not a scale victory, not even a victory. jeans gone wrong

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Danilynn1975
Danilynn1975 Posts: 294 Member
in Motivation and Support
I have lost 20 pounds. I am now down to 189. All of my jeans (currently a 12) are all baggy. Becoming a problem baggy.

So in my infinite wisdom I decided new jeans, at least one pair were needed. I went shopping with hope and joy and even a bit of pleasure in my heart.

The joy of shopping has never been there for me since I gained weight. I avoid it much like Bugs Bunny does the Tasmanian Devil's cook pot. Or my kids do housework.

I gleefully went to Kohl's where I proceeded to get pairs and pairs of jeans in the current size 12 and a smaller size 10. I bravely walked myself to the brightly lit dressing room with the first 8 contestant jeans.

All the 12s were just as baggy as the ones I owned, so this discovered, I got braver and tried the 10's


Most pulled up, even zipped. Some were not to snug in the waist, some were. A few even looked good across the butt. That however, is where the joy died.

From the butt down I am not sure what the hell has happened in the jeans world in several years since my last shopping foray. But I have to tell ya, I am not pleased. Some gave me Michelin Man knees, which for the record has never been a target issue of mine until now, thanks you sadistic clothing designers. Others just sort of looked like some mutant cross between leggings, pajamas and spraypaint gone horribly, horribly wrong. Tim Burton couldn't have come up with a more disgruntled character than I painted in some of those jeans. It was soul tearingly depressing.

I got 8 more pairs and went back for another go around, it only got worse.

3 more pairs on the next go around. At this point I have tried on nearly their entire stock of size 10's by all sorts of brands, designers and styles, cuts and colors. Desperation to find one non baggy falling off my body pair of pants had me try on a lightly floral patterned pair. Might I suggest that unless you are going as a decorated dining room table for Halloween to NOT do that.

I go back to flipping through the racks to find a pair that looks like it might fit I find one, didn't look at the size just took it back to try it on.

They fit, everywhere beautifully. All was smiley happy unicorn dance in my world until hanging them back up and seeing the size on their label.

I did not buy them on principle of the size. This sounds vain, and I know it. But they were a size 14.

I did not work this hard to lose 20 pounds to go UP a size in jeans. I put that spiteful pair of fitting jeans back because they were a 14. I just could not buy them after losing 20 pounds and all my other jeans and ones in the same store in my currently baggy chic fashion statement size 12.

I feel gutted. Now I contemplate alteration work with duct tape and saftety pins until another 20 pounds comes off and I get brave enough to try again.
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Replies

  • Keiko385
    Keiko385 Posts: 514 Member
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    Its not you its the jeans. Skinny jeans and their brother are unforgiving unless you have legs up go all the way to your armpits and are pencil thin.
    I had pretty good luck getting Levi curves to fit in all the right places, check their website for the different fits
  • murphette2
    murphette2 Posts: 75 Member
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    I feel your pain! I did buy a pair of 14 capri's this summer and thought about cutting the tag off! Maybe its just Kohls because I havn't liked anything I have tried on there lately.
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
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    I buy the ones that say "relaxed fit" on them. I don't know if they sell that at stores like Kohl's. I shop at Kmart. :tongue: :laugh:
  • maresy63
    maresy63 Posts: 3 Member
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    if you felt great in them you should go back and buy them,, ignore the number, you are more than that number, it should be about how fantastic you felt in them!
    if you really felt awesome, YOU KNOW how much you've lost, show it off in some jeans that show off your curves... it's not the number and we all know the sizes in clothes now are stupid, you can very by 3 sizes depending on the 'cut" NONE OF US WANT TO BE "eatacheeseburgerzero" curves make you sexy, every guy will tell you ( I have seven brothers) that a woman is sexy when she has curves.. so embrace, I say buy the jeans that made you fell awesome, or go back and try them on and take a pic with your camera and compare to pic with baggy ones on.. baggy probably aren't as flattering... keep up the awesome work... we all have been there, shopping and trying on clothes bites..
  • AllonsYtotheTardis
    AllonsYtotheTardis Posts: 16,947 Member
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    Skinny jeans are the spawn of satan. And that's all they are selling in most stores these days. *kitten* them.
  • banshishi
    banshishi Posts: 197
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    I am in english sizes so dunno what that translates as in US not fussed either,,I fit in anything from a 14 to 20 labelling is rubbish, where what you like, and you feel good in.. I dont care what number is on the label I care if it fits, is wearable and looks good, we are so obsessed with numbers on scales, clothes tape measures, I just want to look in a full length mirror an feel great about the way I look regardless of the numbers on anything!
  • TKelly06
    TKelly06 Posts: 225 Member
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    I feel your pain! I did buy a pair of 14 capri's this summer and thought about cutting the tag off! Maybe its just Kohls because I havn't liked anything I have tried on there lately.

