UK Fashion

My Aunt, who owns a salon in the US, says this is exactly what you should do.  Find someone with a style you like and ask them where they got it done.  I've not taken her advice yet, but I am getting desperate and am planning to jump on the next person with good hair walking down the street

I've asked people where they had theirs done, but mostly people I see at work. I would probably ask someone at a bar if I had a few drinks in me.  I don't think there is anything wrong with it. I asked one lady once who came in reception and she told me where she had hers done. People are usually flattered, so I say go for it. I don't think its forward or strange, I'm sure when they hear your accent, they will know that you may have just moved here and are looking for a good hairdresser. Every woman knows how that goes! 

I don't think I have seen many women with my hair type - thick, part wavy/part straight, Jewish-Italiany type hair.

The women I see either tend to have either very straight hair or perfect ringlets.

I know no one in this part of the UK has my hair type. I think I got it from the Spanish ancestors(thicky, wavy, prone to frizziness) rather than the Malaysian ones. I'd be ok if it was from the Malaysian ones-it'd just be thick, black and super stick straight. The grass is always greener on the other side, isn't it?!

In other news-had a day out on my own(!!!) in Nantwich. They've got great selections at the charity shops here. Guess going to a better area gleans better clothing choices.

Re wavy hair - Don't go to Toni & Guy or to a stylist who was trained by Toni & Guy. They are taught to cut those wispy, uneven bits at the bottom. Sassoon do chunky straight-across cuts which suit me much better. It's definitely about the individual stylist, but also about how he/she was trained.

I don't think I have seen many women with my hair type - thick, part wavy/part straight, Jewish-Italiany type hair.

The more I think about it, the more I realize you're right...and I've got that kind of hair, but maybe a bit less thick than  yours.

I absolutely do not understand the mutton-dressed-as-lamb thing.  I am over thirty now, and I don't want to dress like a teenager anymore, but the market seems completely geared towards slutty teen clothes.  It can be very difficult to find plain, simple, unadorned classic clothing, and that's so frustrating!  I would love to get a maxi dress, for example, but every.single.one I see is either a horrible tacky print or covered in sequins or something (sequins...*shudder*).  Add that to being a plus size and it makes clothes shopping very challenging indeed. 

Amen to this!  I have two family weddings and my DH's grandmother's 100th birthday party to go to this summer, and my MIL gave me and my DH a little money (£60, which to me is a lot) to go buy ourselves some nice fancy clothes to wear.  I have not been able to find a single thing in the shops in my size (24) that would even be *appropriate* to wear to these events, let alone something that I like.  I am a professional in my mid-30s, who happens to be fat; I do not wish to wear "jeggings", a mini-dress, and sky-high cage heels to a fancy country wedding or a major milestone party.  I also don't want to wear one of those double-knit pleated skirts that comes down to just the wrong part of my calf and a matching long sweater with something "cute" embroidered on it.  Sigh.

So far I have worn a dress that I already had (bought in the US) but that my MIL has not seen me wear yet and a slightly silly feathered hair gizmo from Primark.  I bought a few dresses from ebay but so far one has not arrived yet and the other is a little bit disappointing (not as fancy as the description made it seem). 

I don't know if I am just becoming more curmudgeonly, but it seems like fashion for the larger woman and especially the trends around here in the North are becoming less and less flattering by the day.  It seems that all the women out in the nightclubs on a Friday night are wearing teeny-tiny skin-tight dresses and ludicrously high heels, no matter how old they are or what kind of body shape they have.  I'm all for fat acceptance, and loving the body that you have, but for me at least that in part means dressing it in something that doesn't make it look ugly, and keeps it warm!  On the other hand, I almost always feel frumpy, so perhaps I should embrace these tiny-dress trends.

And on the subject of maxi dresses...why do they all seem to have wierd straps that you can't wear with any bra that I know of?  Especially the ones in larger sizes?  I guess I should either learn to embrace the, um, unfettered look or else find a good strapless bra, but since that has eluded me for years, and none of the shops that sell these dresses sell the appropriate undergarments to go with them, I'm a little mystified.  Time to get the sewing machine repaired and learn to make dresses, I think...

