eden wrote:I think we do ok as sploshers because our clothes tend to be - well, just clothes!
Also, we can get stuff that fits well, or at least, you're not always buying 'saucy' clothes that fit horribly.
True, although, as I say, it's harder for the likes of me to find the clothes I want to splosh in,compared with you, as I don't go 'in and out' in the right places, which rules out so many lovely things as I simply can't get into them (or, if I do, I end up looking like a badly packed sack of potatoes!) I have a much wider chest at the back whereas yours is bigger at the front so the arm holes tend to be in the wrong place in blouses, causing massive rucking up under the arms (if I can even get them on) to give just one example (but if I go for a bigger size, it's all floppy, which is no use). As Sandy Toksvig reminded us the other day on Radio 4, P.G. Wodehouse had that lovely quote "“She looked as if she had been poured into her clothes and had forgotten to say "when."” - That's me when I'm in the wrong gear and somewhat frustrating it is too as I do like the pinched-in waist look but also clingy lycra stuff and tiny minis etc! (I do love looking tarty a lot of the time - it's such fun!)
I could get away with it 20 years ago but not really now, I think. (Ha - I still do it anyway ... who cares - nobody else to see!
)
eden wrote:Now shoes, on the other hand!
Oh yes ... shoes are a nightmare! I have such difficulty getting shoes even when I'm in drab but in drag it's almost impossible as I need 9EEE. However, the N. Brown website empire sells off its surplus from all its websites at very reasonable prices on its bargain clearance site and they really understand the problem of shoe width (which most retailers don't, even in the high street - it's a major problem for many people).
I've had some good ones from them in the past, although they're still few and far between that will actually fit ok. The trick is that you order multiple pairs around the size you think is likely but, being mail order and web-based, you just send back the ones you don't want/don't fit and get a full refund on those (provided you do so within the time limit). That's great for me as I don't have to walk into shops and try on heels while other customers are looking askance at what a big bloke is doing in the ladies section trying on heels!
The non-clearance stuff on their other websites is often quite good value too, especially in the sales. Go
here and click on links at the top and you'll see the clearance site at the top RHS, as well as all their other brands. In view of the extreme difficulty I have finding any shoes, I tend to splosh without those. I was a bit worried about it this year when I found my latest fave site (a lovely thick clay-edged pond in the countryside) - there's always a worry about sharp bits - but I've been fine as it seems to be all shin deep clay to squelch around in, which does feel lovely underfoot, even with 4 pairs of tights on (no, make that
especially with 4 pairs of tights on, particularly once the panty sections have been filled up with sloppy clay too!)
Oh bye the way, are the calves of women much wider than men, relative to foot size (tiny feet, large calves vs large feet, tiny calves)? I find that I can't get boots that hug my calves, they all flop around! The N Brown sites even list the circumference of the calf section relative to the foot size and even in slim-calf-fitting boots, they're still far too wide. I wonder whether the different anatomy requires the calves to be stronger for women (perhaps to stop you falling over forwards!!
) compared with us? Perhaps you'd like to measure yours and your b/f's and see?
Posted: 31 Oct 2009, 16:26