Shopping for clothes alone

[gustavofring]

It's such a nightmare.

Walking around in my old severly outdated uncomfortable clothes, which are very sweaty because I'm nervous. NEVER finding the right sort of clothes I'm looking for, never being able to find something that just fits right. The salespeople hounding me. The awful mirrors that make me feel ugly. The nervously walking around with multiple clothes and cloth hangers, sometimes something falls and I go into sort of panic mode. The not being able to see if something fits right on me...

I hate it.

I wish I had someone to go with.

I do like nice clothes, but the whole experience is incredibly painful and I never really succeed.

 

[user deleted]

It's such a nightmare.

Walking around in my old severly outdated uncomfortable clothes, which are very sweaty because I'm nervous. NEVER finding the right sort of clothes I'm looking for, never being able to find something that just fits right. The salespeople hounding me. The awful mirrors that make me feel ugly. The nervously walking around with multiple clothes and cloth hangers, sometimes something falls and I go into sort of panic mode. The not being able to see if something fits right on me...

I hate it.

I wish I had someone to go with.

I do like nice clothes, but the whole experience is incredibly painful and I never really succeed.

I hate it too. I can't bear doing it on my own. I shop online. Lots of hight street stores have a webstore, and ebay is pretty great for clothes too.

 

[gustavofring]

I hate it too. I can't bear doing it on my own. I shop online. Lots of hight street stores have a webstore, and ebay is pretty great for clothes too.

And if you don't fit them?

 

[MotherWolff]

I wonder if I would have that problem too. I never shopped for anything by myself.

 

[laure15]

Me too, my clothes are severely outdated, and I even get negative comments from people when I go out wearing them. If I go shopping for clothes, I need someone who has a fashion sense to come with me. My mother is no help because she keeps on buying ugly clothes for me in the first place. And even when I wear something bad out in public, she doesn't bother to say anything about it.

 

[user deleted]

And if you don't fit them?

I send them back. But mostly I know my sizing, and they usually have measurements posted.

 

[gustavofring]

I see.

I have an odd body, sometimes when I try shirts, Medium fits, sometimes Large. And clothes never look as good on me as they do on the mannequins haha. But if you can send it back, then I might try it as well.

 

[MotherWolff]

Hell, I'm no good with fashion at all. My 13 year old niece knows more about fashion than I do. Maybe that's why she is so damn disrespectful towards me sometimes.

 

[user deleted]

I see.

I have an odd body, sometimes when I try shirts, Medium fits, sometimes Large. And clothes never look as good on me as they do on the mannequins haha. But if you can send it back, then I might try it as well.

A lot of the major companies will give you free returns labels for a really minimal extra cost, or sometimes for free.

It's worth measuring yourself up if you can. When you look on a website they usually have a sizing chart somewhere. Clothes never looking as good on you... I have that problem, I think everyone does at some point. It's knowing what suits us I think. Don't take this the wrong way, but could this also be a symptom of poor self-image?

 

[gustavofring]

It's knowing what suits us I think.

Yeah I have trouble visualising what I will look like in clothes or what style suits me.

Don't take this the wrong way, but could this also be a symptom of poor self-image?

No doubt. It's also that there's so many good looking people walking the streets and in the media, who fit their clothes well, look fresh, so that I always feel like I'm not stylish. DAMN those people haha.

 

[user deleted]

Me too, my clothes are severely outdated, and I even get negative comments from people when I go out wearing them. If I go shopping for clothes, I need someone who has a fashion sense to come with me. My mother is no help because she keeps on buying ugly clothes for me in the first place. And even when I wear something bad out in public, she doesn't bother to say anything about it.

Hell, I'm no good with fashion at all. My 13 year old niece knows more about fashion than I do. Maybe that's why she is so damn disrespectful towards me sometimes.

I had this problem for years. I don't think I look fantastic by any means, I'm not a fan of looking at myself, but I think I'm pretty good at selecting the right clothes for me. It took me years to get where I am now, small changes in my wardrobe, and now people compliment me on clothing/make-up a lot.

I first assessed my body shape.. everyone is shaped differently, and it's important to dress for not only your size, but shape, and height. You can find lots of information about this online. It's also worth looking at fashion blogs for people with a similar shape to you, and seeing what looks good on them. They even have make-over sites where you can sort of digitally try things on yourself.

The smallest things make a difference, for example I would always wear flats, until I realised they made me look kind of frumpy. Now, I live exclusively in kitten heels (super comfy) and ankle boots ( ♥ ). It's weird how these things can change your entire appearance.

 

[gustavofring]

Yeah, the trouble is probably that I like things that I can't wear. When I see a certain type of clothing for men, I'm like that looks cool. But then I try it on and it looks ridiculous.

Your tip on looking up clothes for people with your body type is useful for me. I should probably look more in the Jason Segel/Seth Rogen type clothing, instead of the Ryan Gosling haha.

 

[user deleted]

Yeah, the trouble is probably that I like things that I can't wear. When I see a certain type of clothing for men, I'm like that looks cool. But then I try it on and it looks ridiculous.

