DRESSES!

I feel so lucky right now. Even with all the trials and tribulations that come with finding clothing that fits someone shaped like me and who is similarly modest, I've had some great retail therapy finds lately. I have to share these with you!

First up: dresses. I have spent many a spring/summer searching for that perfect dress, the one I can dress up to wear to work and dress down to wear casually that doesn't have to be dry cleaned and is comfortable. Being petite and a large size, I rarely come up with anything spectacular. Usually, dresses are too long, too big in one area and too small in another, and/or just the wrong shape or cut or fit or...you get it, I'm sure. A week or so, I went out on a limb and ordered some dresses from Macy's. Macy's has long been one of my favorite stores, but for the past few seasons I've been pretty disappointed with their offerings.

Here's what I got in today's mail:

(Sans models, of course.) By some stroke of sheer luck, I managed to order the correct size for each one. (In the first dress, I needed a 2X; in the second, a 20W; and in the last, a 1X!) That was some crazy guesswork.

Usually, for every dress I find that fits me and maybe looks good, I have to try on about 20. I held my breath as I put on the solid purple one, the first one I tried, an A-Line dress by ING. I had no idea whether this would fit or not, since it's technically a "Juniors" dress and I am, uh, probably a few years older than most who shop in the Juniors section.

It is adorable! It fits closely on top, which ordinarily would turn me off as I like things loose and comfy, but it just looks good that way and feels fine. It's got a nice scoop neckline in front and in back. And the best thing? It comes to just above my knees. Above-the-knee dresses make me look better, since I'm such a shorty; but I can never find them in my size! Even "Plus Petite" dresses are too long. So, yay Juniors! I could probably get away with wearing this to work, to a party, or just wherever. And it looks great with my scarves (yes, I own one of each of these as well as trying to sell them on eBay--they are fantastic), and any long scarves in general. 

Then it was on to the purple multicolor dress below, the one that has sort-of-but-not-quite horizontal stripes. (I despise the horizontal stripe fashion trend, but these are cool and uneven-looking and besides, these are my colors!) Again, perfect fit. This Keyhole A-Line dress by Elementz is looser than the first dress, even though they are both "A-Line." Whatever. Anyway, it's loose but not too loose. It's flattering. It goes down to about knee-length on me. Again, great for any occasion. Not so sure about the metal thingy on the keyhole part of the neckline, but I can work it. Also, since I'm pimpin' my scarves, it looks great with this one.

Finally, the black dress with the black and white pattern by AGB. I wasn't expecting to like this--but once again, perfect fit and super-flattering. This one I see more as a business casual than a casual dress. It looks awesome with a string of pearls. The waistband actually sits at my natural waist (not below, like most dresses of this sort, or above like empire-waisted dresses). It goes down a little below my knees, but it doesn't look too long. 

I am so, so, so happy with these! I look good in them! My husband really likes them! I do not often wear dresses, but that may change in the very near future because these 3 are so great. Now I just need the right shoes...

Geeky casual, my sweet tooth, and some pretties

My OOTD: comfy, casual, geeky.

That's my "The Time Job" T-shirt from Teefury, men's size 2XL because that was the only size I knew would fit me. I'm wearing it with my dark wash Old Navy Sweetheart jeans, which are bootcut and very stretchy and flattering. These are size 16P.

I'm sorry about the photo quality, but that rather dark hallway with the full-length mirror is the only place I have to take pictures of myself, and no one else is around to take one...so that's what you get!

Here's a better quality photo for you. My mom came over yesterday, and we ate these:

Mmm, macarons. My sweet tooth is one reason why I've never really been "thin," and I accept that. I don't like to deprive myself of sugary goodness. I usually try not to go too overboard, though. I just love sweets.

I know there is a whole debate over whether a plus size person can be healthy or not. I'm not going to get in the middle of that one. My answer to that is, I don't know. I've had health problems since way before I became obese. I just try to be the healthiest version of me that I can be, and that is all I can do.

In the meantime, I try to make myself feel attractive (when I'm not totally dressing down like I am today!) with tops like the ones that can be found at The Smiling Turtle eBay store. Maybe I will eventually lose the weight again, but I'm not holding my breath, and I'm not going to wait until then to feel good about my appearance.

Speaking of the eBay store, I've just gotten in some amazingly beautiful fair trade scarves from India, so please feel free to check them out at the link above if you'd like. They're being auctioned at a high-ish price for eBay, but like I said, they are fair trade (from an organization that is certified by the Fair Trade Federation). And did I mention they're amazingly beautiful?

I'll post more about fair trade eventually. It is one of my passions. It bugs me that everything I buy/sell cannot be fair trade, but the world just hasn't progressed that far yet.