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baratronMy box o'stuff from Hot Topic has turned up, including the prettiest dress ever (TM). It is black PVC & pink net, and it fits perfectly. I just keep looking at it and bouncing. It's so blaaaaaaack and shiiiiiiiiny... jpegs will be forthcoming when I find some nice shiny leggings to go under it :D Also got another PVC dress, extremely tight and somewhat obscene to wear in public, a bunch of t-shirts including Wicket the Ewok and Eeyore, and a pair of Happy Bunny pyjamas. Muahahahaa. Even with import duty it was Not Much, with the pound being so strong against the dollar.
I have, however, been utterly unsuccessful in my Quest for a Coat. I'm trying to find a floor-length warm winter coat with a hood. Preferably black, preferably cheap, preferably entirely non-animal in origin. Apparently this is like chasing wild geese. I can find no end of woollen coats (but I am quite allergic to wool), plenty of midlength coats (supposed to be knee-length, but actually mid-calf length on me), and long coats that are thin. Very little of what I want.
I literally spent 3 days going into every shop in Kingston that sells women's clothes - and Kingston is not short of clothes shops. And I found precisely 3 coats that came close to my specifications. H&M have a long black coat that would be perfect, if they weren't lying about their sizes. It's a US size 14, which they've labelled as a UK 18 - but that's bollocks. A US 14 is a UK 16. And the so-called "18" is the biggest size they do. Bastards. New Look had a gorgeous silver coat for £10 that would be perfect, if it wasn't the clearance and they had it in a size bigger than a 14. I did try on the 14 just in case it was big, but... I found a fantastic black coat for £175 (!) that was like wearing a warm fluffy duvet - only it was filled with feathers. I have severe dust mite allergy and become very allergic to feathery things as they fill up with mites so it's a moot point anyway, but I was wondering if duck/goose down involves dead ducks/geese. Anyone know?
On the basis that I can pick up just about anything in a size XL in Hot Topic and be pretty sure it'll fit me, I clearly need to do all my clothes shopping in the US - where I am comfortably in the "normal" range rather than in the UK, where I am one of those uncomfortable people at the top of the "normal" range and bottom of the "plus size" range, and can guarantee that my size will be sold out in any shop I care to pick. But I need a coat NOW (& preferably a few weeks ago). I especially need a coat before I go to Baltimore in January where I believe there will probably be snow and lots of it. And yeah, I did check the Hot Topic online store, and no they didn't really have any coats. There was one utterly fantastic totally non-animal fake leather & fake fur coat that was extremely tempting, but it's very much not even knee length on me.
It's just annoying. My reason for wanting a floor-length coat is to keep my legs warm. I have lots of pain when it is cold (and especially) damp, and this could be prevented by keeping my legs warm enough when I'm walking outside. But wearing tights under my trousers means I simply roast whenever I'm inside, then freeze when I go outside because my tights are full of sweat which becomes cold and damp right against my skin. All I need is a "leg-coat" - to wrap around my legs when I'm outside. But can I find one? NO! I can find coats that stop 8 inches above my boots, thus guaranteeing that 8 inches of my legs will be extremely cold and sore.
*mumble mumble mumble*
I have, however, been utterly unsuccessful in my Quest for a Coat. I'm trying to find a floor-length warm winter coat with a hood. Preferably black, preferably cheap, preferably entirely non-animal in origin. Apparently this is like chasing wild geese. I can find no end of woollen coats (but I am quite allergic to wool), plenty of midlength coats (supposed to be knee-length, but actually mid-calf length on me), and long coats that are thin. Very little of what I want.
I literally spent 3 days going into every shop in Kingston that sells women's clothes - and Kingston is not short of clothes shops. And I found precisely 3 coats that came close to my specifications. H&M have a long black coat that would be perfect, if they weren't lying about their sizes. It's a US size 14, which they've labelled as a UK 18 - but that's bollocks. A US 14 is a UK 16. And the so-called "18" is the biggest size they do. Bastards. New Look had a gorgeous silver coat for £10 that would be perfect, if it wasn't the clearance and they had it in a size bigger than a 14. I did try on the 14 just in case it was big, but... I found a fantastic black coat for £175 (!) that was like wearing a warm fluffy duvet - only it was filled with feathers. I have severe dust mite allergy and become very allergic to feathery things as they fill up with mites so it's a moot point anyway, but I was wondering if duck/goose down involves dead ducks/geese. Anyone know?
On the basis that I can pick up just about anything in a size XL in Hot Topic and be pretty sure it'll fit me, I clearly need to do all my clothes shopping in the US - where I am comfortably in the "normal" range rather than in the UK, where I am one of those uncomfortable people at the top of the "normal" range and bottom of the "plus size" range, and can guarantee that my size will be sold out in any shop I care to pick. But I need a coat NOW (& preferably a few weeks ago). I especially need a coat before I go to Baltimore in January where I believe there will probably be snow and lots of it. And yeah, I did check the Hot Topic online store, and no they didn't really have any coats. There was one utterly fantastic totally non-animal fake leather & fake fur coat that was extremely tempting, but it's very much not even knee length on me.
It's just annoying. My reason for wanting a floor-length coat is to keep my legs warm. I have lots of pain when it is cold (and especially) damp, and this could be prevented by keeping my legs warm enough when I'm walking outside. But wearing tights under my trousers means I simply roast whenever I'm inside, then freeze when I go outside because my tights are full of sweat which becomes cold and damp right against my skin. All I need is a "leg-coat" - to wrap around my legs when I'm outside. But can I find one? NO! I can find coats that stop 8 inches above my boots, thus guaranteeing that 8 inches of my legs will be extremely cold and sore.
*mumble mumble mumble*
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no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 12:33 am (UTC)Alternatively, if you find something you like at Macys or another US store that won't ship to the UK, I'd be happy to let you ship it to me and then send it on to you.
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 12:38 am (UTC)My long winter coat, which I wear rarely because it blows around my legs, is L.L. Bean and wool; my day-to-day coat is a hip-length down parka, also Bean; and my spring/fall jacket is from Lands End. (With a light-weight synthetic cardigan, it's good down to freezing.)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 02:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 09:10 am (UTC)Mmmmmmm
:-)
no subject
Date: 2004-12-23 06:32 pm (UTC)I think that's officially true, but I've consistently found I need to go down two increments to get US clothes that fit me.
Coat-wise, you might like to look at some Islamic clothing sites; some of them sell hooded jilbabs which might do the trick. Unfortunately, the one I have bookmarked only has them in wool or denim (which probably isn't warm enough for you), but I haven't searched very extensively.