I hate clothes shopping

arouetta

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I really, really hate clothes shopping.  Part of it is being a lady of size, part of it is sticker shock on the price of new clothes, part of it is my weirdly sized feet.  I've worn an 8½ wide width shoe since I was a 115 lb teenager so no, getting big didn't make my feet grow.

Because I go clothes shopping as little as possible, I can't get used to women's sizes being whatever the manufacturer decides is the size, no standards in sizing.

I do know my clothes size though.  Not a guess, pretty standard.

I bought a man's belt a couple of months ago.  I didn't know that leather stretches.  It's stretching so fast that I've moved over 3 notches.

I looked at the condition of all my casual clothes and decided I needed a complete wardrobe overhaul.  It was almost to the point of rags.

Most of my clothes is cotton or mostly cotton.  I've always known that cotton gives a little as you wear it throughout the day.  However my cotton work pants aren't tightening back up after a trip through the dryer.  I hope the cotton isn't giving to the point of stretching and tearing.

I went jeans shopping today at a thrift store.  I didn't know that jeans are built bigger than slacks, thus needing a smaller size.  Either that, or the fact that these were used and denim is mostly cotton and cotton expands.  The size that I am in slacks was huge and I could take the jeans off without unbuttoning it or unzipping it.  The next size down was snug but when I tried touching my toes, nothing felt like it wasn't flexing with me.

Between the clearance rack at work and the thrift store, I'm hoping I don't need to shop again for another few years.  All this stuff of remembering what shrinks, what loosens, what item of clothing is what size......ick.  Double ick.

Sigh.  I really hate clothes shopping and I don't understand how women are supposed to enjoy it.
 

denice

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I have never been a shopper either.  I have always very much been the type that only goes when I need something and get in the store and back out as quickly as possible.  Some people really enjoy  it though.  I have  known people who can spend hours in stores without buying anything, it's like an enjoyable hobby for them.
 

pegleg

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I buy everything online now,and when I find something I like I try and buy three. That way when one wears out I don't have any problems.

I'm with you on the wide feet, but I've found a few brands which do the trick.
 

blueyedgirl5946

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I totally agree. I recently lost some pounds and have had to replace most everything. I had to buy shorts, capris, slacks, jeans and dresses. To add to that, I can only wear the petite sizes because my frame is so small. To add to that I am past seventy years old and I need clothes for a mature woman, not a teenager or young woman. It has been a nightmare. I have found the largest part of what I need in a nice thrift store. Sizes in jeans and slacks depend on the manufacturer too. Everything has to be tried on. I would not attempt to shop online unless I had the measurements before hand.

I have save all my clothes that are too large in case I gain the weight back, I won't have to go through this again.
 

muffy

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I detest clothes shopping. I hate trying on clothes and having to look in the mirror because I look so fat. Plus I have arthritis and doing all of that walking and standing is very painful. I'm retired but I still need a few nice outfits to wear to the doctors, etc. and I really need some new jeans and tops. I've done my shopping at Macy's for years and now I hear that a lot of their stores are closing up.   I guess I'll have to find out what size I wear and start shopping online. I also need a new coat and shoes. I used to wear size 10 wide shoes but now I need a size 11 wide and they are hard to find. I will never understand anybody that enjoys shopping. I would rather have open heart surgery.
 
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nansiludie

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I do not like clothes shopping one bit. I actually find men's sized jeans tend to be true to size and they are almost always never tapered down at the legs or so snug fitting on purpose. They are loosely cut and tend to wear longer than  womens. I buy a lot of cotton as well. The only thing I wish is that the womens section wasn't sized so snug fitting and for more mature or modest ladies. Also doesn't help being on the bigger side in places and smaller in others. 
 

marrin713

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I went from wearing scrubs 5x a week to now having to wear regular clothes. I don't like to shop normally but it's been fun building a work wardrobe. In fact I'm going to an online LuLa Roe party in a few minutes. :)
 

raina21

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I hate clothes shopping too. I am Plus sized so it is hard for me to find clothes in any regular department store. The ones that I have found at regular department stores tend to be really ugly and ill-fitting, they were super baggy and frumpy looking.

So I pretty much exclusively shop at Torrid (which is a boutique type store that caters to women of larger size) and it's pretty pricy but its so worth it to find clothes that fit well and look good.