    I totally agree with this! The other reason is there is no rhyme or reason to where they put clothes. No neatness anywhere, no two pairs next to each other etc. Big clusterf if you ask me and I won't go back until it's better! And before someone says that it's the customers doing it, let me just say this....it looks like a tornado went through the store, and it was like that several times I went in but was not like that a couple of years ago.
  • opuntia
    opuntia Posts: 860 Member
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    I would have bought the size 14 jeans if they fit. I've always found it hard to get jeans that fit - and especially when I was very skinny. It was easier when I gained weight, actually. When I was at my heaviest, I had some jeans that fit perfectly, and I loved them - but now I've lost weight, they are too big, and just fall down, so I can't wear them. I am dreading having to go jeans shopping again - if I find a pair that fits, I will buy three of them, no matter what size they are! That is always my strategy, because I hate clothes shopping - if I find something I like, and which fits nicely, I'll buy three of them! :-) Numbers don't mean anything - just cut the label out and then there will be no size number.
  • Lyssa62
    Lyssa62 Posts: 930 Member
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    just a heads up...jc penney has arizona jeans in all sizes and they fit like a glove and hug in all the right spots!

    *edit to add..the jeans I am talking about are not the skinny...these are boot cut jeans that look great on my curvy bod!
  • BAFilek
    BAFilek Posts: 139 Member
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    Try a different store. I know that jeans are expensive, but I have heard that everyone deserves one expensive pair of jeans. I went to Buckle and the staff there kept throwing different styles and sizes at me until I found the one I liked. They even hemmed them for free. Turned out these jeans didn't have the "8-10-12" sizing, but the waist size. I was a 16W four years ago. For the last two years or so I have been a 10-12. When I picked the jeans up, I asked what traditional size they were, she said an 8!!! Imagine my surprise!
  • summertime_girl
    summertime_girl Posts: 3,945 Member
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    If you're at Kohls, the Rock & Republic jeans are good. They used to be $200+ jeans, but the company went bankrupt, and Kohls bought them. The fabric isn't as good, but still really good. And they're $50 vs $200.

    If you want a great fit though, try Express Rerock jeans. Instant tummy tuck and butt lift, you'll visually lose a size.
  • Troll
    Troll Posts: 922 Member
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    I have 14s that are too tight, and 00 that are baggy. i grab 3-5 (im short, so i wear youth sizes. no shame) and go from there. even the same brand has variations. i think designers just close their eyes and pick a number.

    hell, my moms underthings are falling off. she went down one size. one size=three sizes.apparently. Its insane.
  • grubb1019
    grubb1019 Posts: 371 Member
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    It isn't you! Its Kohls! Their sizes are off. I have lost 32 lbs, started at a tight 18, now wearing a comfortable 14. I tried some stuff on at Kohls last month and had to put on 16s and even some 18s. I like Fashion Bug, their clothes are made to fit real woman, not mannequins. Like someone else said, Levis seem to fit me the best.
  • Polly758
    Polly758 Posts: 623 Member
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    This is why I wear skirts.

