Has This Happend to You? - YouLookFab Forum

Does anyone else have the urge to go up to people and tell them their pants are too short? Their shirts are too long? Their wearing the wrong kind of pants for their pear shape? (etc)

Of course, I don't succumb to my urge--but I find myself assessing people much more than I used to.

I think because of the area I live in, people are less inclined to care about how they dress. I'd say 50% of the people in my town dress in sweats/pajama bottoms, grubby stained shirts and sneakers. 30% dress in jeans with athletic sneakers, and sweatshirts w/turtlenecks under, or buttoned down tucked in shirt, and 20% put some thought and effort into their clothes. I know if I lived in a bigger city, or a more affluent town, I'd see more better dressed people.

I think this has a lot to do with why the stores in my town are so lame and I have to drive at least 40 minutes to find an AT or a Nordstrom.

I know several of you comment on the lack of good shopping in your towns--do you find that the majority of people in your area dress slovenly?

17 years ago

Marianna

Active Member

Hi Nicole,

Yes, I find myself doing what you are doing. I have even told friends their pants are too short and to wear different shoes with them.

I live in a HOT climate, so I see a lot of flip flops, short shorts, tanks and belly baring t's. It is very frustrating seeing women and men dressing too casual. We have a few good stores here, but the closest Nordstrom is 2 hours away, my state doesn't even have an H&M.

I get so many compliments on my make up, my outfits, and my accessories. I make the best with the stores we have here. I am on a super tight budget as well. My summer wardrobe is very small, I have a few tops, two skirts, and 2 dresses. However I still manage to look like I put an effort into what I am wearing.

Dana

Nicole,

I agree that I see many of the same fashion autrocities you mention. I shudder to think that I was adding to those prior to finding this site (not horribly, but I didn't own any pants that qualify as PPL).

I live in a large city but we have terrible shopping. Historically, everyone who could afford to shop nice places travelled to Chicago or Atlanta or even New York to buy clothes and as such, we never got any decent shopping because the demand wasn't there. I see so many people walking around in terrible outfits that are completely sloppy and show no self respect what-so-ever.

I've never given any thought to the correlation between bad shopping and terrible dressing habits, but it makes sense.

nancy

I also live in a small town, in the midwest with absolutely no shopping options except a small and lower rated Macys (which means that we get mainly Macy store brands and limited designer brands i.e. DKNY and sometimes Nine West) and a good B. Republic and OK Ann Taylor. I love clothes and love to shop (can really have fun just shopping but love buying too of course) so end up driving 3 hrs. to Indianapolis or Chicago. Will order on line from stores I know the sizing but otherwise hate to pay shipping and then not keep an item. This blog has helped me so much for re-evaluating what I own and buy in the future, also in pointing out items I might be interested in purchasing and most of all just "sharing" with othe women who care about their appearance. I echo the previous comments that it seems like the people where I live wear mainly bad fitting jeans and white tennis shoes and lots of t's. I am 99.9 % of the time over dressed compared to them but I am OK with that.

christie

Nancy, I'm wondering where you are from. I'm also in Indiana.

Nicole, yes, I do this all the time. I actually feel bad about it. Like yesterday, I saw this lovely couple, probably around fifty, dressed nicely for a spring day out. The lady of the pair was wearing dark jeans, a nice black top, and black stiletto heels. The only problem was that her jeans hit her shoes at the heel. I mean, where her actual heel was, not the pointy stilletto heel. And my initial thought wasn't--what a cute couple--it was "oh, so close." Terrible. Usually I don't have that problem because most people around here dress like they weren't planning to leave their back yard that day, but were called away unexpectedly.

shiny

Veteran

In the town I live in, women get dressed up just to go to the grocery store. It's a see-and-be-seen environment. Even if they are in work-out gear, it's lululemon or juicy couture. When the kids were younger and the parents would all be gathered at drop-off at the school in the morning, I was the one who felt like the total schlub!

Now that the kids are in high school, it can be difficult because all their friends are wearing designer gear and I don't buy them that, because they grow too fast to justify it. Now that they are slowing down on the growing, I will splurge on Jcrew jeans instead of Gap and ON for them, but that's about it. I tell them style is not about the brand-name or price. They are at an age where they can wear a simple white tee shirt and with the right accessorizing and attitude, make it look designer.

Otherwise, when we are in the city (which is nearly daily for us), you see mostly well-dressed people, -OR- college students wearing the typical jeans/hoodie combos. Lots of college students here. It depends on what area of Boston you are in - harvard students dress more snappily and upscale than say BU students. BC students definetly have their own uniform, and Mass Art and Tufts students are the funkiest - lots of skinny jeans, punker and emo looks. MIT students care the least about fashion - it's more about function and practicality. But in their own way, they have a certain style too.

If I see someone wearing a fashion faux pas in the city, 9 out of 10 times, it'll be a tourist or someone coming in from the farther suburbs.

I lived in those suburbs when my kids were very young, when I was a SAHM, and yes I saw all sorts of atrocities then. I was one of them myself.

Anonymous

Where I live, there is a mix. However, I am surrounded by a lot of very wealthy people at school, so a lot of my good friends are very well dressed. I have a friend who buys everything she sees and never wears anything twice. She has a great body for clothes and looks great in almost everything, but honestly, I don't understand why you would by anything that you would only wear once. I also echo Shiny about the labels. If you are going to wear loungewear to the grocery store, it has to have some kind of label. I myself own a few Juicy suits and lululemon apparel (which I actually use for yoga!), and sometimes I ask myself why I spent so much money on loungewar. Oh, and in the winter, the Burberry scarves are everywhere.

I am interning at an office right now and I there are quite a few improper pant lengths and other fashion faux pas. I never say anything, but I definitely see so many people with so much fashion potential that is just not being reached. I also feel strange because these people are so much older than me.

Hi Christie-I live in Northwest IN, almost to the MI state line. What area of IN are you in?

Nancy

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

VERY interesting. Now imagine the types of urges I get.

Sarah

I'm starting to have this "problem" too. Sometimes it makes me feel bad, but I like to take it as a sign of improvement. During the end of the semester I would sit in class and analyze who had PPL and who didn't. None of the guys at my school wear there pants long enough, but a few girls do. I'm not really one to judge though, since I currently own 2 pairs of size 4 jeans that are a size too big and a tad too short even for flats and one pair of khakis that is an inch too short for my flattest flats. All of my other pants are gone, and I have three pairs of jeans that are for housework only. But I'm at least on the lookout for jeans that have the right fit and length. I’ve also been trying to figure out who in our school wears skirts only at knee length, who wears both short and long skirts, and who wears only ankle length. Here in Missouri the uniform for most people is a boxy t-shirt, jeans, and tennis shoes. Here's hopping that more people discouver YLF.

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