Your tip on looking up clothes for people with your body type is useful for me. I should probably look more in the Jason Segel/Seth Rogen type clothing, instead of the Ryan Gosling haha.

Ryan Gosling is probably one of my favourite actors, but even he gets it wrong sometimes.

I mean.. really...

Plus there's the Ryan Gosling Mc Hammer Pants incident.

He does have a nice dress sense for the most part though. And what he wears is pretty versatile. You could totally rock the t-shirt jacket combo for example. If you're self conscious about your chest area for any reason then avoid v-neck t-shirts because they're like an arrow pointing down. I'd go for like a scoop neck or something. The only thing I'd avoid is maybe skinny jeans, as unless you're like 100lbs they aren't very forgiving.

 

[gustavofring]

Haha, true, but he still wears it well I think.

Of course such people have plenty of money and time to work out. They don't go to H&M lol.

 

[Flowers-Of-Bloom]

I haven't gone clothes shopping for ages, which is probably odd for a 20 yr old woman such as myself. I'm very picky with what I wear so shopping is extremely exhausting for me, walking from shop to shop, awkwardly dressing and undressing and not to mention the swarms of people buzzing around everywhere. Yeah... I think I'll take my chances with ebay. Probably cheaper too (I live in Australia, where everything is over-priced).

 

[Phoenixx]

I actually love shopping for clothes, even on my own. I still get some anxiety though doing it, but it's manageable. The only time I ever feel panicky when shopping is if the store is really busy, I have to ask for a fitting room, and/or the salespeople are constantly trying to follow me around and get me to buy things. Those are places I try my best to avoid.

I had this problem for years. I don't think I look fantastic by any means, I'm not a fan of looking at myself, but I think I'm pretty good at selecting the right clothes for me. It took me years to get where I am now, small changes in my wardrobe, and now people compliment me on clothing/make-up a lot.

I first assessed my body shape.. everyone is shaped differently, and it's important to dress for not only your size, but shape, and height. You can find lots of information about this online. It's also worth looking at fashion blogs for people with a similar shape to you, and seeing what looks good on them. They even have make-over sites where you can sort of digitally try things on yourself.

The smallest things make a difference, for example I would always wear flats, until I realised they made me look kind of frumpy. Now, I live exclusively in kitten heels (super comfy) and ankle boots ( ♥ ). It's weird how these things can change your entire appearance.

^ I am almost the same way. Looking back on my appearance 3+ years ago, it was pretty awful to be honest. I've always been a bit of a tomboy, so t-shirts, jeans, and hoodies are still a staple for me. But back then I didn't really know how to fit clothes, what looked good, how to shop, etc. My mother would always go shopping for/with me and -- no offense, I still love my mother -- she doesn't exactly have the best fashion sense either nor can she shop for my body type. A lot of my clothes were baggy, made me look big, made my face look a lot rounder than it already is, and just overall made me look pretty awful. It took me quite a while to finally get into how to shop for me, how to fit clothes, what looks good and what doesn't, etc. What helped me was just watching fashion shows on tv (Project Runway and What Not To Wear are my top two favorites. ), as well as reading blogs, and just looking up stuff. My wardrobe and overall look at least has a little more variety now than what it used to.

I'm still learning too! I still can't bring myself to wear a lot of clothes I would like to wear out of fear of being judged, but I've improved a lot over the last few years. It's all about baby steps, especially if you're incredibly self-conscious like I am and are a bit afraid of change.

 

[Hellhound]

I've had a lot of embarrassing experiences when I was a kid when my mother took me to buy clothes for me. I can't seem to get over that beause I feel the same embarrassment when I approach a store. I just buy online for now.

 

[Bree1989]

Guh, I hate shopping with a passion. I usually don't even try things on. I just grab anything in my size, and try it on at home. If it doesn't fit, I return it! I agree with the OP, I just find all the clothing I like looks absolutely ridiculous on me. I get so jealous when I see slim, flat-chested, taller girls. I like being curvy and petite, but it just means that NOTHING fashionable looks good on me. Ughhhhh.

 

[xDreamseller]

I always get really conscious of "shopping too fast". I am usually in and out of a clothes store within about 2 minutes. Everyone else walks in and seems to crawl around the store, looking at every single piece of clothing for sale. I walk in, look around and only look at things that interest me at first glance. Poking through a shirt rack for 10 minutes isn't my thing, when I can see that all the sleeves are colors I hate.

Then again, I always feel like everyone is starring at me. (Not so bad anymore)

 

[gustavofring]

But back then I didn't really know how to fit clothes, what looked good, how to shop, etc. My mother would always go shopping for/with me and -- no offense, I still love my mother -- she doesn't exactly have the best fashion sense either nor can she shop for my body type. A lot of my clothes were baggy, made me look big, made my face look a lot rounder than it already is, and just overall made me look pretty awful. It took me quite a while to finally get into how to shop for me, how to fit clothes, what looks good and what doesn't, etc.

Yeah you're right. Having the wrong clothes can make social anxiety even worse. It's important, how shallow it may be, to feel good in what you wear because we get judged for it.

Knowing to buy the right things is important.