I don't shop for clothes much though so it's not really a huge expense.

Shoes are hard for me to find too. I wear a size 10 1/2 and my feet are really flat and wide.
 

muffy

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I do not like clothes shopping one bit. I actually find men's sized jeans tend to be true to size and they are almost always never tapered down at the legs or so snug fitting on purpose. They are loosely cut and tend to wear longer than  womens. I buy a lot of cotton as well. The only thing I wish is that the womens section wasn't sized so snug fitting and for more mature or modest ladies. Also doesn't help being on the bigger side in places and smaller in others. 
I also wear men's jeans and sometimes their sneakers. They fit better and I believe they are less expensive. I buy the jeans at Walmart and my shoes at Sears or Penney's.

Also you don't need to hem the men's jeans.
 

misty8723

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I buy everything online now,and when I find something I like I try and buy three. That way when one wears out I don't have any problems.

I'm with you on the wide feet, but I've found a few brands which do the trick.
I'm the same way. I just bought a top from a place I shop at online and liked it so much I bought about 6 more in different colors and patterns. 

I loathe shopping in general.
 
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arouetta

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Muffy, one thing that can help with the shoes is to wear men's athletic shoes.  The size conversion is roughly drop a size and a half.  Men's standard width should be the same as women's wide width, but try on the shoes first.  If they are too narrow, so many men have wide feet that finding men's wide width shoes is really easy.

There have been only two times my entire life that I have enjoyed shoe shopping.  The first was when I was 14 and no one made basketball shoes designed for women so the girls' team had to buy men's basketball shoes.  I was the only one that didn't need an insert to fit right in the sides, the men's shoe fit perfectly.  The second time was when my middle-aged brain cells said "Duh, if you can buy your groceries online then surely you can find wide width dress shoes online" and found a site that made shoe shopping a breeze.

So after today I'm really frustrated.  I opted to buy two pairs of jeans yesterday because I was afraid they'd be bought by someone else during the huge sale today.  I went back for the third pair and two shirts (one had been sold so I'm glad I didn't wait on the jeans) and decided to look at dress pants.  Sure enough, used clothing, I only want mostly cotton and that had stretched too and I needed one size smaller than my size.

This is all freaking confusing that used clothes I'm one size too small but when I finally have enough to buy new, I'll be shopping a larger size.
 

muffy

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Muffy, one thing that can help with the shoes is to wear men's athletic shoes.  The size conversion is roughly drop a size and a half.  Men's standard width should be the same as women's wide width, but try on the shoes first.  If they are too narrow, so many men have wide feet that finding men's wide width shoes is really easy.

There have been only two times my entire life that I have enjoyed shoe shopping.  The first was when I was 14 and no one made basketball shoes designed for women so the girls' team had to buy men's basketball shoes.  I was the only one that didn't need an insert to fit right in the sides, the men's shoe fit perfectly.  The second time was when my middle-aged brain cells said "Duh, if you can buy your groceries online then surely you can find wide width dress shoes online" and found a site that made shoe shopping a breeze.

So after today I'm really frustrated.  I opted to buy two pairs of jeans yesterday because I was afraid they'd be bought by someone else during the huge sale today.  I went back for the third pair and two shirts (one had been sold so I'm glad I didn't wait on the jeans) and decided to look at dress pants.  Sure enough, used clothing, I only want mostly cotton and that had stretched too and I needed one size smaller than my size.

This is all freaking confusing that used clothes I'm one size too small but when I finally have enough to buy new, I'll be shopping a larger size.
Hi Arouetta,

When I can't find what I want in women's shoes I do try to find them in men's athletic shoes. The only shoes I wear any more are the athletic (walking) shoes. I have bunions really bad and I need the wide shoes. 
 
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arouetta

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For those with shoe sizes that are not the perfect size 7, try 6pm.com.  That's a site I found while trying to find heels my size that didn't violate the work dress code.
 

DreamerRose

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I've started buying all my shoes from 6pm.com. Not that I buy very many shoes, but they fit well and are less expensive than, say, Zappo's. Their shoes are certainly less expensive than DSW's.

