I won the Talbots essay contest!

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

I enjoy accessorizing and putting together outfits with the different pieces I buy. Jewelry, scarves, shoes, and stockings are all part of the process. So are hair and makeup.

It can be fun if you turn it in to a game. It's not fun to shop when you go out to look for something specific. Then, shopping becomes agonizing.

I like interior decorating the very same way you like putting yourself together. And lead me to the nearest Williams Sonoma and I'm in heaven. But, you're right. I'm sure one main reason I hate roaming malls for clothes is because I only subject myself to it when I have to.

I have a couple of catalogue sites I know well so when I absolutely have to have something or get arrested for indecent exposure I'd just rather surf, order and say "Just bring it to me!"so I can get back spending the little time I have to spare on painting or rug hooking, etc. I'm hopeless.
Love, Ima

[CathyCA]

Everyone feels the agony of the dressing room mirror. The reality is that most clothes aren't tailored for the bodies of American women. Most clothes are mass produced somewhere else, and I shudder to think that some kid is making pennies a day sewing clothes for women, the likes of whom he or she will never see. Not every garment that hits the rack will fit every customer. The retailers hope that teenage girls with bodies shaped mostly like ironing boards will buy the clothes which will wear out in a year, anyway.

Most women have difficulty finding clothes that are well-constructed, which fit well over all of our fabulous womanly curves and that will last more than one season. Fortunately, I enjoy the thrill of a scavenger hunt. Therefore, I love shopping.

I enjoy accessorizing and putting together outfits with the different pieces I buy. Jewelry, scarves, shoes, and stockings are all part of the process. So are hair and makeup.

It can be fun if you turn it in to a game. It's not fun to shop when you go out to look for something specific. Then, shopping becomes agonizing.

In addition to your analysis of how the clothes on the rack are tailored, Cathy, I would add another point based on my knowledge gained form actually sewing and tailoring myself.

Today's clothing is less structured and more poorly fitted than clothing was some years ago. Today's clothing isn't really fitted very well at all. Look at the array of sizes, too. There's a trend to sizing like small, medium and large with each covering a range of traditional sizing rather than differentiated more like 6, 8,10,12, 14, etc. Where there once were fitted or shaped midsections, now there is gathering and/or elastic or just extra fabric. Where once there were darts or tucks to fit, now there is nothing. It would be easy to dismiss these changes as solely related to the trend of obesity in our society, but it is more closely related to simplifying and making clothes more cheaply to increase the profit on each garment. Simple assembly fits outsourcing and higher profits.

You're absolutely right!

Also, have you noticed how many dresses these days are sleeveless? I firmly believe that the sleeveless dresses aren't a fashion statement as much as they are related to the bottom line. How much more expensive is it to put sleeves in to a dress? Rather than pay the seamstresses to do it, the clothing industry has simply declared sleeveless dresses a "fashion trend." It's a trend that I'd rather not follow because I don't have shapely arms like Michelle Obama. I try to disguise my thigh-sized upper arms.

[CathyCA]

Windsor, what do you wear to work? Is your office a jeans and T-shirts kind of place? I would enjoy wearing jeans and T-shirts to work, but I can't.

I don't like to wear tennis shoes because I would rather enjoy slipping on a pair of flats as I run out the door. Tying shoes takes too much time, and my feet feel so confined in tennis shoes.

My previous company we wore jeans....here only on Friday. The other four days I am dockers and polo type shirts....in the winter long sleeve shirts.

Apparently the fashion/clothing/make up thing is a generation skipping gene in my family. My mother & daughter are clothes horses. They love to shop, put together outfits...both wear make up darn near every day...they got the fashonista gene...I got the whogivesashit gene

You're lucky that you have the luxury of being able to wear your comfy clothes to work.

I wear makeup every day, but that's because I would scare everyone without it.

[TillyGalore]

I wear makeup every day, but that's because I would scare everyone without it.

That is not true! I've seen you without make-up and you are beautiful!!!

[CathyCA]

I enjoy accessorizing and putting together outfits with the different pieces I buy. Jewelry, scarves, shoes, and stockings are all part of the process. So are hair and makeup.

It can be fun if you turn it in to a game. It's not fun to shop when you go out to look for something specific. Then, shopping becomes agonizing.

I like interior decorating the very same way you like putting yourself together. And lead me to the nearest Williams Sonoma and I'm in heaven. But, you're right. I'm sure one main reason I hate roaming malls for clothes is because I only subject myself to it when I have to.

