to think that women who are a size 6/8/10 are permanently on a diet?

[SabineUndine]

I don't mean diet as in counting every calorie, but diet as in they hardly eat any carbs and don't eat cakes, biscuits etc more than a couple of times a year? I am not a thin person (you guessed?) and I look at what my really slim female colleagues eat and it's salads with no carbs and just a tiny bit of protein, or soup or smoothies. Is that what it takes to be a thin person?

Shopping online and having to send stuff back and forth if it doesnt fit right will likely cost more.

And im dyscalculic which wont help when using a tape measure.

helena I mentioned up thread I would like to gain a bit of weight.
I'm a 34B and if I ever jokingly say I'd like bigger norkage I get told I need to eat more! If I gained a stone I'd turn into dolly Parton...
Ive been a size 14 I still had 34b boobs I just had a bigger stomach and fat that sat on top of my hips. My legs still resembled a crane!
I completely understand where you are coming from.

Internet shopping for any style of clothing is a pain in the arse, especially bras. So I don't think Helena is being particularly obstructive by 'refusing to shop online'.

I've been fitted in one particular brand only to go online and order a whole load of bras in that brand and size only to find that most of them don't fit.

In one case I ordered 2 bras in the same size and different colours in a style I had bought previously only to find that one was a bit too small and one was loads too small and I hadn't gained any weight.

With bras being so expensive, you only have to order a few in a couple of different sizes and styles and you suddenly have hundreds of pounds sitting on your credit card until the refund is processed for those you don't keep.

So it is often much easier to shop in person - Helena is there an outlet shop anywhere near you? Or a Bravissimo not too far away that makes it worth a trip every once in a while? I've seen at least one Triumph outlet at a designer outlet place if that's one of your favoured brands. There's also a factory shop somewhere in Northamptonshire that is owned by the company that makes Freya and Fantasie at least.

YY Dona i get comments about my spindly arms and small shoulders. I have to wear size 18 blouses cos they are the only ones that will do up without the gapping but the sleeves look ridiculous I look like im wearing M C Hammer trousers on my arms

And as for strappy tops .................impossible.

Thanks for that Barbara Will check that out

I find except for the huge Debenhams near me, department stores are rubbish for small back/large cup. We have 2 independents who are far better at getting sizes in for you to try if they don't already have them. I have some lovely and pretty curvy Kate bras from them and they have been invaluable when trying to sort out maternity/nursing bras.

Just back from a European city break and went a v posh restaurant one night. Eight women at a table, all ate the same main of poached fish and vegetables, and they shared 2 puddings between 8 - so a spoonful each. I think they probably had one glass of wine each.

Unsurprisingly, they were all slim.

I'm only a 30F/FF, which in reality is not that big - I know many women with breasts a lot bigger than me, so in reality average/medium sized and I've more or less given up wearing buttoned up blouses because I have slim arms, size 8 shoulders, size 12 chest, 10 waist and 14 hips but find that I have to go to 14/16 to get anything that doesn't gape so looks ridiculous elsewhere.

So I wear blouses partly buttoned up with a vest top underneath or stretchy tops instead. As I'm cold a lot of the time, I wear jumpers anyway. I do have an M&S blouse that is supposed to be curvy fit with extra chest room and more buttons to prevent gaping but the buttons are a bit fiddly and I'm too lazy to bother.

Helena Is there any chance you made a mistake when you posted this:

Im over 11 stone though but i cant have weight keep coming off my back so im trying to maintain my weight rather than lose any more

What you have said is that if you lose weight then it will come off your back.
Like here FFS I am NOT carrying any back fat.

Which is it because these two statements are the complete opposite of each other?

No one can 'spot reduce' areas of their body, but it depends where the weight goes on. Weight for me goes straight round my waist and on my upper arms though the rest of my body stays thinner. It's reasonable to suggest that someone might have back fat or indeed no back fat to lose because a lot of us put weight on in certain areas and that's where we lose it first. Got nothing to do with hating women

To everyone saying Helena MUST have back fat. She hasn't. I've seen her. I've seen her weight loss which I have to say she's done fan-fucking-tastic.

I must be a similar shape to mango. V definitely hourglass, and a size 14 bottom and 16 top at 15st 10
Huge shoulders/wrists/bones

hollinhurst, pic of my wrist to prove no fat bracelets - I've just measured it and it's 17.5cm (pulled tight), 18cm (snug).

Sorry, meant to add, it would be interesting to see the variations in wrist size for all the different weights & sizes.

I've never been delicate of frame, ever!

Grays this back fat thing is a bit odd. There was NO WAY I was wanting to upset HD. I responded to her own post where she said she didn't want to lose any more weight because it would mean her back would be smaller than a 32 and she wouldn't be able to get a bra to fit. So I am one very confused poster.

If anyone cares, my wrist measure 13.5 cms. That is just above and not including the wrist bone. My ring size is G or G.5 - I have to have all rings made to measure or altered.

13.5cm is dinky!
I reckon my finger is that size..

I can't believe I have just gone to measure my wrist!
14cm wrist
5'6
size 10 trousers, 12 in a top as I have broad shoulders and big boobs
9st exactly.

I can't believe I have just gone to measure my wrist!
14cm wrist
5'6
size 10 trousers, 12 in a top as I have broad shoulders and big boobs
9st exactly.

Another13.5cm wrist measured at the same place.

Pearly I'm the same height as you, weigh about 10.5 stone but a size 8 in tops and dresses and a 10 in trousers.
I have a proper hourglass figure and 30FF boobs.
Funny how body shapes are so different

No tape measure. My ring size is P1/2 though

I'm 5ft6 and hover around 7st11.

During the week I am super careful- no carbs, little sugar, no crap, no alcohol. Just veg and protein.
At the weekends I eat whatever the fuck I want.

Iirc my ring size is around a P normally (am too fat to wear my rings at the mo).

In a very unscientific study of about 4 people it seems that big wrist & hourglass = heavier weight carried without being particularly large sized.

The small wrist people tend to be lighter to be around the same clothes size.

Even when I'm a 10, I still look more solid (bordering on stocky) than those who are a 10 with a smaller frame who look more petite and slight.

MoreCrack

Doesn't that make you quite underweight?