I know exactly how you feel!!!

Yep, I know what you mean about trying on new clothes. Do you ever watch "What Not To Wear" on TLC? Sometimes I wish Stacy and Clinton would help me shop for clothes. I get so frustrated when I see something really cute and it is too tight or too low cut or the pants fit the hips and are too big in the waist. However, something we should think of is if you get something close - take it to a tailor to get it fit to your body shape and it will be a more flattering fit for you. The problem is if you lose more weight, they won't fit anymore.

As for the mattress shopping - my husband and I bought a new mattress set this weekend. We went to The Dump furniture store over in Irving. We got a really good deal and a really high quality set. Just wanted to let you know in case you haven't bought that new mattress yet. We will probably go back to look for other furniture there too. They had some really interesting stuff and really good prices. We went there to look for a new sectional just to see what they had and we also needed a new bed, so it definitely wasn't a spur of the moment purchase since we've been talking about it for the past few months.

Anyway, don't give up on trying to buy shorts. You will find some that fit. The last time I bought some shorts, I found them at WalMart. They're Lee Riders - best fit I could find. I like that brand of blue jeans too. And, the pair I got were that inbetween length - not too short and not too long.

Here is a link that might be useful: The Dump

Try thrift stores;

the shorts that you can't find new may been donated by some poor unsuspecting person who doesn't realize that she'll never be able to find that kind again!

I love Land's End for shorts/pants and Eddie Bauer for shirts and jeans.
My husband/mother/friends also insisted that I go shopping recently.
Apparently, 10 year old holey shorts are unpopular with everyone except the wearer!

I did try the thrift store, and I will again, but it's always hit or miss there.

It may be worth it to try The Dump. I've never heard of them. We're trying to go for the 4th of July sales. With the 4th smack dab in the middle of the week, the sales are lasting all week and both weekends. I'll tell DH about it.

Sally

I never,ever find anything at a thrift shop in the way of clothes. I can find furniture etc...no problem.
I had to go shopping again just the other day!!! I hear you. I wear a 6,10 and an 11. I wear small, medium and large clothes.I'm not sure how that works. I was looking for Capri pants.I gave up on the shorts.You're a braver/more determined woman than I am. Shorts are dowdy,grunge or daisy duke. Nothing I will wear willingly. I went to three stores over a couple weeks whining the whole time. I finally found one pair I liked at Ross or Kohls or something. It was a serious PITA. Where do you find Eddie Bauer? (Don't tell me the mall!!! I'll cry!) BTW, what is wrong with "well worn" clothes? PJ

I hate shopping too unless it is shopping at a nursery or hardware store! I hate all of those hip hugger shorts and pants too. My stomach is too big, and who wants to show off a big, fat tummy? And stores like the Gap and Limited are geared for the younger, hip shoppers, and their clothes don't fit an "older" woman's body. BTW, who is that skinny to wear their clothes?

Last month my family got together for about three weeks, and my sister, who happens to be a clothes nut, took me shopping. All I did was hang out in the dressing room, and she brought me in clothes to try on. Then we decided yea or nay. In the long run, I'm glad that she forced me to shop because my clothes were looking pretty bad (gardeners wear old clothes, right?). Anyway, I ended up at Macy's getting about 5 or 6 short, Capri and top outfits that are all interchangeable. I never would have been able to pick out the stuff she did without her help. My sister tells me that I have good legs and why not show them off, so my shorts are mid-thigh which is what I like. My mine thinks plants, . . .not clothes!

So try to find you a clothes lover and go shopping with him or her!

I had the same problem recently with trying to find some capri pants to wear to my high school reunion. It was an outdoor event and capri pants were perfect. I shopped all over and eventually found some at Kohl's. Best part was, they were on sale for half price!

I feel your pain! I thought my sister and I were the only ones who have the giant gap at the back of the waist. The gap is so big, I could store my lunchbox in there! It's like all the jeans-makers think that if you have a butt, you have a giant waistline. Belts are no help, because the belt rides up above the jeans and suspends them below from the beltloops, which looks ridiculous and is terribly uncomfortable.

And the new low-rider jeans make us all look like plumbers when we sit down. I always have to choose a seat with my backside to a wall so I don't shoot the moon to the whole restaurant/Sunday school class/whatever. It would have been alright if long tops had come into style with the low-rider jeans, but NO. They cropped all the tops short. And all this while America is getting fatter. I'm so tired of seeing girls' middles squeezing out between the jeans and shirts like Pillsbury poppin' fresh dough. Girls, if we stop buying it, the powers-that-be will stop making it. Let's revolt!

