Day 131 - Clothes Shopping

For my entire adult life, clothes shopping has always been difficult. Fat men's clothing is simply hard to find at retail places, and I hovered at such an extreme end of the range that even at dedicated stores I was buying the largest sizes, and being grateful for any options I had. Due to that, and the shame that comes with moving up every year or two into larger and larger sizes, I never really enjoyed shopping for clothes.

Moving in the opposite direction, however, makes the process much more enjoyable. I'm finding that I enjoy trying on the various styles and designs, finding stuff that I like and that looks good on me, and it only reinforces my major goal of being able to buy clothes at mainstream retail outlets.

In some ways, I'm still heavily restricted, due to my size as well as the desire to stick with the clearance racks. I'm a size 50 to 52 now, but this should be the only summer I wear the shorts I just bought. There is no reason to invest more money than necessary. On the other hand, my size 60 shorts were starting to look ridiculous and needed to be retired. What's the point in looking dramatically better if you still look sloppy?

Obese men have it better and easier than women in nearly every regard, from social acceptance to professional options even to medical treatment. Where women have an advantage is the fashion support extended to them. Obese women can shop a variety of stores stocked with plenty of options, while fat men are restricted to one or two chains, with far fewer options. Part of that is the difference between male and female fashions in general, of course, but it's still annoying to buy multiple pairs of any style of jean that simply fits, because there aren't more kinds to be had.

I doubt I'll ever dip below the extended sizes or big and tall sections of most retailers, but I still want to buy my suits at a men's store, and jeans at a target at some point. No matter how obese a person is, they still wear clothes. It's an aspect of the human experience you can't avoid or alter due to size, and it's an activity that I want to enjoy.