Design Mine…Field

By Jody Worsham

All rights reserved to fight One Size Fits All Tags!

Recently a friend of mine, Wanda Agersinger (www.wandaaargersinger.com), wrote about the woes of finding attractive fashionable clothing for the well-endowed female. I sympathize and empathize with her, not that I am, was, or ever will be in the "top heavy" category, just the opposite. I suffer, like many women, from the ill-fitting body syndrome. My mind and my body do not match; neither does my top and bottom. Wide bodies have a difficult time finding fashionable clothes or even unfashionable clothes that fit. Try finding a bra when your chest measures 40 inches and your cup size is AA.

So is there anyone designing for mainstream America? A look at any security tapes at Wal-Mart (ignore my three visits per day at mine), K-Mart, Sears, Beal's, J.C. Penny's, Target or other middle income stores or even more high-end stores will reveal a variety of body types and shapes. We hour glass shaped women with the sand definitely running to the lower globe need attractive fashions that fit a more realistic shape. Our body types need it 100 times more than any Barbie-wanna-be's.

Could some new and innovative designer possibly design some attractive, age appropriate clothing for those over the half-century mark? For example, I would like a swimsuit that doesn't look like a tent on a beached whale. Couldn't you design some flattering fabrics using more than twelve inches of fabric? My belly button hasn't seen the light of day in a loooooong time and isn't likely to now. Couldn't your design camouflage/conceal/hide what age and those McDonald Mocha Frappes have done? If they can make steel-belted radial tires, I don't see why there can't be a steel-belted radial swimsuit.

At least some of the two piece swim suit companies have begun to allow customers to buy tops and bottoms separately and in different sizes. I guess they got tired of me, I mean other people, switching the tops and bottoms in the dressing rooms. There is a growing market beyond the two piece swimsuit so please take that into consideration.

Perhaps there should be a reality show based on oh I don't know, reality? A Fashion Designers Challenge TV Show. The show would be based on fashion designs for the less than perfect body type…like mine…and for people with limited income…like me. The rules would be simple: No map, vacation prints, or big flowers on anything. No Velcro, elastic waists, or long back zippers. They must design attractive clothing they would want to see their parents wear in public...when they are out with them…and they run into friends, yours and theirs. That should get the sketch pencils going.

Until that time, my only hope is to be selected by "What Not to Wear" and let them navigate the current designer mine field. With $5,000 maybe they can render me fashionable or at least presentable. Maybe I'll nominate myself!