Do you envy slim/thin friends who look great in charity shop bargains.

I am like you, Farzanah, I just see a jumble of clothes.My fiend however, can spot a designer item immediately. She is an expert at it.
She once found a new, black, Planet coat for me for £10.
It is my funeral coat and has been worn so many times.

I wish I had the knack of charity shop buying. If I walk in to one am immediately put off by rails of stuff all jumbled together in different styles and colours.
I can only cope with clothes shopping with items in an orderly display of size with similar items grouped together so that I can quickly scan.

I haven’t the patience to sift through rails of what appears to be tat looking for gems, but would like to, because it is much more ethical than buying new.

I don’t mean charity clothes are tat, they just appear that way to me. I often donate clean and wearable things myself. My friend (slim) buys most of her clothing from charity shops, she is super ethical.

OnwardandUpward

I don't think comparing ourselves to our (slimmer) friends is helpful either, especially as many of them are probably wishing they were curvy.

Agreed. And the opposite as well.

My bugbear is that I am slim with a small waist. Sounds lovely doesn't it? Fashionable slim/skinny jeans are a dream.

However I have a bust like Katie Price - have since I was 12. Charity shops don't sell minimiser bras. Point of fact there is nothing to take the weight off, minimize, smooth all that excess flesh.

Most of us have figure problems - my solution is to wear what I wear and a smile. Consequently white or black T-shirts, dark jumpers, and jeans.

IMO, people don't get excited enough about lovely shoes. 👠

OnwardandUpward

I don't think comparing ourselves to our (slimmer) friends is helpful either, especially as many of them are probably wishing they were curvy.

Absolutely when you are skinny and have no boobs, nothing looks good on you. As someone else said, we are rarely satisfied with our bodies, but need to learn to love them instead.

Trousers are my bug bear! If they fit on my waist they are big on my hips and if they fit on my hips they will be too small for my waist😡 I tend to go for dark coloured trousers and bright coloured tops in the hope of drawing eyes away from my bottom half 🙄

Yes no point in thinking it negatively. These thoughts creep in I know🤔
I'm sure you look fine. 🤣mum used to say 'it's the way you hold your mouth!' lol. She meant the way you wear it with a smile stand as straight as poss.
The bargains are in the charity shops for all sizes, I'd say, wear what suits your figure 😊.
It's what's inside that really matters

I agree with Cossy: flipping meds. Post heart attack, went from Size 10 to the now Size 18. In 18 months. If you read the inserts in the pill boxes, many state that there will be weight gain. Depressing.

If you feel good in something you’re wearing…..then wear it with pride! And I know this to be true ……if you’re concerned about your shape annd your weight ……. isn’t exercise that shifts the pounds, it the food you eat!

keepingquiet

If my friends sent me pics of how great they look in their clothes they wouldn't be my friends for long.

I agree - I was brought up to avoid ‘showing off’, but a lot of people seemingly weren’t!

I used to have this ‘knack’ of putting together outfits that looked good from charity shops, in those days I was slim and fit and I knew what suited me. So I think it had something to do with self-confidence and also with being slim.

I don’t have a clue what suits me now! A friend took me to have my ‘colours’ analysed, I was told not to wear black (my favourite colour for clothes), and I resorted to what I realise were clothes that screamed ‘don’t look at me!’ in neutral colours that were meant to suit me.

I’m now trying to rediscover the pleasure of clothes in fabrics and colours that I like.

The character on The Fast Show who used to ask ‘Does my bum look big in this?’ Summed up the insecurity a lot of us feel about our appearance! I have a friend who looks lovely in clothes she picks up from the supermarket, but there’s no point being jealous of her - she isn’t struggling with self-esteem, though she’s had plenty of other struggles in her life.

Comparison is the thief of joy !
That said I have a hard enough time finding high street clothes that fit well as I am not blessed with height so I've no chance in a charity shop lol !
I do sew so make quite a lot of my own clothes so I can get the fit right.

Yip I hear you! Was always an 8/10/12 depending on make. Now like you 14/16 even 18 with some makes..My close friend 50yrs+ is still size 8/10...Gets lots of wee holiday things in Primark size 8/10....🤢. Lol x

Some people, whether thin or weightier, can wear a sack and still look great. I speak from my own experience and I am not that person.

Everyone has a bikini body
You just need to get a bikini and put it on your body

And hope you don’t frighten the horses! 😂

silverlining48

I am short for my weight with a generous rump, so hardly ever/ never feel lovely in anything.
Yes slim can carry clothes far better, c’est la vie. At 76 I shouldn’t care, but I still do, so am my own worst critic.

I love it ! “ short for my weight ! “
Me too , I will remember this :-)

Poppyred

I’m a size 14 now, always a 12 in younger days. I’ve accepted it and try and wear clothes that suit my body shape and size. Nothing too tight fitting (so many women wear clothes two sizes too small for them with rolls of fat sticking out everywhere- WHY?) Long shirts, cardigans etc to hide my bum ( it’s not that big but I don’t like the shape of it) and plenty of bright colours. 😎

Should have added that I have never found anything remotely wearable in a charity shop. I don’t think that has anything to do with size more to do with how affluent the area where you shop is.

No. I'm a size 20 on a good day but there’s no point being envious, I'm happy with my lot in life pretty much all round.

I think it depends on which charity shops you go to. I know some wonderful shops in Ludlow where you can pick up fabulous bargains and dreadful ones in Newport which you wouldn't set foot in. It's all about the area.

I don't think comparing ourselves to our (slimmer) friends is helpful either, especially as many of them are probably wishing they were curvy.

I have a friend who is size 16/18 about 5' 9ins tall and would look glamorous in a bin bag. She just seems to grab anything to wear, mixing all sorts of things and colours and always looks amazing, no idea how she does it.

I’m a larger lady.., size 20/22…. Trying to get a good fit is a nightmare … from shops and stores not necessarily charity shops! Think we are all too critical of ourselves!!!

I don't really like charity shops ever since covid. I am worried about germs.

Vinted is a good alternative and saves time too because you can search by the fabric type, colour and brand that you want to buy. As I prefer natural fibres, the kind of brands that sell clothes in the designs I like can be pricey new. I got some real bargains last year.

I have always been a curvy girl, now aged 60 and a size 22 I buy most of my clothes from online selling sites and anything that I don't like or have got fed up with gets relisted, I wear what makes me feel good, if I think I look amazing then that's all that matters and I don't care what others think of me or look like themselves, embrace your body and style ladies 😀

How I wish we could change places. I am a size 38 or 40 in continental sizes and here the charity shops only have skirts and jeans for LARGE LADIES.

I can usually find shoes and blouses, but that's it.

You either have it or not whatever your size, I think you are being "fatist", get a grip.

OnwardandUpward

VioletSky

Everyone has a bikini body

You just need to get a bikini and put it on your body

True, but I prefer a one piece

With a skirt!