Apple shaped Ladies and the difficulty in finding flattering clothes
chitarivera
Posts: 36,905 Forum Member
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I don't have an hourglass figure.
I have slim legs, arms and shoulders, but I have large boobs and a tummy. I am also quite tall.
But I am sick and tired of only being able to find clothes that are
1 see through so that I have to always wear a camisole under things,
2 short in the body so they 'cut me in half' and make me look fat.
3 short sleeved or three quarter sleeved
4 Wrapover style, smock style or empire line so they emphasise the tummy rather than hide it
5 wide in the leg because there is some law that says if you have a tummy you must also have huge thighs.
Tailored/structured style tops that are long enough to fall just below the backside/tummy are the best styles for me.
Those styles accentuate the boobs, slim arms and slim legs but hide the round tummy.
So where are they all?
I'm fed up, I am.
Anyone else?
I keep seeing these telly Ads for Evans, Marisota, IsMe, Simply Be, La Redoute, Kaliedoscope etc that purport to sell clothes for real women.
But when I look at their stock all I see is wrapover style stuff, see through stuff, short sleeved stuff and short bodied stuff.
I recently went to a posh clothes shop and they had some lovely tops in with zip fronts and nice prints etc - but all of them were short in the body.
Great if you are an hourglass shape.
But not if you are an apple.
Wallis' website says apple shapes should wear wrapover styles - but I disagree. That style makes people like me look pregnant!
I hate them!
:mad:
I have slim legs, arms and shoulders, but I have large boobs and a tummy. I am also quite tall.
But I am sick and tired of only being able to find clothes that are
1 see through so that I have to always wear a camisole under things,
2 short in the body so they 'cut me in half' and make me look fat.
3 short sleeved or three quarter sleeved
4 Wrapover style, smock style or empire line so they emphasise the tummy rather than hide it
5 wide in the leg because there is some law that says if you have a tummy you must also have huge thighs.
Tailored/structured style tops that are long enough to fall just below the backside/tummy are the best styles for me.
Those styles accentuate the boobs, slim arms and slim legs but hide the round tummy.
So where are they all?
I'm fed up, I am.
Anyone else?
I keep seeing these telly Ads for Evans, Marisota, IsMe, Simply Be, La Redoute, Kaliedoscope etc that purport to sell clothes for real women.
But when I look at their stock all I see is wrapover style stuff, see through stuff, short sleeved stuff and short bodied stuff.
I recently went to a posh clothes shop and they had some lovely tops in with zip fronts and nice prints etc - but all of them were short in the body.
Great if you are an hourglass shape.
But not if you are an apple.
Wallis' website says apple shapes should wear wrapover styles - but I disagree. That style makes people like me look pregnant!
I hate them!
:mad:
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Comments
I have had most luck with Rogers & Rogers, Matalan's plus size line, and strangely enough in Asda. Asda do some great long tops but considering the poor quality you can't expect them to last too long, after a few months of frequent washing the material starts to look shabby. R&R are better quality but the smaller sizes sell out fast, so often I can't find anything near my 18 waistline and all that's left is sizes 26-30.
What I look for:
- Flowy material, definitely nothing stretchy or too synthetic. Yours are terrible for that.
- Tops that fall below my backside but above the knee.
- Plain material, as little pattern as possible
- No empire line, makes me look pregnant
I would love to hear of other places I can get nice long tops!
Especially jeans.
If I buy a pair that fit on the waist, the legs are too wide.
If I buy a pair that fit my legs, I can't fasten them.
However I have found my own little solution to that problem.
If they fit my legs great I take them to my local Alterations lady. She removes the waist band, extends it a wee bit and puts in a small triangular shaped panel and then puts the extended waistband back on.
She has so many remnants of fabric left over from stuff she's taken in for other customers, she always manages to find a close match.
And because I wear long tops and a belt in my trousers, you can never see the little panel anyway.
If they fit my waist but are too wide in the leg - I have them taken in.
It works so well, that trousers are no longer a problem for me.
Perhaps you could try this solution? I bet there's a good seamstress near you.
Might be worth a try.
I find that Asda stuff is poor quality as you say.
But I haven't looked at R&R. I will google that now. Thanks.
