I took a little walk yesterday and did a little window shopping.
The good part was I'd forgotten how much I enjoy looking at clothes.
The bad part was that I no longer fit in any of them.
Here's a little run down of my "fun" soiree:
I haven't visited the H&M on Michigan avenue since it opened a couple of years ago. But since it is the store that is on everyone's lips when it comes to reasonably priced, forward thinking fashion, I thought it time for me to make another call. I also remembered from my previous visit that they actually had some plus size clothes that were, for a change, pretty good looking - I wanted to see how much fashion they were offering for the upcoming season.
How much? Nothing!
At least not if you are larger than a size 16. Which was most unfortunate, since, despite my mis-givings on the clothes there being way too young for ladies of an age, I found at least 4 potential outfits that would easily work for the fashionista of some experience and many separate pieces that could tastefully spice up a perhaps stogy wardrobe.
It was particularly irritating since when you go to their website, they have a size chart for their clothes that for women goes up to size 26!
Anyway....
For my other 50+ sisters who have been lucky enough to keep the svelte figures of their youth (Diane Kenton comes to mind, bless her!) do go on by H&M - you won't be disappointed.
Meanwhile, I twisted my size 18 hips out of there and headed to Water Tower. I took a spin through the elegant Lord and Taylor, which is, unfortunately, slated to close at the end of March. Seems the owners of Water Tower has determined it is more cost efficient (in other words, they can pull in more cash!)to split the space up into smaller stores.
But I digress....
As Lord and Taylor's carries the major clothing lines (Jones of New York, Ralph Lauren, Ann Klein, etc, etc..) I had no problem finding many fine pieces for the 50+ Fashionista - but you've got to be willing and able to drop a pretty penny to get them! (They are having a sale however, and what an organized one -- they have all the same colored garments on the same racks so you can zero right in on what you might be looking for!)
Spinning out of L & T, I made a stop in J. Jill. I've received their catalogs and I know that they do sell their clothes in a wide range of sizes. I had the store to myself -- but no sizes larger than an 16 to be found. The saleslady was quite apologetic when she told me that they don't carry plus sizes in the store but she assured me that I can order through the store and have it delivered there for trying on. Nice, but then why wouldn't I just order on the web and try it on at home?
Sighing and moving on, I made a stop at Ann Taylor. Now I have to confess, I have avoided AT, mostly because I felt their size choices were not wide enough. That was an error on my part, one, because they actually carry styles that I think work wonderfully for the 50+ woman (And as I observed above, not every woman receives the almost obligatory extra pounds as her 50th birthday present!) and two, because they do carry sizes up to 18 (Through mostly at their Ann Taylor Loft stores). However there were no 18's to be found in the store itself.
Sigh....Well at least the walk almost brought me up to my 10,000 steps a day goal!
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