Not everyone has the option to purchase $130 dresses. No, not even if you save up. If I purchased a $130 dress, that would be (nearly) all I could afford to own, and therefore wear. That right there is highly impractical, let me tell you. To make the dress look different I would have to purchase accessories, right? To dress it up or down? Those cost money too.

I agree with you about investing in quality, but I am offended by the implication that fat people buying cheap clothes is somehow ruining anything for anyone. Most of us purchasing cheap clothes do so because that is the only option we have. Surely there aren’t people who actually think Old Navy is equal to designer wear?

If you think people are simply choosing to buy cheap clothes (for what, amusement? a plan to take over the world?), you need to take a second look.

I love well made, well cut, upper-end clothes, and would like to support small boutiques, but no, I can’t afford them. I’ve ended up designing and making my own clothes now because I can get what I want and get something unique. But seriously, whilst it may be hard for you to conceive, presumably having the benefit of a disposable income, but there are people who really cannot afford upper end clothes. And certainly do not lead the lifestyle to justify such expenditure or limited choice.

I have a fully-lined cotton blazer from the GEORGE line at Wal-Mart that I wear a couple of times a week in the Spring and Fall. It’s in it’s 3rd or 4th year of wear at this point. I think it cost me $25.

I completely support the idea of buy less, buy better (and buy on sale to make your budget reach the best quality it can). But dismissing certain stores out of hand assuming that everything they make is cr*p further reduces already limited options. Personally, I’ll buy quality wherever I can find it, the cheaper the better. Target makes this really awesome house-brand all-natural Marionberry jam, and I’m not going to stop buying it just because they also sell that nasty peanut butter and jelly all swirled together in one jar.

But, all that said, I’d still love not every single pretty item sold out instantly and only the drab, baggy stuff available all season.

Sure, if we don’t buy what they’re offering, they’ll think there’s no market. But if I do buy what they’re offering, they’ll think that’s what I want. And I don’t.

I don’t want what most of the designers are offering at any price. I do not need: another black blazer. Another white sweater. Another wrap dress. Another black dress in any style. Another 3/4 sleeve ANYTHING. Another pair of black pants. Another empire waisted anything. Another baby doll top. Another sleeveless anything.

If this is all they’re going to offer, and it seems like I’ve covered about 90% of it, then for me, they might as well not exist.

Commerce is a two way street: you provide the products I want, I pay you for them. But they have to hold up their end of the deal.

I’m an amateur musician and singer. And I’ll say, with fair confidence, that anyone else can be, too. And be pretty good! (True tone deafness is actually very rare.) But it takes work and time. Practice, at a minimum. Lessons, if you can afford them. And it can be slow, as you can only grow as a performer so quickly.

Seems to me that dressing stylishly also takes time and work and money. Back BC (before children), I had the habit of shopping. I’d go into the thrift store right beside my gym, browse, and try things on. I learned a lot about what looked good on me, and what good clothes looked like. Most times, there was nothing I wanted to buy, but every once in a while, there’d be a real find.

Now? Now I’m with the posters who want to go to the store, try on things until one fits, and go home. I’ve just gone through a round of online orders-and-returns and yeah, it kind of sucked. But it also kind of sucks that my number of “great finds” has dropped off precipitously. If you want to get the bargains, find the finds, you have to be out there, hunting for them. Lady Luck is unlikely to drop them in your lap on the one day you happen to have free to hit the mall.

And… I think I’m okay with that. Life’s about priorities. I’ll keep trying to dress as well as I can, with the resources (including time) that I have to allocate to dressing. Right now, that’s not much – not because representing myself well isn’t important, but because it’s just less important than some other really important things. To me. Right now. Three years ago, I had more time for style and I used it. Maybe three years from now, I’ll have it again. Right now, I don’t.

But that’s hardly Plumcake’s fault. I think she’s right in that, if you want the look, you have to put forth the time, effort and/or money to get it. Just like you would if you wanted to excel in music, or math, or drag racing. But it’s not a sin or a moral failing if you don’t want to.

“Ms Plumcake, no offence is intended but I’m very confused. It appears to me that you have exactly one top (a Harvard T-shirt). What do you wear with your pair of jeans? And trousers?”

Yes! Do you own shirts?!

Also, I am known to eat with a bib or napkin tucked in, or I will eat topless to save a blouse I love!

My only local options are chain stores: Lane Bryant, Avenue, Fashion Bug, JC Penneys, Macys, etc. I know that I can shop online, but I don’t have the time to order something, pay for shipping, wait for it to arrive, try it on, find out it doesn’t fit and pay to ship it back every time I need new clothes. I suppose I could make the two hour drive to Toronto, but thats hard to do when I work 60+ hours a week and have a 10 month old I’d like to spend some time with.

While I’m not thrilled to shop at some of these stores, I’m not sure what I would do if they closed.