27 Dresses? Not quite...

One of the most horrific times in a girl's life is dress shopping. Now, most of you think that the skinny girls can't possibly have anything to complain about because they can fit into anything, but, quite frankly, dresses aren't all made equal. Every dress has it's own limitations and every dress is going to fit differently. Now, that's not to say that bigger girls aren't more traumatized by the experience (I know I am), but the fact of the matter is that each girl has a difficult time with dresses, no matter her size.

With that preface done, I'd like to share with you a recent experience that made me want to murder the sales lady... One of my good friends from college is getting married and, naturally, asked me to be in her wedding. This will be number 5. I think it's safe to say that I am a professional bridesmaid now. I'm not quite up to Jane Nichols level (27 Dresses), but I am rapidly approaching it. Especially since 3 more of my friends are getting married. *sigh* Anyway, I digress. So back to my story. I went up to West Cleveland with the bride, another friend who is a bridesmaid, and the other two girls in the wedding party, and the mother of the bride, to get fitted for our dresses. The ladies discretely took our measurements (no I will not share them with you) and then proceeded to show us cards that list our measurements and their appropriate sizes. When getting sized for a formal gown, three measurements are taken: bust, waist and hips. For two of us, two of the measurements were one size and one was a different size. The different size just so happened to be 5 sizes larger than we normally wear. No, that's not a lie, and yes, that is absurd. Because - here's the thing, the biggest part of my body fit into the smaller size, but they insisted it was not the biggest part of my body. Apparently they failed anatomy, which is why they are working in a dress shop.

So, to sum up, I informed the woman, as politely as I possibly could, that I would not be purchasing the larger size and having $400 in alterations done on it. I would simply stop eating for 5 months and purchase the smaller size. She did not find the humor in that. So, I said "no, I'll eat, I'll just throw it up later." She didn't think that was funny either. Nevertheless, the nasty woman I bought this overpriced piece of cloth from, informed me that I needed to be on a diet (thanks, lady, as if my self-esteem wasn't low enough...) and that I needed to sign and initial here saying I was on a diet (!!!!) and that I was aware I was purchasing a dress smaller than they suggested (!!!).

I will never go back to that place to buy a dress. Ever. I will never suggest it to people. Ever. I will forever despise the customer service and the way I was treated. I worked in sales, I know how it is, but I also know what it is like to talk to people in a way that is encouraging and supportive. To not look down on them because of their size. I, by no means, am a giant. I may be a little on the chunky side, but I'm otherwise healthy. My heartrate, blood pressure, cholesterol, lipids, blah blah blah are all at great levels. I am healthy. I just have some extra weight that hasn't completely been lost, and part of it is because of the medications I take, and part of it is because I work two full-time jobs and don't have time to exercise. But the other part of it is because I don't care. As long as I am healthy and I can fit into the clothes I own, it's not important to me. I think that the obsession with being 'skinny' is disgusting and is a terrible social trend. We should be obsessed with being HEALTHY.

So, that's my story. Someday I'll have a few more dresses in my closet to model. Maybe I'll make a movie about it! Oh, wait, they already did that. Darn.

Until then, check out my friend's blog. She has a lot of good tips about being healthy and doing good things for your body.