as a freak of nature because I actually leave the house and want to look nice over a size six. (I'm not slamming any of you who are slender or wear smaller sizes. I'm slamming the store clerks & designers who seem to think that being over a certain size means you should stay at home and hide from the world. Okay. Rant over.)

I spent more on the jeans than I think I've ever spent on jeans before, but goldangit, I look GOOD in them, and they're comfy as heck. Same with the skirt. It skims where it should skim and hugs where it should hug. In the jeans today, three people who see me regularly asked if I'd lost weight--and they didn't ask that this weekend when I saw them.

I feel so much better about everything when my clothes are COMFORTABLE. No binding waist, no tight thighs, no bra-strap pulling. Try on everything you like--you don't have to buy it all. Get just two pairs of pants to start, if you want.

And remember that the size is just a stupid, stupid number. Don't make me recount trying on dresses and fitting into 14 bottoms but not being able to pull a 22 top down over my chest. Strangely, at Lane Bryant, 16s fit my bottom and 14s fit my top. Whatever. I think the designers might be telling employees to just sew whatever size in they think they should.

I can't say it enough: One store's 14 is another's 20 is another's 10. Buy what fits you and what you're comfortable in. No one but you sees that tag, and you can take a page from my book and rip the dang thing out once you get your clothes home.


(Incidentally, the jeans are an 18 "short" stretch boot-cut. I'll be darned if Stacy & Clinton weren't right about the whole "balancing out the hips" thing. I bought them a little large because, well, they're jeans and jeans get tight, right? Wrong. These didn't shrink at all. Just FYI.)

Buy what you need to so that you have clothes that fit and look good on you now. You don't have to spend a lot of money -- I just went shopping in the petites department (for my mother-in-law) at a department store and they had a lot of things on sale because people don't tend to buy work clothes at this time of year. Decide exactly what you need and just look for those things. Check the clearance racks. If there are any nice consignment stores in your area, check those out too. A lot of people also find good stuff on eBay, though personally that seems too risky to me -- I like to try things on. Also, Target has some pretty decent work clothes now. A year is a long time to spend in pants that don't fit. Your weight loss efforts can only be helped by feeling good about the way you look. Wearing old, stretched-out clothes isn't going to serve you.

I had to take my own advice in the last couple of years and I have pretty much worn those clothes until they're almost worn out. I am getting close to where I can buy new clothes in a smaller size but I'm not quite there yet.

Four or five pairs of dress pants in different colors will give you enough options (assuming that you have tops that fit) that you won't feel like you're wearing the same thing every day.

Even after you retire, you'll want some nice clothes for weddings, parties, funerals, etc., so I don't think that you're wasting money by buying work clothes now.