Mall shopping

[cjsmith]

I don't get to malls very often any more. (Today rfrench volunteered to push a wheelchair. Yay rfrench!) It's a little like visiting a foreign country. The customs are strange, the rituals unfamiliar.

The first thing that hit us was the smell. We were probably downwind of a department store entrance on the floor below us. We also had the misfortune to pass Yankee Candle later on. We knew enough to hold our breath for that one.

I noticed how small the chests were on the female mannequins. They're perfect for young teens who are about in sixth grade and still have most of their growing to do. No wonder styles that would look good on me are never on display. I did see one store window with busty torsos in it. They looked almost like me! Except... it was Lane Bryant. Last time I went in there they laughed me right back out again.

My God, the SHOES. There are people who find those things attractive. I am pathetically grateful that I am now forever exempt.

Because I was at the mall already, I also bought a belt. Gap earns my eternal gratitude for having a clothing-related article that fit me last time I needed one AND wasn't discontinued before I needed another one.

What a world.

Comments

[cjsmith.livejournal.com]

It's fascinating how ideals change. Looking at fine art from the Renaissance versus a fashion plate from 1995 creates a stunning contrast.

I vacillate between being Way Too @#$! Small (short, size 5 1/2 feet, small band size on the bra, small waist -- my jeans size is TWO sizes too small to be carried in a store) and Way Too @#$! Big (cup size, quad-E width on the feet). I know it's possible to look "twiggy-ish": either tweak the hormones to match current fashion, or heck, if any woman quits eating for long enough she'll be an A cup. But not everyone has that body shape. It often surprises me that so few stores find it profitable to serve the rest of us.

I'm intrigued that the article said the average fashion model was only four inches taller than the average woman. Last I looked 5'4" was supposed to be the average woman (let's not try to figure out why anything below 5'6" is "petite") and when I lived with a big pile of fashion models not a one of them was below six feet.

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I think 5'4" was the average for US women when I was a 5'5" teenager. The average goes up as generations get taller, and they *have* been getting taller.

I think it's worth pointing out that Twiggy Had Hips. They may not have had much flesh on them, but she did curve out after the waist. Today's fashion models don't seem to get even that much curve.

(And she started modelling at *15*. http://www.geocities.com/FashionAvenue/Catwalk/1038/twiggy.html )

[genderfur.livejournal.com]

I take it back. I've now done some research, and the average height for US women *is* about 5'4". But you have to remember that that includes all the elders who are shorter to begin with, and then shrink with age.