I believe 6pm.com is free shipping, and I am all for free shipping. I buy my lingerie from nylingerie.com. I found what I liked by trying it on in the store, bought one, then looked it up on nylingerie.com, and ordered several. I buy all my lingerie there now. I also like LLBean - more free shipping - for jeans, pants, and shirts. I made a few mistakes at first on how their sizes run, but now I know so I know what to order. LLBean is pretty basic, but that's okay now that I don't have to go to work. All of these sites have women's sizes, a plus for me too. It's hard to find bras over a 40 in the stores.
 

Winchester

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I'm not overly fond of clothes shopping either, but I'll go from time to time. I prefer to go by myself and sometimes I'll purposely pick a day when I know Rick is working, just so i can do so. It's not that I don't like shopping with him, but he gets this stuff into his head that I should like something just because he does and buy something just because he likes it. And if I don't like it, then I have to answer 20 questions as to why I don't like it and it just leads to a hassle. Don't get me wrong, the man has exceedingly good taste and I'll go along with him more often than not, but sometimes, I simply don't like something! And it shouldn't be the end of the world if I don't. So most of the time, if I'm going to be clothes-shopping, I need to go by myself. It's easier that way. Sometimes I'll go with one of my GFs, but even that can be a hassle. I guess I just prefer going it alone.

I mentioned in another clothes thread a while back that I'm comfortable enough with my sizes from various stores that I can do online shopping without a major problem anymore. I can order Worthington pants and sweaters from JCP, tops from Christopher & Banks, pants and tops from Coldwater Creek, etc. and I'm 99% sure everything is going to fit OK. I've ordered boots and shoes from various stores without a problem. I used to shop LL Bean online, but just cancelled an order from them.

For underwear, Rick and I usually hit an outlet about two hours away; we go down and make a day of it and we usually go about 3-4 times a year. He buys his jeans there while I attack Vanity Fair 
. We  check out towels and bedding stuff, hit Reading China and Glass for kitchen supplies, and so on.
 
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foxxycat

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I too hate shopping.-at least in new stores= I do thrift stores because they don't make pants to fit my wide butt anymore. Lane Bryant was a really good plus sized store. I find their stuff fits larger than what it says. I don't care for torrid because they mostly have only polyester/synthetic type fabrics. I don't like patterns or scratchy fabric. Also since I have been weight lifting I am having a real problem finding tops that fit. Most womens tops make the arm holes too stinking narrow. I gave up on sweaters. they don't make them big enough for me and I don't like scratchy fabric.

also second hand clothes I can't wreck=they have already been washed and dried so the likelihood of shrinking them is next to zilch=new clothes=never ever fit the same after you wash them-so that's why I prefer second hand.

I like Coldwater Creek clothes=those fit on the larger size. I like older Gap stuff but they are smaller size fitting. I found a few J Crew slacks and shirts that fit true to size. Express has cool fun stuff but not for plus sized folks. Lucky jeans seem to be popular but I don't wear jeans anymore. unless they are black and stretchy.

JC Penney and Kohl's store brand cotton V-neck tees are my only luck but most of the time their shirts now come with 5% spandex which I HATE. because it fades quicker and just doesn't fit right. I don't want it to fit tight. I love American Eagle t-shirts but they too make a polyester/cotton mix now. And in the summer polyester shirts are horrible hot and uncomfortable. I guess they have that new microfiber sweat proof fabric now from under armor-maybe I will try one or two next summer. Generally I only wear 100% cotton or Linen. Linen slacks are hard to find that don't wrinkle or have frumpy look to them. I had these tan cargo pants all linen fabric=they wick my sweat away faster than any other fabric. I found that on hot days=they kept me cooler than cotton. So for those who sweat like I do=check out 100% linen slacks/shorts or an old antique linen sheet and use that to sleep on in the summer=they are cooler and so much better.

And men's clothes= I hate regular t-shirts-too thick. I like those thinner fabric type V-necks. I am extremely fussy about fabrics. I miss Ormond's. it was a department store back in the 80s and 90s=back when malls were cool. there were 75% clothing stores with a big variety to pick from. Now we have 40% clothing stores and the rest is to me-useless-but I understand they want a variety for different shoppers but I miss the days of Rave and those other cool punk clothing stores and of course the 4 department stores=Filenes, macy's sears and jc Penney if you couldn't find anything at the many boutique type stores. Back when clothing fit better and fabrics were so much better.

