The Good. The Bad. The Ugly.

I went clothes shopping for myself last night. 

Not because my clothes are getting so big they are falling off. 

Not because I enjoy shopping for clothes. 

Not because I wanted something new. 

I had to. I needed an interview outfit. I tossed the nice clothes I had last summer when everything got to be 2 (or more) sizes to big for me. Big mistake. I should have held on to everything until I got a lot more weight off. Live and learn. 

I hate clothes shopping. When Fashion Bug by me (and now all of them) closed, I became even more discouraged about the thought of clothes shopping. Fashion Bug had fairly reasonable prices (although I noticed the prices were increasing to almost ridiculousness) and for the most part I could find things in my size. 

Lane Bryant is out of the question for me because they only sell up to a 28. I'm almost there, but not quite (but hang on to that thought) so the only other retailer around me that I can shop at is The Avenue.  The Avenue is supposed to carry up to size 32. According to their advertising anyway. I would beg to differ. Anytime I go there, I end up leaving in total and complete frustration and swear I will never be back. Why is that?  For starters the store is over stocked. There are too many racks and too much stuff on the racks. When my son was little, I couldn't even shop in there with an umbrella stroller because we'd get stuck between the racks. I feel bad for anyone who has to shop from a wheelchair!  On top of that, they keep the tags tucked into all the clothing, making it very difficult to find the size you are looking for. I always end up having to go through every single item only to find that      A. the item doesn't come in my size or        B. They are out of stock in my size. 

Last night I headed up to The Avenue in the hopes of finding a pair of dress pants. I walk into the store and a sales person is quick to greet me. I decided to just ask for help because I do, quite often, leave there angry. I explained to the girl that the store frustrates me because I can't find the sizing so would she please help me find something in a size 28/30. "I'm sorry ma'am, we have nothing in that size in pants"  WHAT?!?!  Nothing? Nada? Ziltch?  I fought the tears. She continued to say that they have been after the district manager to get more of "that" size in because it's always understocked. Crap. What am I to do now? I had an interview the next day and now I'm screwed. I walked out biting my lip with tears in my eyes. 

Here's where the self-loathing and the pity party started. I walked back to my car and cried; I mean really cried. For a minute. I gave myself the "you did this to yourself" kind of talk. Then I shook it off. That kind of feeling sorry for myself wasn't going to solve my problem. I had 2 choices; I could go try Lane Bryant in the mall which was in the next plaza OR drive (after calling first) over an hour to the next Avenue if they had anything in stock. I opted for option number one. I tried on two pairs of pants at Lane Bryant and they FIT!  I couldn't believe it.  Sure, it was a little tight, but I could make it work. I was beside myself! 

My hard work is starting to pay off. I'm going to keep on keeping on and hopefully in the not-so-distant future I won't hate clothes shopping so much. Until then, I will stick to shopping online.