Ironically, the only sturdy-material, non-transparent clothing I own is from a local designer – not cheap, but it wears and washes well, and it’s fabulous for office wear. Otherwise I don’t find the other comments much of an exaggeration. Sticking my hands under the fabric and holding the item up to the light before buying it is just standard practice.
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huge props to you for wearing a local designer.
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You try on a lot of clothes, often find “close enough,” and become very loyal to those brands / stores that do have items that fit. (The related advantage is that you can often learn the variants of the sizing system specific to a given brand.)
I’m a bit of an outlier in size even when I’m buying masculine clothing. Trying to find feminine clothing for my 6’4" self has been an interesting experience, to say the least.
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The problem on my side, is that I’m definitely not a “skinny fit guy” (read as big ol’ ass and thighs), but have a 33" waist. Thus the need for “relaxed fit”. Unfortunately that can mean anything from “jeans for those with a rather high BMI” to “size mislabeled skinny fit”.
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My workplace has a roughly 50/50 gender split, and it’s the sort of job where even industrial workwear gets shredded at a fairly rapid pace. The women wear the same gear as the men; company shirt, leather gloves, bush hat, serious boots and heavy-duty work pants (King Gee, Hard Yakka, etc).
It ain’t fashionable and would look out of place at an indoor job, though. I’ve got no doubt that finding office-acceptable sturdy female workwear is just as difficult as folks are reporting.
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I’m curious why there isn’t a better selection of reasonable women’s clothing.
Women have been unhappy with the garment industry status quo for decades. It’s a really large market, and I suspect women do most of the buying. Under normal economic conditions, one would expect plenty of competition with innovative products like “Shirts you can’t see through” and “Skirts with pockets.” Those would be so popular with women who are fed up with the existing garment selections that the creators would become dominant companies. Yet it seems that “clothes women actually enjoy wearing” remains a niche market.
Why don’t the normal rules of economics apply to the ladies’ department?
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I’d suggest that there might be other aspects of the economy that likewise don’t conform to the “normal” rules of economics. Because the economy is run by people, who are flawed and biased in numerous ways. This is just a real visible manifestation of that reality (which is often ignored and overlooked anyways).
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Are you including the billions of dollars spent on media, advertising, TV shows and movies where women are overtly or subtly ridiculed if they don’t look a certain way?
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Duluth Trading is a good source for reliably sturdy knits. They will only do for rather unfancy kinds of business casual or tradesperson wear, though. They have not gone slim-sleeved like more fashion-oriented merchants, so fit may be different than expected.
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I have a sort of Serena-Williams-gone-a-bit-to-seed body type that includes linebacker shoulders. It’s become tricky, especially since, in the last ten years or so, sleeves have gotten very narrow. I currently own and wear things labeled as everything from S to XXL.* I’ve learned that outdoor-oriented brands are kinder to me, so I go to work in clothing that tells me that I’m “living the mountain lifestyle” or am displaying “the best of bike-to-work fashion.”
Interestingly, a side-effect of where I get my clothes is that I never have the transparency problem.
My impression is that the problem with women’s clothing is that female bodies are just too damn variable. I’ve sometimes tried buying stuff from brands that say they are for “real bodies.” They don’t mean me.
*WTF Threadless? Nothing XXL—even women’s XXL—should pinch in the shoulders. I’m not actually a defensive lineman!
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Oh man, shoulders. All those cute, slim ladies’ blazers never fit me through the shoulders. Even sewing doesn’t always fix this problem - it’s actually really difficult to adjust a pattern there if it’s not right. I’ve had to toss a few tops that fit fine except for strangling my arms at the shoulder joint.
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Threadless suck. I mean, would it really be so hard to offer a 4XL option.
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A few female law school classmates reported great results with military tailors; wizards with shoulder sizes and reasonable prices. I never had one close enough to find out if that would work for me.
I’m fortunate that I’m both happy in outdoorsy clothing and am in a job where it’s appropriate. I wouldn’t mind going back to the age of shoulder pads though. Just pull those things out and, often as not, good to go.
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Oh good, the sleeves really are slimmer now? I was starting to wonder what else new was wrong with me.
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Sleeves are mostly much slimmer. I have multiple comparison items to check this.
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I think Skittles should make a special run. No need to change the slogan.
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Not just olive skin. I’m pretty damn pale and if I wear a white a bra under a white shirt it practically glows. So I either have to wear a singlet for it all to look the same or a nude bra.
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What’s going on in that photo there? My curiosity reigns.
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