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03-28-24, 02:18 AM | |||
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Join Date: Mar 2002
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Even before I read your post, I remembered the insistence, which I'm not seeing much anymore, that a larger lower body was "disproportionate" if it didn't fit so well into conventional women's fashion or, I guess, led to a need to buy separates in different "sizes" for upper and lower body. Conventional men's fashion has long differed in a way that I've always appreciated--I wasn't expected to buy dresswear with my suit jacket and pants in "the same size." (Don't even get me started on the concept of a "size 0"!) The idea of judging one's body size by a standard of how well it fit widely available clothing has long struck me like an idea of calling skin, well, "discolored" or something if it didn't match a bandage or ballet shoes. So family can shape our body image, for good or for otherwise, but neither we nor our families live in a vacuum. More replies later!
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"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." The Velveteen Rabbit |
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03-28-24, 07:25 AM | ||
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Join Date: Jan 2002
Location: Western NY
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Manufacturers of women's clothing can't seem to get it into their heads that main women have proportionally smaller waists and much larger hips and thighs (e.g., "pear shape"). Although this is a common body type for women, it's very hard to fit things like jeans, pants, etc. - you may have heard of the dread "gap" in the back of pants that don't fit the waist. It's gotten a little better, with some clothing manufacturers recognition the need for this. I know men have fashion issues too. For example, DH is a small guy, and it's hard for him to find clothing to fit him - most shirts in size S are too long on him. And I know tall slim guys have similar issues, as manufacturers assume taller means bigger. It would be wonderful if tailored clothing was the norm, including being affordable and easily accessible to all!
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Beth aka Toaster (she/her) Follow me @YogiBethC YouTube|Instagram|Facebook And yes, I am Reviewer Dr. Beth on Amazon. |
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03-28-24, 11:12 AM | ||
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I turn 56 next month, and my fit challenges include accommodating smaller waist, larger hips/butt/thigh, and now the bonus of a post-meno body. So yes, stretching clothing is my friend! I do search for pants that have a tailored look but still have at least a partial elastic waist - I have a lot of "work appropriate" yoga pants (flowing, not fitted).
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Beth aka Toaster (she/her) Follow me @YogiBethC YouTube|Instagram|Facebook And yes, I am Reviewer Dr. Beth on Amazon. |
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03-28-24, 11:46 AM | |||
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At least in my experience, clothing that's more casual has tended to be labeled with more generic sizes, like "S" or "XL," sometimes with a number range (like plain T-shirts intended as undershirts). Clothing that's more tailored (not necessarily dresswear, but I think especially of this example because of the fit) tends to have a bit more detail, like pants with inseam or shirts with sleeve length. I notice especially because I have somewhat unusual body proportions. I usually can find clothing that fits, though sometimes I've needed to browse longer than other shoppers have needed to, and I'm happy to find this information on the tags. I wouldn't usually talk about non-workout clothing in this much detail on VF --I'm doing so here because I've wondered about a few things with at least an indirect fitness relationship. Some of those thoughts surround how much people identify themseleves with a clothing size and how much other clothing-related issues send messages (intended or not) about people's bodies. Another of those thoughts slightly unsettles me: what messages might I have gotten under different circumstances? In a recent thread about dance and body image, I mentioned reading about an older woman who'd absorbed a message, while young, that her height wasn't "feminine." To hide her height a bit, she learned to slump and slouch, and years later she was asking for help about the resulting pains. I especially remember this story because of the contrast with my own life. I'm slightly taller than the average US man. My torso is proportionally long, such that my sitting height is especially tall. (I've had jackets that otherwise fit well, but they were too short in the torso.) What if I'd gotten some message that I was "too tall" and needed to slouch to be more presentable? I'd like to think that I wouldn't believe those messages, but no one should need to hear them either.
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"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." The Velveteen Rabbit |
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03-28-24, 11:56 AM | ||
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Join Date: Mar 2002
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__________________
"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." The Velveteen Rabbit |
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body image, children, clothing, diet culture, weight |
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