Has anyone tried Victorias Secret? They sell all kinds of clothes in their catalogs and I've had really good luck with their jeans. I don't think they have plus sizes, but all the other sizes you can get in different lengths and you can also get the rise in just below the belly button, lower, and super low. I like the just below belly button rise. I think it more flattering on most women than any other style. Also, they have jeans and shorts, capris, etc. that come in real denim/fabric. Not that stretch crap. I am sooooo sick of stretch. They are kind of expensive but they do have sales from time to time.

Just thought I would throw that out there. A pair of pants that really fit are worth the price to me, especially if I'm going to wear them for years and years.

Clothes are made for young people, who have different figures, than mature people.

Of course, the hip hugger pants are totally wrong for ALL women's figures, and I have seen plenty of proof of that!

Fortunately for you, that fad is about to go by the wayside, and let us hope it never returns.

Of course, for that one in a hundred that actually has a boyish figure, that may work. (smile)

EVEN scrubs now come with the "low waist"! Hello! The average age of a nurse is now 49 for crying out loud. Being a short person most capri pants are too dang long, plus I still call them pedal pushers or clam diggers. Thank goodness Palais Royal has some more mature clerks! Forget shorts. Like you say, too long, waaaay too short, we women who are past puberty shouldn't wear those things. Just because you can't don't mean you should!
Tally HO!

I wore hip huggers when I was 16 and loved them but not at 50 something pleaseeeeee.
I'm short too so whenever I go looking for pants or capri pants there to long, I see a pair of capri's I like put it up to my waist and look down only to see they are down around my ankles :0/
I did find a pair of long shorts that fit me like capri's LOL.
I see alot of cute clothes that I would wear if it fit right but most things don't and I get tried of trying them on. Lucky for DH this way it keeps me from buying much in clothes.

My fave place to shop was Foleys now Macy's I haven't been there in 8 months when they just changed over. I've gotten a lot of good sales there and I'm talken 3 bucks on sale for pants,tops,shorts. I use to buy at the end of the season saving money this way.

I just don't care for capri's. They look so uncomfortable. Too long to be shorts, but too short to be pants. I want my shorts to be shorts. I wear them because it's hot, and capris wouldn't help with that. I really would like mid calf shorts, but what I tried all came down to my knees. The only mid-calf shorts I found were just a wee bit too small. I did finally buy some that I think were supposed to be short-shorts, but come almost to mid calf on me. Yes, they are lower than my waist, but I just didn't find any that came up to my waist.

We finally bought a mattress set. We went to Bakers in Garland, which is where we have bought most of our funiture. Not that we've bought much furniture - much of it we're using is still hand-me-downs from my mother, or DH picked up off the side of the road, or we bought at thrift stores, but we've made a few actual purchases at a real furniture store, and Bakers is the one I like to go to. They had a sale where if you bought a mattress, you'd get a set of sheets to go wth it. With all other things being pretty much equal - the prices we were finding were all pretty much the same - that clinched it for us. Plus, they offered free delivery and free disposal of our old mattress. So, we'll be getting it in a couple of weeks. We're really looking forward to getting a good night's sleep, especially DH. Our mattress really bothered him more than me. He's wanted a new mattress for a very long time. We've had the one we're sleeping on now for around 25 years, so I guess it's time.

Sally

Another short person here. I went into a store for tan pants. Easy, right? Nope - every pants there was cropped. The clerks kept saying, "You're so short that you can wear them for pants". Well, they don't look right. First of all they show about 3" of ankle, and if you are wearing tennis shoes, you look like a basketball player in those ridiculous shorts. Then the bottom part is too wide anyway. I, too, hate the cropped look. A short leg should not be chopped up that way. So it's old shorts for me, and old pants too.

My biggest gripe is shirts without darts. Blouses will not button around my chestal area until the size is big enough that the underarms are hanging to my waist!!! The clerk does not even know what a dart is!

Wait, Wait - another gripe is bras that adjust in the back. No man would put up with underwear that has to be adjusted and then put on, and then taken off, and adjusted until you get it right.

Does anyone else have trouble with pants that have tiny little eyehooks on the side of the waist? Don't they realize there is a protrusion in the line of site? I am fairly flexble for my age - and still have trouble with this one.

I believe that all fashion designers are women-hating. Even the women.

The best shoe department is at Dillards in Northpark. It is huge. I see women there all the time, strapping their feet onto shoes with ramps 6" high. Some are small women, but how do those really large women do this? The stress must be unbelievable on the ball of their foot. My feet are not built for that being totally flat.

