Erin’s Style Chronicles: The REAL Beginning of My New Wardrobe (Plus Big Butts–A Gift and a Curse?)

Well first off let me say I WISH I had your body! Secondly, as far as dressing it, perhaps you should stop thinking in terms of size and think in terms of fit. I have a friend who is a size 6 on the top and a size 12 on the bottom which makes dress shopping horrible for her! She’s learned to make her own clothes and tailor store bought clothes to fit her figure. Notice I said TAILOR and not ALTER. I really think that’s the key. Like her, you can find great dresses, but you have to think about your body when purchasing and not the fit model. Shop with the largest part of you in mind. Find a tailor in your area and cozy up. He/she will be able to tell you what shape dresses flatter your body type best and what is easier (and therefore less expensive) for them to tailor. In my friend’s case she would buy a size 12 for her hips and, making sure the dress had princess seams or darts, she would tailor the top part into a 6. She ended up becoming a tailor herself, specializing in pattern making. She could take a suit or dress you loved and make a pattern for it and voila!, you could buy whatever material you wanted and knew you had a dress that fit! Anyway, that’s my two cents! Or maybe it’s a dime! Have fun shopping for your new wardrobe!

Lately, I’ve been getting my inspiration from polyvore – just looking at other people’s ideas and combinations makes me look at my lacking closet in a whole new light!

I forgot all about Polyvore! Thanks for the reminder. : ) 

That was great advice. Thank you! 

I could be wrong but I feel as though I see tailoring used for people offering services for men’s clothing, and alterating/alterations at places that seem to cater to women, and a LOT of those places double as bridal boutiques.  The last two places I’ve used in two states were like that, and while they had catalogs for men’s tuxes for weddings, everything else you saw in the store were either piles of ladies clothing that people were getting altered, or bridal stuff that always gets fit to the buyer.  

So it is probably the same, and what is different is who (men vs. women, you are offering your services too).  B/c you know, men’s suits and pants, at least the nicer ones, frequently come unfinished and getting things hemmed to the right length seems to be something that they always expect to do, or for example, in men’s stores, I can remember waiting on my dad while they checked to see how much they’d have to tailor his suits and pants.  

I don’t know…my mom is from the generation that learned to so as par for the course, and she sews quite well but she HATE altering things and I’ve seen her start over with new fabric rather than pulling things apart.  She HATES it.  

So my dad, who is tall and very skinny has always had someone to fit his clothes for him, and he found a husband/wife team that could do things for him, my mom, and me (when I lived close enough to make it worth it briefly).  

I think this whole concept is something that we are just moving away from, becoming unfamiliar with, and of course, the groups of people who typically did it (e.g. minorities, immigrants) are moving on to other things and no longer have those skill sets, b/c yeah, all of the women my mom’s age and older in my family can sew, but I never learned.  

But we all need to get reacquainted b/c you improve the look of your clothes, look more finished, and frankly look like a million bucks if your clothes fit you well.  And a lot of us have ratios that are just not found in fit models.

I’d say everyone should buy clothes and get used to spending the money on top of that, esp. if they are for work, b/c it is worth it.  I have friends who have given up on dresses and things b/c of these issues and that is just not necessary.  I think some stores (maybe Nordstrom) offer that as a service, although quality can vary.