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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Sack of potatoes? WWYS?

26 replies

birdladyfromhomealone · 14/05/2018 17:14

My so called friend who just happens to be the same size as me just told me in the changing room of a dress shop.
Oh no you look like a sack of potatoes.
I actually like the dress and would have bought it.
I feel un usually sensitive and upset.
AIBU?

OP posts:
ShowMeTheElf · 14/05/2018 17:17

She means that it is unflattering and does not show off your shape to best advantage.
It's a comment on the dress not you.
Insensitive, but honest ..and that's what friends are for, surely?

LIZS · 14/05/2018 17:17

Either the style was shapeless or too big and a poor fit. It isn't necessarily a criticism of you.

IHaveBrilloHair · 14/05/2018 17:18

Was it maybe just that the particular dress wasn't flattering?
I'm slim, but also short and some clothes just look ridiculous on me, it's not necessarily anything to do with weight.

PinkHeart5914 · 14/05/2018 17:18

Some dresses to look like bloody sacks tbh! Seems to be a trend at the moment for shapeless sack style dresses

I’d rather my friend told me...

MatildaTheCat · 14/05/2018 17:21

It was relating to the dress, not you. We’ve all fallen in love with a dress which turned out to be a dud. Thank her for saving you from that.

I’d so much prefer for a good friend to be honest.

Pandoraphile · 14/05/2018 17:22

That was very rude! There are several, less offensive ways to tactfully say that the dress perhaps isn't the one for you.

Mari50 · 14/05/2018 17:23

Oh no you look like a sack of potatoes.
I actually like the dress and would have bought it.
Just as well she was there then.
Unless you looked fab in it and she only said that cause she was jealous.......

Mari50 · 14/05/2018 17:24

That was meant to be in bold...... doh

TestingTestingWonTooFree · 14/05/2018 17:25

She thought the dress looked rubbish. If you’re not interested in her opinion I’d just buy stuff without showing her. She wasn’t very tactful though.

SpandexTutu · 14/05/2018 17:30

Haha- I had a friend who would always look me up and down, shake her head and say ever soooo sloooowly - "No, I don't think so...."
I am all for honesty, but I could not possibly have looked shit in everything or could I?
We've been NC for a few years now!

OCSock · 14/05/2018 17:51

If your preference in clothes is indicated by your user name SpandexTutu, then she might have had a point; nowhere in the known universe could anyone look terrific in a spandex tutu. The whole point of tutus is to have net skirts!

LittleMermaidRose · 14/05/2018 18:12

I don't think she was trying to hurry your feelings, I think she was just trying to say it wasn't the most flattering. There are nicer ways to say that, but I imagine she didn't think it would upset you.

MrsDilber · 14/05/2018 18:14

I'd rather know the truth. As long as it came from a good place, not a mean spirited one.

ShatnersBassoon · 14/05/2018 18:15

My friend tells me I 'look a bugger' in things that aren't flattering Confused Grin

The sack of spuds things is just a clumsy turn of phrase. I'm sure she meant the dress did absolutely nothing for you, rather than you are lumpen.

SpandexTutu · 14/05/2018 23:19

OCsock. My tutu is fabulous. Fabulous!!!!!

PhoebeUrsula · 14/05/2018 23:24

I'd rather someone told me the truth if I was about to buy something. She has about as much subtlety as a smack round the head with a sledge hammer though Grin could have worded it more tactfully!

LockedOutOfMN · 14/05/2018 23:27

She was blunt, but she saved you from wasting money on an awful dress. She sounds like a good friend.

Branleuse · 14/05/2018 23:28

that's what friends are for

UrgentScurryfunge · 14/05/2018 23:33

It'll be the fit of the dress. I've tried stuff on that looked fine on the hanger, and my body is fairly decent, but they've just been the wrong cut/ shape for me. To add insult to injury, the last one I tried like this was hideously shapeless and sack like, and a very frumpy length, but I got stuck in the ruddy thing for a few minutes as the shoulders/ arms were disproportionately tight compared to the rest of the shiny sack! It was fine on the hanger!

When buying DS's first school trousers I had to size down to 2-3 and let the hems out as the 3-4s looked like a sack of potatoes with the waist buttons yanked in.

DalmatianDots · 14/05/2018 23:34

Do you think she was trying to be a bitch?

RedForFilth · 16/05/2018 09:01

There's always loads of clothes I like the look of but just don't flatter my shape. I'm a size 8-10 and look like a sack of potatoes in some dresses!
Sometimes things look lovely on hangers and mannequins but just don't suit. Your friend did you a favour - I wouldn't take offence to it tbh as I highly doubt she was being unkind about you/your shape/size.

I always take my mum or sister when dress shopping as I don't trust anyone else to give me an honest opinion! Would be awful to leave someone walking around thinking they look fabulous when they don't.

havanagilahava · 16/05/2018 10:17

She was giving you constructive advice - that dress wasn't flattering. Why would you go shopping with a friend if you don't want opinions?

MrsDilber · 16/05/2018 16:41

OP has run off.... 🤨

XJerseyGirlX · 16/05/2018 16:44

I agree friends are meant to be honest.. the dress probably wasnt flattering. Lucky she was there

Awwlookatmybabyspider · 16/05/2018 16:55

She could have maybe put it nicer, but a shit friend would have kept it from you and let you go out looking a show.
It's called being cruel to be kind.