I have a couple of catalogue sites I know well so when I absolutely have to have something or get arrested for indecent exposure I'd just rather surf, order and say "Just bring it to me!"so I can get back spending the little time I have to spare on painting or rug hooking, etc. I'm hopeless.
Love, Ima

Ima, you ARE a shopper. You're an online catalog shopper! That's very cool!

[CathyCA]

I wear makeup every day, but that's because I would scare everyone without it.

That is not true! I've seen you without make-up and you are beautiful!!!

You were wearing beer goggles.

[windsor]

You're lucky that you have the luxury of being able to wear your comfy clothes to work.

I wear makeup every day, but that's because I would scare everyone without it.

I probably scare people - but it keeps those pesky users away!

I am an IT Geek...... I will not wear my "NO...I will NOT fix your computer" t-shirt to work. I have worn my "there is no place like 127.0.0.1" and my wifi detector shirt and my "I failed the Turing Test" shirts. My clothes generally don't have holes and or stains (at least they don't start out that the day that way) so I am better dressed than many of my co-workers!!

I do work from home sometimes and then I elevate SLOB to an art form.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Everyone feels the agony of the dressing room mirror. The reality is that most clothes aren't tailored for the bodies of American women. Most clothes are mass produced somewhere else, and I shudder to think that some kid is making pennies a day sewing clothes for women, the likes of whom he or she will never see. Not every garment that hits the rack will fit every customer. The retailers hope that teenage girls with bodies shaped mostly like ironing boards will buy the clothes which will wear out in a year, anyway.

Most women have difficulty finding clothes that are well-constructed, which fit well over all of our fabulous womanly curves and that will last more than one season. Fortunately, I enjoy the thrill of a scavenger hunt. Therefore, I love shopping.

I enjoy accessorizing and putting together outfits with the different pieces I buy. Jewelry, scarves, shoes, and stockings are all part of the process. So are hair and makeup.

It can be fun if you turn it in to a game. It's not fun to shop when you go out to look for something specific. Then, shopping becomes agonizing.

In addition to your analysis of how the clothes on the rack are tailored, Cathy, I would add another point based on my knowledge gained form actually sewing and tailoring myself.

Today's clothing is less structured and more poorly fitted than clothing was some years ago. Today's clothing isn't really fitted very well at all. Look at the array of sizes, too. There's a trend to sizing like small, medium and large with each covering a range of traditional sizing rather than differentiated more like 6, 8,10,12, 14, etc. Where there once were fitted or shaped midsections, now there is gathering and/or elastic or just extra fabric. Where once there were darts or tucks to fit, now there is nothing. It would be easy to dismiss these changes as solely related to the trend of obesity in our society, but it is more closely related to simplifying and making clothes more cheaply to increase the profit on each garment. Simple assembly fits outsourcing and higher profits.

You're absolutely right!

Also, have you noticed how many dresses these days are sleeveless? I firmly believe that the sleeveless dresses aren't a fashion statement as much as they are related to the bottom line. How much more expensive is it to put sleeves in to a dress? Rather than pay the seamstresses to do it, the clothing industry has simply declared sleeveless dresses a "fashion trend." It's a trend that I'd rather not follow because I don't have shapely arms like Michelle Obama. I try to disguise my thigh-sized upper arms.

Making clothes sleeveless also means that clothes don't have to be designed to fit one of the places most difficult to design for, the shoulders and upper arms.... that's why different kinds of sleeves were designed in the first place. The French have been very smart to use the 3/4 length sleeve frequently. It's flattering and fits different arm lengths.

Guess this dates me, but I think the last point in modern history when clothes were designed with enough pattern pieces to have a good fit and be produced in many sizes was perhaps in the sixties. After that, the chemise, the sack and other loose, rectangular shapes began to appear and we never really got back to properly fitted clothes. Once our clothes became shapeless, we lost one of the most important elements which has helped people to eat more sensibly, an element now associated primarily with the French Diet..... when your clothes begin to feel snug, make changes in what and how you eat until they are comfortable again.

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Ah. the sixties! I made most of my own clothes then. (It was before internet shopping, so it was a necessity for somebody suffering from shoppophobia. I even had one of those fabric dress forms that you had fitted to your body and then zipped over a foam frame to make your own likeness. I learned to alter patterns in the first place so all I had to do then was cut 'em out and sew 'em up. Once I even made a completely fitted jumpsuit without ever trying it on once in the process. It fit like a glove from head to foot. Damn, I looked good. But, that was a former life. Now I just wear the loose stuff like Marie on "Everybody Loves Raymond"!

