havesomeseichel: I live in Canada so we don’t have the same stores as you do (except for WalMart). As there are few petite size only shops, I generally have to pick what I can from few racks of petites available at some stores. I find it impossible to wear children’s clothing – except perhaps for a sweatshirt or something similar. Young children may weigh the same but their body shapes are totally different. Children’s size dresses and blouses do leave for breasts. The skirts and slacks do not leave room for the belly that most woman, regardless of their weight, have left over from having children.
Oomis: even though I weigh 98 pounds I am not a size 0 – usually a size 4 – and I am definitely not anorexic. In fact, until about 6 years ago I hovered in the 140-150 pound range. At one point I was 195 D/T to being on steroid medication, so I fully understand the problems associated with being a larger size. In fact, when I was at my highest weight I really could not find much to wear at all – being so short. At that time, in Canada, there was no such think as plus size petites. I managed to find one skirt that fit me and two sweatsuits that I lived my daily life in – this went on for well over a year. Luckily they reduced the medication because my sweatsuits actually wore out. I couldn’t even donate them. When I lost weight a few years ago, it was not from dieting but apparently as a side effect of a medical condition. It is the very first time in my life that I have ever been the right weight for my height (according to the charts I am at the very low end of the appropriate weight). My entire life from when I was a small child consisted on one diet after another. I empathize with everyone who faces the challenge of obesity and agree that losing the weight is far easier (and it isn’t easy by any means) than keeping it off. I do thank Hashem daily that in my later years I don’t have to watch my weight and can eat whatever I wish. I try to include as many high calorie foods in my diet as I can because if I slack off for a day or two, I will start losing weight. I dropped 4 pounds in September when I had my hip replacement surgery and I have been fortunate to regain 2 pounds. I still find it strange that whenever I meet someone that I haven’t seen in a number of years, they don’t recognize me because of the weight loss and usually I don’t recognize them for the opposite reason. It seems that for the most part, women have a tendency to gain weight as they age.
BTW, the best name for a plus size clothing store that I have ever seen is “The Forgotten Woman”. It was (or perhaps still is) in Palm Springs,CA.