A very big motivation I have right now for losing weight is a wedding I’ve been asked to stand up in next year. My bestest, dearest, life-long friend Tonie is getting married in September 2012 in Las Vegas.
When Tonie initially asked me, I was so thrilled to be to be asked to stand up for her. It took about 10 seconds after she asked me for the negative, oh-my-gosh-what-are-we-going-to-wear thoughts to start creeping up. Knowing my friend as well as I do, I was sure she would pick something that was simple and flattering for everyone.
When I saw a photo of the dress she has picked out, my heart sank. Short. Strapless. The worst possible dress for my body type. Everyone else loved it, so I was not about to go against the grain (it’s the too-nice part of me I’m still working on).
Tonie asked me to go and try it on, so I dragged my sister with me to David’s Bridal, who thankfully had the dress in 2 larger sizes: 26 and 22. I usually wear a 24.
All you ladies out there know how small these special event dresses run. I was relieved that they had a 26 – I figured at least I can squeeze into that.
Of course, ladies-of-size can not go without a bra, so I had to use their strapless bra, which fit me horribly. It was poppin’ out in all sorts of places it was not supposed to be popping out. More on undergarments later.
With a knot in my stomach and defaulting to negative thinking, I grabbed the size 26, tried to bring it over my hips, couldn’t manage it, so I had to go over the head. My sister then zipped me up and out into the public with a zillion mirrors I went. (FYI- a zillion mirrors are not a fat girl’s friend, there is no escaping a dimple!)
Amazingly, the David’s Bridal associate said it was too big. She had bunched up almost 1.5 inches in the back. Turns out I didn’t unzip the dress fully, which is why I couldn’t get it pass the hips. Big sigh of relief. Whew. I’m not THAT big. (It’s always a relief to know that someone out there has it worse than you, right?)
So, reluctantly, with a new wave a dread, I head back into the dressing room to try on the size 22. I’m mentally preparing myself that the associate will have to use those potato chip clips to hold the dress together in back, because I’m not going to be able to zip this sucker up.
I slip it on – over the hips – and my sister tries to get it to zip up. She can’t. The associate comes over and she says that it should take 2 people to zip it up. If you can zip it alone, then it means it’s too loose and you don’t want that. I think she’s trying to make me feel better.
They get it zipped and — it actually feels good on me. It’s not super tight, but supportive across the upper abdomen (it’s a trick designers use to create a silhouette) and flowing chiffon throughout the lower body.
At this point I’m looking in the mirror at myself and can’t believe a size 22 feels this good on me. I can breathe. Nothing is sucked in that shouldn’t be sucked in. Here’s what it looked like on me:
Comfort is my number one priority in clothing so this dress actually gets two thumbs up from me. My upper arms are the most self-conscious part of my body, so I’m gonna have to work those babies out. I don’t care if their toned – I just want them smaller.
So, little brown dress (color we’re wearing is truffle), – GAME ON.
You are gorgeous and really, so is the dress! I love you madly, even if you are too nice.
I would NEVER be nice enough to submit my arms to air or sunlight, LOL. Tonie must be a precious friend.
Um, and “truffle?” How pretentious is that? We’d call that “red” where I come from.
I have a friend who got married last summer and her wedding party (also in red) had virtually every size and shape. There were upper arm issues and tatoos to boot! A few of the ladies added a shawl or jacket made of the same dress material and it looked perfect even with the rest of the thinner girlies. I’ll send you a picture of the wedding party.
Meanwhile, the blog is great and I’m with you all the way.
Thank you Eileen! In the picture I am wearing the red color – but the color we’re wearing is truffle brown. So that’ll go good with my hair!
I am so happy I stumbled upon your blog. I am in the exact situation. My dear cousin asked me to stand up in her wedding and I was overjoyed! Then when she left the room I was horrified in what the bridesmaid dresses would look like. There are 5 other girls standing up. And they are all model material. 10 years younger than me with perfect bodies, hair, skin, the works. They picked a short sleeveless dress with one thick strap. AND IT’S A FITTED DRESS. No flow at all. You will be able to see every bump and ripple in this thing. Worse part is, they did not have it in my size. Simply took my measurements, orderd me a sz 24 and thats that. I pick it up in 2 weeks. I am mostly freaking out about the arms. And how the hell do we keep our boobs up? I like the dress you have on. And in brown it will definitely look very nice on you. I wish our dresses were more like yours!
HI Christina!
I feel your pain! I will be the biggest one at this wedding, too. Well, my plan is to start targeting the arms (my most self-conscious area of my body) with an online “sleeveless in 6 weeks” program I found. If I could just get my arms toned up, I would feel better. And the bride has decided to buy us all shawls — so that will help me feel a little more comfortable.
As for shapewear – I have yet to cross that bridge. There is no way I can just go with strapless bra, my girls are just too heavy. I was thinking that I need to start looking for a lingerie site that has plus size corsets. Spanx isn’t going to work because they don’t have anything that is strapless. So…..I’m sure there will be a blog post about that when the time comes.
Stay tuned….
Lisa