Clothes shopping

I went to the store today to get athletic tops. I've been wearing cotton shirts during exercise, but that doesn't work when I have to leave my stuff in a locker to dry while I go to class. There was a cute style on sale, so I got 2 of it, one periwinkle, one red, for yoga class and sweaty cardio, respectively. (I've quit even changing for strength training - I don't sweat much and I don't need the flexibility so why take the time?) The small gave me great bra support, but was a little tight in other places. The medium was most comfortable overall, but the support wasn't as good. Now - silly me - I was actually going to buy the medium. I'm completely guided by comfort in my clothes shopping and pretty much live the credo to buy - and wear - what fits now. My boyfriend, thankfully, pointed out that I will be getting smaller and if I want my purchase to last I should get the small. So I did.

I also wanted to try on pants while I was there, and I got some Levi jeans, 8P and 10P. The 10P fit pretty well and the 8P wasn't going to go over my hips. It's not exactly what I would guess based on the pants I have at home, but jeans tend to be sized smaller than other kinds of pants. I didn't try on any other pants though because my boyfriend wanted to get on to the food shopping. I'm guessing a lot of 8s would have fit me a little tightly and most 10s would have been comfortable to loose.

Finally, I tried on a couple of bras. Now let me talk about my bra size history. I think I started out wearing a 34A when I first got a bra, but by the end of middle school/early high school I was wearing a 38B. When I went shopping for my own bras around junior year I was a well-fit 36C. Then those bras starting wearing out and the tightest one (which I still have) started getting uncomfortable - it was always a little stiff anyway. I got new ones that were thin, stretchy, soft, and not traditionally sized. By the time I reached my high weight, the old 36C was far too tight in the band, but I guessed the cups would have still fit alright. Now I can wear it, but the cups aren't quite right. At the store, I tried on a 36C, which seemed good but maybe a little too cuppy. Then I got a 36B, which seemed great but only fit tight enough on the tightest hook, and new bras are supposed to fit with the loosest one. Then I stopped trying on bras. I'm not convinced a 34B would fit, but a 34C might be the ticket. But I think I will wait until I AM a B-cup, since I'm clearly close, because then I know it'll last as long as I can expect something bought while I'm losing weight to last.

And again! Why are fitting rooms so unflatteringly lit? Fat and imperfect skin look so much worse under white fluorescent light than any other lighting conditions you'll be in.

I also saw a kind of creepy bit of advertising. Manufacturers have putting these "tummy slimming panels" in pants for a while, but today I saw a description of the feature that said it "invisibly controls natural variations in feminine form." Now that does NOT sounds like a good thing to me! That sounds to me like something you would read in a feminist essay criticizing the technology for distorting womens' body image. And frankly, I don't mind that tummy slimming panels exist, but the idea that variation needs to be controlled - that you wouldn't want to be slightly different from some standard figure, even if you're acknowledging (given the associations with the word "natural") that there's essentially nothing wrong with it... yeah that's a little creepy. More to the point, it's creepy that putting it so baldfacedly is what is thought to be appealing to women. Even if that's what you want, to control your figure and look like an external ideal, wouldn't it be uncomfortable and give one pause to be presented with the offer so straightforwardly? It's not the sort of thing you're supposed to want.