Love, Ima\
PS And SLEEVES, always those sleeves!

[lawgrad91]

I wanna go shopping with Ima! Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table are my ideas of shopping!

I also hate the sleeveless culture. My arms aren't as awful as they used to be, but I sure hate showing off my farmer's tan!

[CathyCA]

Making clothes sleeveless also means that clothes don't have to be designed to fit one of the places most difficult to design for, the shoulders and upper arms.... that's why different kinds of sleeves were designed in the first place. The French have been very smart to use the 3/4 length sleeve frequently. It's flattering and fits different arm lengths.

Guess this dates me, but I think the last point in modern history when clothes were designed with enough pattern pieces to have a good fit and be produced in many sizes was perhaps in the sixties. After that, the chemise, the sack and other loose, rectangular shapes began to appear and we never really got back to properly fitted clothes. Once our clothes became shapeless, we lost one of the most important elements which has helped people to eat more sensibly, an element now associated primarily with the French Diet..... when your clothes begin to feel snug, make changes in what and how you eat until they are comfortable again.

I tried on a sleeveless blouse this weekend that had darts in it, but the armholes were so wide that my bra straps and sides showed. I couldn't buy the blouse for that reason. A darted, tailored blouse looks so much better than a mannish shirt.

I love 3/4 sleeve sweaters and dresses, and I have several (mostly sweaters) in my wardrobe. I love them!

[windsor]

I wear a lot of 3/4 sleeves...I am built funny I'm 5'6" but have a 33" inseam - dockers, thankfully come in long. My arms are also long for my torso so sleeves tend to be short. 3/4 are more comfortable because they aren't supposed to go to my wrist!

It is too cold in my office to consider no sleeves! I do wear them around on weekends at home because it is so freakin' hot in FL in the summer.

[Johnboy]

Sur la Table

Just reading the words "Sur la Table" makes me think of this.

[TillyGalore]

I think twin sets is another fashion industry rip off (and I fall for it all the time). You can't have one without the other. Sigh.

[CathyCA]

I think twin sets is another fashion industry rip off (and I fall for it all the time). You can't have one without the other. Sigh.

Oh, Tilly! I love twin sets! I still get a professional look for work, but I don't have to wear a bulky suit jacket.

[ArkieDukie]

I think twin sets is another fashion industry rip off (and I fall for it all the time). You can't have one without the other. Sigh.

Oh, Tilly! I love twin sets! I still get a professional look for work, but I don't have to wear a bulky suit jacket.

I, too, am a huge fan of twin sets. And 3/4 length sleeves.

[CathyCA]

I think twin sets is another fashion industry rip off (and I fall for it all the time). You can't have one without the other. Sigh.

Oh, Tilly! I love twin sets! I still get a professional look for work, but I don't have to wear a bulky suit jacket.

I, too, am a huge fan of twin sets. And 3/4 length sleeves.

Oooooh! Even better: a twin set with 3/4 length sleeves!

[DukieInKansas]

I wanna go shopping with Ima! Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table are my ideas of shopping!

I also hate the sleeveless culture. My arms aren't as awful as they used to be, but I sure hate showing off my farmer's tan!

Can I come, too? I love Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, etc. I've never been to a Sur la Table but it sounds right up my alley.

[CathyCA]

I wanna go shopping with Ima! Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table are my ideas of shopping!

I also hate the sleeveless culture. My arms aren't as awful as they used to be, but I sure hate showing off my farmer's tan!

Can I come, too? I love Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, etc. I've never been to a Sur la Table but it sounds right up my alley.

I ADORE Sur La Table! I miss it, too. We don't have one here in the swamps of eastern NC. Fortunately, through the miracle that is the internet, we can shop online: www.surlatable.com

[lawgrad91]

I wanna go shopping with Ima! Williams-Sonoma and Sur la Table are my ideas of shopping!

I also hate the sleeveless culture. My arms aren't as awful as they used to be, but I sure hate showing off my farmer's tan!

Can I come, too? I love Williams-Sonoma, Crate and Barrel, etc. I've never been to a Sur la Table but it sounds right up my alley.

I ADORE Sur La Table! I miss it, too. We don't have one here in the swamps of eastern NC. Fortunately, through the miracle that is the internet, we can shop online: http://www.surlatable.com

Sur La Table is great! There's one in Greensboro; it's the only one I've ever been to. Kitchen stuff is such fun.

Wonder if they have