If you have not had the opportunity to check out our new 'VOICE' forum on the AmaZe bulletin boards, please do! This is where YOU can really make a difference by not only voting, but sharing your opinion as well. In this issue of AmaZe, one lucky person will “Soundoff” and receive a $200 gift certificate from our friends at Igigi.com!
Here is the AmaZe Winter Issue topic... |
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Click above to vote now and then scroll down to read 'Sound Off' with reader, Nilsa Polzo! |
Winner Nilsa Polzo 'Sounds Off'
I have been reading each of the girls' "Sound Off" about plus size clothing in department stores, and I must say I fully agree. Not only have I also experienced having to look EXTRA hard for something decent to wear (mark the use of 'decent' instead of 'stylish', 'feminine', or 'sexy') only to find out whatever I want is WAY over my budget. My personal experience with department store shopping is the following: high prices, boxy, out of fashion styles, cheap, unflattering fabrics and of course, unattended, secluded sections in the stores. High prices are subjective to everyone. In my case, I'm a full time student with a part time job (need I say more?) The ugly styles are something that simply give out a message that curvy girls are somehow undeserving of expressing ourselves through fashion. I don't know about the rest of the world, but here in Puerto Rico (far worse than in any other place in the US), we have an even SMALLER selection of stores to shop in. We either have JC Penney, Sears, Macys (which all carry SUPER expensive clothes, and ever so often a few trendy things) and two, ONLY TWO, well known plus size stores.
Now this might make my comment a bit too long, but I just have to tell you guys this. Those two stores I'm talking about have, for the most part, items of clothing that are not really expensive, but in return, you get low quality fabrics, badly sewn items, and styles that are either boring or wrong for curvy bodies. Most items are the same cut as for slender girls, but with added fabric (no shape at all). Jeans are usually super high waisted, extremely long and have waaay too many decorations. |
Another thing. I remember having to buy a dress for a recital; and going to Macys. I passed the Juniors' section which always has trendy music blaring all over the section, colorful mannequin displays and lots of employees. Now, the plus size section is dimly lit, next to the house accessories section, super disorganized and just depressing. NO colors, no happy ads, nothing. Just "bleh." And this is just an example of what we curvy girls go through when shopping. That is why I prefer online shopping, which was not an option for me until about 2 months ago when I got my first credit card. It still isn't the best bet for me since I have to take everything I buy to the tailor, but oh well.
It's really frustrating since I'm a singer and have gigs every now and then. I HAVE to look nice, and it's really difficult to do so. So far I've managed with my hair and nice accessories, but I think I (and every woman) deserve to have more options.
Signing off in 'Soundoff',
Nilsa Polzo
Age 20
Puerto Rico
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