    These clothes designers just take a big spreadsheet of women's measurements, average them all into groups, and call them sizes. Like you discovered, even if you get them to fit in three ways they don't fit in another.
  • desiv2
    desiv2 Posts: 651 Member
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    Try a different store, make sure you look at the fit. Don't try 'straight leg' or skinny jeans, look for relaxed, or curvy, or bootcut. Each designer is different!
  • LovingLisa2012
    LovingLisa2012 Posts: 802 Member
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    if you felt great in them you should go back and buy them,, ignore the number, you are more than that number, it should be about how it's not the number and we all know the sizes in clothes now are stupid, you can very by 3 sizes depending on the 'cut"

    exactly, I have work pants that range from a large to 4x and they all fit (just all made different. . yes they are stretchy, but still goes to show, you can't go by them horrid labels
  • rocketqueen81
    rocketqueen81 Posts: 35
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    Purchasing jeans are a challenge. The popular "skinny" jean that's in right now looks god awful on everyone, every size, in my opinion. I learned years ago that when I find a style I like, I only buy that style, and only from certain stores. But I am very picky about my jeans. You never know with the sizes either...for all you know that dreaded 14 was mislabeled or mismade and was really a 12. lol Maybe you'll see that exact pair of jeans make it to an outlet store soon :-)
  • PippaJo_
    PippaJo_ Posts: 233 Member
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    Kohls *bites* in jeans lately. I used to buy their Sonoma jeans, because for whatever reason, they fit - I'm wearing a pair now that's size 8 (though I'm probably more a 10), and they're the perfect amount of stretchy, so they don't cut into my still-very-flabby waist.

    But they're starting to wear out, so I went shopping for a new pair. No go - everything at Kohls was awful. Everything I've tried everywhere else is awful too.

    Just for kicks and giggles, I even tried on some jeans at Old Navy - now, their jeans almost never fit me, something about the way they gap in the back. (I mean really? Who's shaped like that??) I picked out a bunch of 10s, and since I wanted to try on the colors (which are ONLY in the rockstar skinnies - why??), I went up to the 12s. The 10's fit better. 12 in skinnies looked painted on, and trust me, that's not a good look on anyone. I got my laugh and went home. ;-)
  • saschka7
    saschka7 Posts: 577 Member
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    Probably most women already know this, but in *theory* (to which I have found exceptions), sizes that are odd numbers (1-13) are Junior sizes (i.e. for girls who haven't developed any curves yet) and Women's sizes (also called Misses sometimes) are even numbers (2-14) and are cut fuller to accommodate mature curves. [However, I have found exceptions to this rule and even though I used to work in a clothing store, I never understood the theory behind a Juniors' size 15.] Make sure you're in the right area of the store for your build--that might help. I myself can wear Junior's size 11 but a 6 in Women's.]

    Anyway....I can't speak for other jean brands, but Levi's *used* to number their jeans according to whether they were a Women's fit or a Junior fit. In fact, the Women's fit were advertised with an unflattering tagline (my paraphrase) "more rise [the area between the crotch and the waist] to accommodate more tummy". So in other words, Levi's 550's were a Women's fit, but 551's were the same cut (Bootleg, if I remember) but cut on a narrower build for Juniors. Now that they've brought in the "Curve" fit, maybe all this is null and void.

    I've had great luck shopping for jeans at Old Navy after throwing my hands up in despair at Kohl's--you might want to give them a try if you haven't already.

    ****And personally, I'm THRILLED with my skinny jeans--it's not true that nobody looks good in them, but granted they are not for all body types. Even before I got on MFP they were the most flattering cut for my body (I'm 5'11 and SW was 165 lbs). I'm going to cry when they go out of style. Bootcut makes my hips look wide as Texas :sad:
  • Laddiegirl
    Laddiegirl Posts: 382 Member
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    I've found that clothing sizes on the label are unfortunately arbatrary. There is so much variation between what one designer has as their "size 12" to what another has as their "size 12" (not that I'm in a size 12 yet mind you, I'm just getting into a size 14 from my 20 lbs loss). Also the style of the piece and the fabric it is made out of really causes the sizes to change.

    Skinny jeans seem to be everywhere and they look awful on me so my go-to till I'm smaller are Target Merona Fit 1 Bootcut jeans. I've got some curves so they fit properly at the waist (without the gap in the back!) and the bootcut leg is just very flattering for my figure. They last me a good long time and you can't beat the price of $22. When I reach my goal I plan to splurge on something more expensive but these are great until then.

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