I don't wear womens button ups anymore unless it's at least 2x. Again the size diameter of shoulder holes and arms too tight and often the sides are way too large and arms too tight-who designs these horrible designs? Don't they know that not all women have stick figure arms?! And mens clothing is boring. So I now wear flannel mens button up sz xl or 2/3X just because it doesn't bind at my shoulders and of course 100& cotton. I have found a few nice men's linen button up shirts lately=it's off season so I am sure that's why I am seeing them more now than the summer=everyone is purging their closets from the summer. I just can't believe the stuff I find in Salvation army and they have half off day on Wednesdays so a shirt marked $6.99 is only $3.50. same with pants. Can't beat that! In the summer=I cut off the sleeves of the button ups because we can't wear tank tops at work but in the summer it's brutal hot in here=so if the arms are too skinny I cut them off and just wear it as a sleeveless shirt.

I could spend hours shopping in thrift stores=only because I love the different colors and sizes I find. I find so many cool things even if most of them are too small for me to wear..I used to be a personnel shopper. I had ladies who hated shopping=they gave me a few things to compare and I could pick out clothes that fit them perfect. I used to sell jeans at the flea market=I can tell the make just by the color and style of stitching. I still can to a degree. if no size inside I could tell what size it is. I guess I love clothes but hate shopping in new stores=new stores only carry 4 styles and 3 colors. and if you are lucky your size. thrift stores it's unlimited. plus what one gal likes another doesn't and it's my way of recycling.
 
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sivyaleah

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Hate shopping in stores. Dread it. I do nearly all my clothing shopping on line. I'm plus size also.

I've had my best luck with Macy's, Lord and Taylor and Kohl's. I wait for sales for the first two.  I'm lucky that I don't have to "dress up" for work; I can get away with dark jeans and nice tops.  Macy's carries the perfect black jeans and I buy them in bulk - 5 at a time lol.  Tops are easier, I know a 1X will fit nearly always - sometimes I can get away with a 0X if I can find it.  Other times, if the bust line is tight I'll go up a size but that's rare.

I don't buy in stores strictly meant for plus size women because I personally find their clothing to be poorly made and in colors/patterns I wouldn't dream of wearing. I don't know why they make plus size clothing in such infantile looks - and trim them off with HUGE pieces of ribbon, sparkles, lace and rhinestone.  While I can dress down for work, I do work in a professional design office in NYC.   I don't want to look like I'm going out to a nightclub LOL.  I'm always on the look out for basics; black, gray, navy with a little color thrown in.  But no crazy florals OMG no.

I am a hard fit.  I'm technically plus size petite, because I'm short.  But finding that is really difficult. The only store which always has good stock of that is Macy's in NYC.  If I need something to be perfectly fitted I will go into the store, much as I dislike it.  But everything else I can shop off the rack although the arm lengths tend to be somewhat too long at times.  
 

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I'm curious about those black jeans. Do you remember the brand they are? So far I got a few Cherokee brand and Lee black jeans but they just don't fit as well as they could. I don't know why I wear all black. I used to be all bright colors but as I gained weight I felt I looked silly in bright colors..so I wear dark blues and blacks for now. I still wear bright color tops but no floral patterns and yes I agree with you-I don't care for those accessories on my shirts=no ribbons, sequins and other bizarre things...some gals can get away with it but with me nope. nope. same with elastic. nope. nope!
 

LTS3

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Thanks for the 6pm.com suggestion
I browsed through it last night and there are quite a few shoes i my size and wide width that I like. I only wear sneakers and it's hard to find wide width shoes, even on Zappos and other sites. Wide dress shoes that are flats not heels are even harder to find.

I don't mind clothes shopping. I can wear anything from an XS petite (sometimes XXS petite) to a S misses. Loft usually has clothes that I like and manyof the styles are available in petite. Ann Taylor is too pricey so I only shop the clearance racks or if I need something "fancy' for an event. I also shop at Kohls and Target and Gap Outlet. Old Navy used to have good clothes but the quality has gone downhille over the last couple of years. I like LL Bean but only shop the clearance racks or buy something if I have a coupon.

Duluth Trading has some good clothes but their sizes run large, what department stores call "women's" or maybe "women's plus". I bought a "small" shirt once and had to return it. The sleeves were 4 inches too long and the length of the shirt covered well past my butt
The only thing I have from Duluth Trading that fits is a sweater that is now discontinued. They do offer an XS size now but the selection of clothes is very limited and they're probably an XS women's size not misses or petites.
 
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