Fashion Pet Peeves

[lovetriangle]

I think there must be a whole lot of people in the world who buy clothes without trying them on.

I have no other explanation for seeing people out in the world who look reasonably put together but wearing something completely unflattering. Not an unflattering item that happens to be the height of fashion - like, say, the tube-top like item where the ruching ends just below the bust making even the skinniest woman look pregnant - no I mean a perfectly serviceable top worn in such a way as to baffle me.

Case in point, the surplice wrap top.

I see many tops with a V neckline from a crossed wrap of fabric than ends just below the bust and is snug from the under-bust down. You'd think this would look good on anyone, but it has a fatal flaw. I see more tops like this worn with that under-bust seam creeping halfway up the bosom. Not only is this entirely unflattering, it also looks uncomfortable and sloppy; like the wearer doesn't own a mirror.

My fashion pet peeve of the day. That is all.

Comments

I have to agree

[jillwheezul.livejournal.com]

The narrow cut currently being sold looks to only fit small cup sizes. Any with a C cup better look like they are wearing an 11 year old's shirt. Yuck. Death to fashion designers who keep on insiting on low-rise, sleeveless, ill-fitting fashion for older women. And what's up with those garish prints!?!

Re: I have to agree

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

You'd think that if the style isn't good on a person they wouldn't buy it.

I think maybe some people are more in tune with what they see in a picture or on a mannequin that they like, rather than understanding what looks good on THEM. Style-wise, color-wise.

We are bombarded with so many images of what we're supposed to look like but there just isn't a whole lot of real advice on how to dress yourself if you don't look like a mannequin.

Still... look in the mirror BEFORE you buy that shirt!

[eldawen345.livejournal.com]

That is one of my BIGGEST fashion pet peeves. Do people not understand how those tops are supposed to fit, or something?

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

LOL! My question exactly.

The weather is warming up here and the wrap tops are out in abundance. I just couldn't hold it in anymore...

[jillwheezul.livejournal.com]

They really push that style top on 'What Not to Wear'. I decided that I didn't usually concur with their taste in clothing

[suededsilk.livejournal.com]

Sometime lurker popping in here. Just had to comment, since I've worked clothing retail. There was a lovely top with an empire waistline (not wrap style) that looked lovely on certain folks. But others wore them and thought they looked great with cleavage + underbust riding up.
And then they have the nerve to ask "Do I look fat in this?" Um...er...RUN FOR THE HILLS!

[myladyswardrobe.livejournal.com]

I agree wholeheartedly. Its the empire style with the underbust seam is sort an upside down "V" shape. And yes, I ALWAYS see ladies wearing this tops with that same seam sitting perfectly in line with the nipples!!!!


Arrrrrghhhh!!!

And skin tight leggings stopping AT the ankle with a dress on top - why??? Its looks stupid! (apologies to anyone who wears that style!).

I hate modern clothes altogether!

[dorinda2212.livejournal.com]

I have one of those tops. I bought it from a catalog in my size, but they never plan for a D cup. =(

[demode.livejournal.com]

Okay, as a large busted woman who lives in V neck tops because they're most flattering -- yes, it's unflattering when that seam is right up with the nipple. But no matter how large a size you buy, they don't cut them for anything bigger than a B cup. So if you want to wear that style, it's going to ride up higher than it should. AND if you want a V neck top these days, the majority you're going to find have that empire seam.

Some of us wear what we do because we have to wear something! It would be nice if they realized that larger sizes often have larger cup sizes. It's all about size discrimination! Yay!

[suededsilk.livejournal.com]

This is also true; our pattern teacher was discussing the whole sizing issue - that you can't just take the size 8, B-cup sloper and use it for anywhere from 0-22!
Now why the actual patternmakers haven't figured this out, one wonders. :)

[isiswardrobe.livejournal.com]

I agree! I have a G-cup and it's plain SILLY how clothesmakers seem to think they can cut everything the same- just bigger. As if the think that a B-cupped breast looks the same as a G-cupped. *grumbles*

[chargirlgenius.livejournal.com]

There are few fashions that actually look good on the larger-busted woman, especially if we want to wear anything actually body fitting. It ends up being tight and too low, while baggy around the waist, or loose and ill-fitting. My waist is a size 10 (well, before I got preggo) but my top is a size 20. Makes it tough.

The problem with this particular fashion is that sometimes you can adjust it to look ok in the mirror, and it's only after an hour of wear that you figure out that it's going to continue to ride up. By that time, you're out the door and at work. :-/

Now, this is going to sound odd, but I've had *some* luck by shopping for brands marketed at black women. They're often cut proportionately larger through the bust and butt.

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

Very true, and also if you buy larger clothes at a store aimed at larger women, like Lane Bryant or something like that, you'll get a much better fit than buying larger sizes at a store that still carries size 2's.

[sewphisticate.livejournal.com]

In answer to your question: No, many people are utterly clueless about how to wear any variety of items. Case in point, hip-hugger jeans. Which, ubiquitous examples aside, were not designed so your stomach and hip flub could hang over the sides.

But back to the surplice wrap top: I have only 1 top of that style, although I like it very well, because it is the only one I could find that wrapped where it was supposed to wrap across my mutton-boobs.

The tyranny of size-ism aside, I think that people don't look in the mirror, because they don't like what they see. Because I cannot believe that a rational-thinking woman with even a passing interest in her appearance puts on an ill-fitting wrap top, looks at her reflection and says: "Wow, I just love the way this cuts right across my nipples."

[sewphisticate.livejournal.com]

LATE UPDATE: The ops director just came into my office to query me about something... She is an ample-busted woman--wearing just exactly the top under discussion in pink stretch lace AND she is committing a boob-seam-placement violation!

[love3angle.livejournal.com]

Did you write her a fashion tiscket immediately?

[colleency.livejournal.com]

I think the problem is twofold:

1. Where are you supposed to learn what fits and what looks nice? My mom is a grown tom boy that alays hated to shop, so I never learned how to shop, apply makeup, or do my hair. (When I was around 22, a friend of mine pointed out that I was brushing my hair incorrectly, and it would be less painful if I would follow her example!) I also didn't have a lot of girlfriends when I was younger, so I didn't learn it from them. I'm almost 40, and I'm taking classes where I can to learn these things.

2. More and more people shop at Target, online, or at chain stores where the employees are 12, and don't know how clothing should fit. (Including me. I don't have the money to shop at expensive stores, and I'm intimidated by the sales people who do know what they are doing, but aren't kind about it.) Those stores make everything in a B cup, as stated before. I rarely wear shirts that don't have a lot of stretch in them or shirts that have any seams anywhere other than the sides, as they just don't fit me. It is incredibly frustrating to find (or make, woe is me) anything that (&*&^&^&(&* fits!

That being said, I don't where that wrap style, because I've never found one that fits, and I'd rather continue to wear T-shirts (in the girlie style) than have people sniggering at me for wonky looking breasts.