(geez. Sorry for the unprovoked rant!)

Or you can follow the crowd and let your bra straps show or just go braless, no matter how big your boobs are and how many years gravity has been pulling at them  

The more I think about it, the more I realize you're right...and I've got that kind of hair, but maybe a bit less thick than  yours.

It's not really that thick - and geting thinner with age.

Or you can follow the crowd and let your bra straps show or just go braless, no matter how big your boobs are and how many years gravity has been pulling at them  

I'm only a 34B and I wouldn't dream of doing that!  Can you find a good strapless bra at a place like Bravissimo that caters to larger sizes?

It's not really that thick - and geting thinner with age.

When I was younger--up until my mid-20's my hair was definitely thicker and the waves closer together (more tight?).  I can't really attribute the change in texture and thickness to age since mid-20's is still young.  I think it may be because that's when I became vegetarian.  I read that somewhere ages ago it could affect hair that way, but I could be wrong.

Or you can follow the crowd and let your bra straps show

I always have bra straps showing with strappy tops/dresses... I don't have a strapless bra and I don't think there's any way I'd go braless, so straps it is.

Is showing your bra straps a no-no in the US? I was staying with relatives in the south (US) a few years ago when I was a teenager and my relative said it was too revealing there to have my bra straps showing and I shouldn't do it anymore... but it was 100 degrees and all I had was strappy tops to wear, so I didn't have much choice .

I always have bra straps showing with strappy tops/dresses... I don't have a strapless bra and I don't think there's any way I'd go braless, so straps it is.

Is showing your bra straps a no-no in the US? I was staying with relatives in the south (US) a few years ago when I was a teenager and my relative said it was too revealing there to have my bra straps showing and I shouldn't do it anymore... but it was 100 degrees and all I had was strappy tops to wear, so I didn't have much choice .

I think it really depends on the person/place.  I remember being in high school and girls would wear things that had their bra straps showing and get detention for it.  But I think the school focused on that because there wasn't a good way to bring up the fact that these same girls were usually purposely having their thongs hang out the back of their jeans.  

My mom hated it when my bra straps would show when I wore tank tops in the summer, but that was mostly because she thought it looked sloppy more than inappropriate.

ETA: And I have never in my life found a decent strapless bra.  The choice is either show my bra straps or be tugging at a strapless bra all night that keeps falling down.

I found a great strapless bra but it took about 2 hours at Macy's the last time I was home.  I tried on everything.  It really does the job, and I'm not small on top.

But, to be fair, I try to wear things with thicker straps so I can wear a regular bra because despite their greatness, a strapless bra still doesn't provide the support that one with straps does.

I've seen bras at Next (and also in larger sizes) that you can wear multiple ways - they have longer and shorter length straps that go with them so that you can find a way to wear it under anything (racer back, halter, one shoulder, etc.) and also wear it strapless. I had one like that from Victorias Secret and I loved wearing it under my summer haltertops and things like that. I can't really go braless unless I am planning to poke someone's eye out. 

I don't mind little bits of a bra showing at all, if it's a really nice pretty bra!  I wouldn't have thought that I would think this, but I used to work with a woman here who was very stylish & from one of the French Caribbean islands - she always had the most gorgeous bras (very lush lacy & printed ones, etc - a lot of them purchased from BHS I later learned!) & inevitably they would peek-a-boo just a wee bit out from under her clothing.  Made everyone think ooo-la-la - didn't look trashy at all!  

Oh, yeah, the VS Convertible bras.  (I could be spelling that incorrectly).  Those were very handy.  I like VS, I just wish they did more minimizers.  I'm busty, and I like wearing tank tops and stuff in the summer (or underneath a camisole) but most of my VS bras give me too much cleavage (though it's supported, for which I am thankful).

I actually found some decent minimizers at M&S. 

Bra straps are OK if you're small enough to have thin straps. But when you need all the uplift you can get, well ...