I know this may sound strange. I am now getting too small for plus size fashions. I can't even remember a day when I didn't shop in the "Women's Plus size" dept for clothes. Usually squeezing into 2x when I should have worn 3x lol but surrounded with people who knew what it was like to be overweight.

Today I was at Kohl's trying on 1x and they were too big. Plus size has been my home for so long, now I feel like I am the big kid again amongst the "small people" Searching for the largest Misses sizes instead of the smallest plus sizes. I thought I would be real excited about it untill I saw two girls looking me over (probably size 2 and 5) Granted, they may not have been talking about me, but, I felt like they were saying, "shouldn't she be in plus sizes?"

I know it is all in my head........but dadnabit, one of these days I am going to Celebrate my weightloss and be proud.

Denise, we are sure odd aren't we. I'm not mourning food, but I am morning the future loss of clothes. Funny that.

Denise, I think I know what you mean. Buying in plus sizes was nothing if not easy! In the last 10 years or so the selection has just exploded for large sizes, and I really enjoyed seeing all the new catalogs every year. My choices weren't hard to make, considering the size I needed, but even at 3X there were plenty of options and everything fit reliably.

NOW, I'm a perfect size 17. Great, except there is no such thing! As cool as it is to wear regular ladies' sizes, it's a pain to have to try every single thing on because the fit is so unpredictable. Shopping is more of a chore now, and I am inexplicably disappointed when an 18 doesn't fit even though the 16 right next to it fits perfectly. I KNOW these numbers are meaningless and the wild variations in cut are to blame, but I can't help that pang. I too know exactly that sense of people looking and possibly thinking I'm in the wrong department. I myself think I'm in the wrong department--I've shopped in the multiple-X sizes since they were invented, and before that I shopped in menswear!

But then I try to remember where I was and why I'm here now. And when that 18 is too tight I try to take comfort in its size 16 neighbor that is loose. But shopping is fraught with emotional peril in whole new ways now that I'm out of plus sizes. You're not alone.

As cool as it is to wear regular ladies' sizes, it's a pain to have to try every single thing on because the fit is so unpredictable

You are so right on!

Denise, I can completely understand.

I am in a very comfortable 14-16, so I can still try some small plus sizs, but mostly wear a xl in the regualr sizes.

While shopping for a bathing suit on Sunday, I couldnt find any that were not on a clearance rack, so I asked a salesperson. LOL... She told me the "all the suits were in the front of the store, BUT the plus sizes were over here."

(shrugs shoulder) Whatever!

Another thing is that I dress pretty modest. And modest clothes are easy to find in the plus sizes....

not so easy to find in the regular sizes!!!

Life without the W . I can understand this charting new territory. I'm havng a hard time with the W suggesting a long tourso. Pants could go up to my boobs.

Give it a few weeks you'll settle in. I love going into a dressing room where they help you and asking for a smaller size. When I get down to a 10 like our friend La madman. I will start at a 18 and go all the way down till I hit my 10. "may I have a smaller size please" Cruel, stupid but hey.

Another thing is that I dress pretty modest. And modest clothes are easy to find in the plus sizes.... not so easy to find in the regular sizes!!!

SO TRUE!! My sensibilities run to classics, more because I can't abide the thought of having clothes I can't wear because they're out of date than any particular modesty. My mother had a closet full of things that were totally rad in the 60s but laughable in the 70s and 80s though they still fit her. I want to have a great wardrobe of classic stuff, which is just not as easy to find in regular sizes.

All I can say is thank goodness for Lands End!

I"m not worried about getting out of plus sizes. I'm more worried about lossing weight and being sooo out of porportion that all those really cool clothes won't fit right.

I've lost weight before and tops were baggy around my shoulders and tight around hips.

Not a flattering look.

I just need to be a couple inches taller to strech out some of this fat..............if anyone has a couple inches they don't want ................:-)

Your shopping for clothes? IM GOING NAKED!

Heheheheheheh

I found this great group in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area that have clothes swaps. What a great idea! They meet every so often and beforehand they list what sizes and types of clothing they are bringing and people can list sizes and items they are looking for. Then they all meet and have a clothes swap. I think that is just about one of the best ideas I have come across and I can't wait to participate! My surgery is the 29th and I stated my liquid diet yesterday and I'm happy to say...so far, so good, I have felt like murdering anyone yet!

Beachbabe,

That is so true. It's so sad when you are in a size 16 but, your belly is still size 18

I can definitely relate to this Denise. I went shopping in Kohls a week and a half ago. I needed to buy clothes for a business trip I am going on in May. I automatically walked to the plus size until my daughter asked me what we were doing there.

I ended up buying a Villager by Liz Claiborne skirt and jacket in a size 14. It doesn't even have a stretch waistband. Regular waistband with a zipper. I ended up buying several other outfits in a size 14. The new bathing suit I bought was a 16. The 14 fit was too snug for me...I felt like a sausage in casing.

Anyhow, get used to shopping in the "regular" section.

Hi Denise,

Welcome to regular size shopping. It actually sucks though. I can by a pair of Lee 14's and they fit real well. Then I go into a store like Cato and cant fit into a size 16. THe 14's are too tight and the 16's are too big. THen if you go to a store like walmart, the sizes are grouped together. For instance a 12-14 or a 16-18. I mean talk about ridiculous! The 12-14's fit me but are kinda snug and make me look like a wannabe thin person and the 16-18's are falling off. Also, I am forced to buy only separates because I am tiny on top 10-12 and on the bottom I am a 14. No matter what I buy, unless it is separates looks really big on top and OK on the bottom. For some reason, I like to go to Lane Bryant and the Avenue knowing that nothing fits me there. Its the comfort thing cause I used to be a size 28 and feel like I still belong there. I know the Lane Bryant people think I am a lunatic tho....

Babs in TX

334/180/170

I know what you mean, Babs. I kind of feel like someone who's struck it rich who now trusts only her old friends. Lane Bryant was there for me when I was at my fattest, and I feel a perverse loyalty to the store, especially because it carries TALL SIZES! Mind you, I'm bigger than you are, so I can still find stuff that fits there, whereas at Target or Old Navy I'm at the bigger end of the misses' sizes. Hey, if enough American women lose enough weight, maybe LB will make smaller sizes for its once-large customers!

Zoe, I've discovered that Eddie Bauer, Lands End, and Walmart are good sources for tall pants. LE and EB have their house brands, both of which I really like and which they'll hem for free to your specifications. Walmart carries Lee Riders jeans, which I've been happiest with of all the various jeans I've tried.

For a while there I thought that I might not need a tall size since they are longer now that I'm less wide, but nope--anything labeled "average" or "medium" ends somewhere way above my ankles.

Maybe cuz, I am not there yet.....But I await the day I don't have to shop in plus sizes....

Chin up, enjoy.....

One more doctors note to turn in before they submit to my insurance and give me a date. I can not wait! Seems so far away, but it isn't.

I have a closet full of clothes that I liked before I got too big for them-but by the time I get back to that size the styles will have changed. I guess I should empty the closet and haul everything off to Goodwill.

Crazy isn't it!

Denice