More exploring of clothing lines today. I ordered 2 dresses from peacocks because they were having a sale.
Now, at peacocks, my measurements make me an 18. At dotty p they are between 16 and 18. At marks, monsoon, new look, next, river island they make me a 16.
Though I own a 14 cardi from peacocks and have tried on 16s at marks that are too clingy.
I think I'd call myself an 18 as I only just scrape into a 16, and I'm definitely an 18 at least in jeans (16 at Evans).
I also tried 4 different bra size calculators and got told I was a 40A, 40B, 36D and 36DD. Which is quite the range. Maybe I should compromise and try on a 38C. I wear a C right now with a larger bandwidth, bought 6 months ago. I'm far too self conscious to get measured in person.
My biggest problem areas are my tummy, upper arms, and my legs. Even my lower legs are bad, they look lumpy - not cellulite but not nice and shapely. Just wrong. I really hate them. Fitted top dresses with flared skirts to about knee length suit me, but the sleeves are always too short and it means I have to expose my calves.
Arm wise, I need sleeves to elbow length and no shorter, or I feel uncomfortable. It's fine in cardigan season but awful on hot summer days. I need some kind of short length, mid arm sleeved cover ups in very thin fabric.
Leg wise, my skin is the colour of milk. I can wear black tights with some things, but skin colour or tan tights look absurd on me. White tights look childish. So how on earth do I cover the bumps on my legs. Sheer tights would be useless. I need opaque tights that work with light dresses and don't make me look like I've been tangoed from the waist down.
It's ridiculous, I read all the style magazines but am useless at dressing myself. I ruin nice clothes just by putting them on.