PCOS Message Board - View Single Post

LeelaR · 01-31-2008, 10:51 PM

So here's my question. I have a very public job in which I need to be well-regarded, set the tone for the atmosphere, etc etc. I need to be approachable but not sloppy, warm but not casual, and do it all with grace. I need to be able to go from speaking in front of a sizeable crowd to giving someone a hug to teaching a class,all in one day.

And I hate shopping.

Partly I hate it because deep down I think clothes should be there to keep us warm and dry. Fashion is not my thing. Replacing perfectly good clothes annoys me, so I try to buy the most classic possible styles...and I rarely find clothes that I like in stores, because what I want is SIMPLE. I've gone so far as to consider adopting some kind of "plain dress" just so I can get off the fashion treadmill altogether. Still, weight fluctuation being what it is, I have a closet that covers every size from 6 to 16.

...and partly I hate it because women's clothes don't fit me. PCOS means I have that apple shape that doesn't curve in where it should; if the waist fits the hips are way too big and so is the chest. I'm kind of a cylinder: about 36 or 40 inches around from shoulders to knees. So given the realities and my butch-leaning androgyny, off I go to the men's department, where everything is a little too big. Then off to boy's where everything is too small, but only by a few inches. (A boy's size 24 or so would fit pretty well, if it existed.)

The trouble with boy's clothes is that they rarely come in anything that could pass for professional, and while I don't like it, I do need to look professional.

I have short hair, and I'm short: about 5'2". I can't stand heels or skirts that require stockings, and I can't wear women's suits because my proportions are all wrong. Even if I could, I feel odd looking so femme. (I know, no self-respecting femme would dress the way I do. But it's femme for me.)

I can't be the only person with this set of problems. I'm grateful that I'm queer and androgynous; I hate to think how I'd feel if I were struggling with this and wanted to look feminine and function in a straight social context. Still, it's annoying. Anyone got a solution?