So I wanted to preface this story with the fact that I recently saw a piece on TV about J.Crew and their history. I was fascinated because I love J.Crew. But I was sort of shocked when the CEO responded to a woman emailing the company about not having her size. And that is where this all started…
As I walked into Forever 21, I could just tell that nothing was going to fit. And after looking at all the cute clothes, I was instantly depressed. All I could think was, “why don’t they make this cute stuff in my size?”
And you know what, that isn’t fair to Forever 21. I have cried, and cried about shit like that. Stuff doesn’t fit, and I go home and cry. I started shopping at Goodwill because of it…where most send their clothes post weight-loss (at least I did).
Sure, some stores adapted their styles to fit people like me. LOFT increased sizes to 16 even 18 online. I was able to buy a dress. Finally, I thought.
But then, I wanted to go back to Forever 21.
The retailers did me both a favor and an injustice. Forever 21 encouraged me to lose weight, even though, I didn’t really care for a lot of their clothes. At the end of the day I just wanted the option to buy their clothes.
LOFT provided me an out for not losing weight. They said, “No, Amanda, you’re fine, come in here we have your size.”
But here lies the problem,
I was overweight. I couldn’t fit into a 16, at some stores. And it was depressing. But for a long time I did nothing about it.
And for those of you who complain about a regular* store not carrying your size, think of it as a wake up call. Being overweight is not healthy. Curves are beautiful, but being overweight or obese is not.
Please don’t take what I say as rude and mean because I have been there. I know how annoying it is not to be able to buy that cute outfit because The Limited didn’t have my size. I get it. But what I don’t get is our ability to put our health and self-esteem on the back burner.
Live your life the way you want but don’t complain to the retailers because you can’t fit into their* sizes. Take this opportunity and go for walk, and start your journey to health today!
*And by their sizes, I mean regular sizes (2-14) not the couture or runway fashion sizes, because (let’s be real) a very small selection of the population can actually fit into those!
I don’t think you are totally off track, at the same time I think you are very brave to post this. Some people get very defensive either direction and I think its important to do whats best for you and make healthy choices. For example, its one thing to eat a dozen donuts for breakfast and its another to have a special donut a few times a year. I don’t want to condemn people who don’t fit into traditional sizes, but I also don’t want them to stuff themselves with unhealthy choices all day everyday with the idea that its okay and someone will always make a bigger size of clothing for them. While clothes maybe a vain point, there are many health risks they can be setting themselves up for. Does that make sense? Or do other people I’m off track?
Katie- I totally knew this is one of those posts that maybe shouldn’t get posted. But at the same time, I feel like it sort of needed to be said. But I also don’t think that eating a donut and a mocha for breakfast daily is healthy, yet many people do it. I think we know what is healthy and not…but we choose not to become healthy. And stores give us an “out” by providing more sizes. I feel bad saying that because that used to be me. But I also know in retrospect, that I wish I would have read something like this. Clothes motivated me. Buying my first size 12 jeans ever motivated me and made me happy. Some it’s cholesterol numbers. Others it’s something completely different. This is just one motivator.
I hope I didn’t offend anyone…but I know that I will and I am okay with that. You can’t make everyone happy. And I don’t intend to put my efforts into trying to do so.
I just hope that one person out there reads this and is like, “yeah…maybe it’s time to change.”