Well, if the legs need taking in, I do that myself, so it isn't pricey.
And the little bit of magic the seamstress does with the waistband extension and little triangle panel costs me £7.99.
I tried doing it myself but made a big mess, so I figured it was worth the £7.99.
Yes, thanks, but they like most others assume that if you have big boobs you have a waist that cinches in and large hips and thighs..
Us apple shapes don't have that. So their clothes tend to emphasise a round tummy and make us look pregnant.
Quite often I think I must be the only apple shaped woman in the world.
:mad:
Having said that, I was scouring online last night and found a nice looking black blouse on the Wallis website. It looks like it might be the right cut.
I've ordered it and am hoping it will be ok.
this company have been advertising on telly lately so I just checked them out.
They seem to be trying to cater for shapes like us.
For instance there is a basic shirt shaped blouse that comes in loads of sizes but it is also sub sized for different cup sized boobs. Good idea.
Mixed prices to suit all budgets, too.
They also have some jeans that look slim on the legs but have a tummy flattening panel and/or elastic at the waist.
If you don't wear your shirts tucked in no one would know about the elastic.
I've ordered a catalogue to check them out.
Some of those fashionworld tops have extra boob space but are normal sized everywhere else. I just ordered a plain black blouse/shirt in my usual size but for D and DD cup.
They have the same blouse with e, F, G and H cup size too.
Most of these 'designers' just think Empire line and wrapover are the solution for anyone over a size 16.
They aren't.
And V neck tops are good for us big boobies - but there seem to be more scoop necks around than V necks.
And those smock fronted things don't hide a rounded tummy, they make it look like a pregnancy bump.
:mad:
There used to be a company called Elvi. They were perfect if a little 'classic' but they decided to bring in Trinny and Susannah to 'trendy things up.'
Out went the tops shaped and cut perfectly for us Apples and in came the short bodied, see through, short sleeved rags.
No surprise, Elvi went bankrupt.
They have started trading again but their stuff isn't like it was before Trinny & Susannah came in and ruined everything.
Not sure what others think of this but I have got lots of stuff from ebay. Can be a pain sifting through stuff but can get great finds.
That's a new name on me.
Will google them and have a look.
Thanks!!
I have also been known to venture into New Look maternity from time to time. I don't have a belly THAT big but the extra material and cut of some maternity tops means that the clothes just flow over your figure and looks nice.
I find very little that flatters an apple shape. I agree that wrap over and empire line are not good.
Sometimes I find the right cut of tunic works. In particular my works tunic (I'm a nail techn) fits beautifully. It's softly tailored and scoops in and out in the right places.
Jeans are a nightmare....and I agree wrap overs do not work for me.
I have slim legs/thighs and hips but have a tummy and very big boobs. I have to buy size 20 tops to fit around my boobs but then they are far too big in the arms/shoulders. Apart from my tummy and my boobs I am quite petite and only 5foot 1in tall. But they don't seem to do petite sizes above 14/16. :eek:
I have taken note of the stores already mentioned but does anyone know of others which cater for us forgotton apple shapes.
Btw I love dresses but unable to wear them...those that fit across my boobs are like a tent around my hips/thighs.
I sometimes despair of finding clothes which fit well.:(
The Dorothy Perkins tops may well be long-ish cut, but many are see through and sleeveless or even three quarter sleeved.
So even they aren't perfect - but I think they are worth a look. And their jeans can be good too.
And I've ordered a top from there.
Its black, long sleeved with a nice cuff, a nicely cut V neckline and the top skims past the tummy and is long enough to hide the tummy as well.
Its a nice soft jersey but doesn't cling.
I'm rather pleased with it.
Yep - tailored/structured things are flattering for us Apples - but no one seems to be making tops like this - well, they are but they are usually too short in the body and cut across the tummy which emphasises our tummy rather than hides it.
I see loads of jacket type tops that I like but they are so short they look like they have shrunk in the wash!
Great if you have a shape and height like Zoe Ball but not so for us lot.
For me I have a very very small waist compared to my huge hips/bum so it's virtually impossible to find trousers to fit unless I want to wear an elasticated waist! My arms are big too so I can never wear a sleeveless top....out comes my cardigan again to hide them