And have you ever seen a man's shoe with wood for a sole? No wonder men think we are not-to-be-understood. I don't understand us.

tgl, I don't know about those tan pants, but I can testify that if you need a white blouse (not sheer, not long-sleeved crepe, no shoulder pads that show through the material, really white & not yellowish-white), there won't be one anywhere on the planet!

& the bra straps that adjust in the back irk me, along with blouses & dresses with buttons or zippers in the back.

Maybe we could reduce our chronic fashion aggravation if we dressed the way men dress:

shoes you can run in
pants with pockets
shirts you can wipe your hands on
no pantihose, no purses:
if it's too big for a pocket, leave it in the car!

Right Sylvia - who invented shoulder pads anyway. I think they only put those in so the hair could be bigger.

Check out a 70's movie to see the ridiculosity of this look.

I actually saw a 2007 ad showing a bathing suit with legwarmers. The woman-hating designers are thinking "try and make that look cool, women of America!"

Several years ago I started shopping for my wife at Lane Bryant ( she would never go in there ), every holiday came up I bought her an outfit, then I even bought her panties and some bras--what amazed her was how comfortable and nice looking the clothes are and the bras fit her better because I bought them slightly bigger than she had been buying( just because you buy 42D doesn't mean you are a 42D- she need 44DD)- it changed her feeling about shopping at Lane Bryant and similar stores. She is not Petite and never will be, I married as she is and it just a while for to accept herself.
For the record: I don't think women should wear high heels and that most of the shoes that my wife and daughters buy are overpriced and cheaply made. I do not like lots of make up- natural beauty is better. I think that pantyhose is a waste- constantly tearing and what is wrong with natural look. Somewhere the fashion has women wasting money by convincing that they need all of this to be beautiful.. Yeah, right and if I drive a Corvette it will make me smarter, cooler and more attractive! HA!

Well...I love shopping but I feel for you with the shorts issues. I have shopped high and low and still have little to show for it. Levi's do have a reasonable mid-thigh 505 version at the larger dept stores and the rise is just below the waist (NOT low riders) and New York and company also has some reasonable options for those still looking.

If we spent money on clothing we wouldn't have enough for plants.

You know you're a gardener when you have more "gardening" clothes than dress clothes!
Tally HO!

HAVE A GREAT FOURTH!!

Ditto. Ditto. Can't ever find the one thing in the one color I want when I want it. And that goes double for bras. HUH? A man buys bras for his wife? I've been married a couple times and no one, NO ONE has ever bought me a bra but me. YOW? I don't think I've ever seen a man buying a bra. You must be that ethereal ONE IN A MILLION!! I've heard of you, but like the unicorn, I just always thought you were a mythical figure. In fact if I ever did see a guy buying a bra, I'd probably think, well, you know, it was, uh, a "bro" for some fat guy. I say hooray for you, a man who can shop for womens clothes including bras is a guy who is certainly certain of his own sexuality.

Ok, I remembered the last time I bought "nice" shorts:

Liz Claibourne & Dockers.

Liz had walking shorts with fitted waists in all kinds of colors, seems like the fabric was a kind of chino-ish or smooth gabardine material.

& the Dockers walking shorts were, uh, khakis.
you know.
Dockers.

They go with everything, & they have pockets!

As I am tall, capris look like they shrunk in the wash.
I agree on shorts being too short waisted.
I order things from Lane Bryant too.
I just hate going in Walmart. I hate standing in the check out line for ever.

I hate shopping too. If I find something that fits I buy several in various colors.
Most my life I wore an 8-10, I always found clothes that fit.
In my mid 40's I started to grow shorter and rounder. I slipped up to 12's, still a decent fit. Now I'm a 14 bottom and a 18 or 20 top. Nothing fits right. Bottoms are hard to fit, tops even harder. If the top fits my shoulders and chest it looks like a maternity top over my tummy and the armholes are almost to my waist. My tummy is fat enough I need to keep shirts untucked. I mostly have to wear knits.
I have recently discovered a store & catalog called Avenue that has tops I can wear that are affordable. I even got capris there that were just below my knees. Not top quality, but OK.
Bra's are a pain, they make me look all bust...until I found "Barely There" on the internet. Good fit and more comfortable than anything else I've tried.
PJ's...these days only mens knit shorts or boxers with big T shirts will do.
The ONLY shoes I can wear are backless Clarks. I have all colors & several styles...no more shoe shopping for years.

Big Question.......Why can't I throw away or give away all the clothes that will never fit me again???? (I've given a few things away) I buy plastic totes to store these never to be worn by me again clothes in the attic. I bet there are others here with the same problem.