Style snub for size 18 plus very busty women?

[Traveltart]

Can one ever look stylish and cool in middle age as a size 18 plus with enormous (GG) boobs?

If so, where do I find these clothes? The majority of ‘in’ styles have never suited me. Wide legs make me look even more enormous. I can’t wear anything with a high neck or thin straps.

Terrible legs so can’t do short anything. The only large influencer types I know tend to wear garish colours or are much younger than me.

In an ideal world I would waft around in classic clothes made of fabulous materials but these just don’t work for my budget or size! Would love to be able to afford Victoria Beckham style clothes but they don’t stretch to my budget or size.

I need to get out of my Boden jersey dress rut…My go to styles tend to be wrap and scoop or V cross over necks.

I tend to wear day dresses all the time or frumpy leggings or black trousers with a top that covers my tummy area. I do have a waist but also a stomach.

I have nothing to wear to drinks or a meal out.

Will spend up to £150 per item if I have to but would love some ideas ahead of the summer sales so I can swoop when ready.

My colour palette is supposedly warm autumn but I tend to buy a lot of high contrast black and white clothes which may not suit me.

Cool people: please point me to stylish shops and outfits that go up to my size or to accounts I should follow for style tips. Am late 40s…

I think my problem is I like an elegant classic look that looks amazing on a size 8 but dreadful or at best plain on a bag of lumpy coals like me!

Hi. You sound just like me!!!

Try these...
Live unlimited
Kit and kaboodal
Room Lytham
Laundryb

Do you follow rantsandbigpants on insta? She’s a 16-18 and wears some lovely stuff.

Maxi dresses are great in summer for all occasions. I have a denim shirt dress I wear in cooler weather with tights and boots that I got from an online outlet but is was originally a Sainsbury’s brand. (H cup so have to size up in a shirt dress or it gapes but it has a tie waist so still has some shape).

I do like a pop over shirt, just got a new one from Regatta, so easy to wear with jeans or some cropped trousers/culottes in the summer.

Just chipping in with a comment about your colour palette. If you have been assessed and come out as ‘warm autumn’, do please trust it give it a go. It is very different to what you are currently wearing, but I think it will make you feel different and more confident. That’s what I found. I’m currently overweight and with a massive bust too!
Sorry, have nothing to say about brands, etc. but I’m sure others will come along with advice.

I’m an 18/20 and a G and I love these:

John Lewis Sleeveless Linen Maxi Dress

AND/OR Alex Pleat Midi Dress

(Admittedly both out of stock at the moment but you could set up a stock alert)

Zara Oversize Lace Linen Blend Shirt (I have this in an XL and it’s nice and roomy)

Sézane Max Shirt (a 20 fits me well, there are lots of colour and pattern choices!)

M&S linen shirts are also great with jeans and statement jewellery.

Thanks so much for the recommendations of rants and big pants and also the list from @Timespentwithcatsisneverwasted - some fabulous clothes on them and most of them very cheaply priced compared to what’s often on here! Quick question: is Lagenlook a little bit retired art teacher? I have always dressed ‘old’ for my age and my face - which isn’t too terribly lined - doesn’t quite suit my body if that makes sense. I fear I’m going to turn 60 in a decade or so and will suddenly crave wanting to be 35!

Kit and Kaboodal went into administration. Im not sure if someone has since bought the brand but worth having a Google before buying to make sure you dont get stuck with things you cant return.

I’m 18 and a H so watching this for ideas now!

If VB is your inspiration I wouldn’t go for lagenlook, it’s very different, and it’s not impossible to achieve the look you want at your size, it’s just a bit trickier! It would also be worth checking out COS.

Ooh thanks @user593. This is very CBK isn’t it? I can just imagine someone wafting around the Hamptons in this.

I am now questioning why I like these looks so much and is there a part of the not-at-all Anglo Saxon DNA in me that wants to conform to a Waspish standard of beauty (thin, pale) which is why I’m opting for monochrome and neautral colours?

Do ‘cool’ clothes come in warm palettes? I do quite like a chiffony small patterned floaty blouse too… so I guess they do. I do in fact like patterns but it’s hard to look stylish and wear patterns, no?

I wasn’t suggesting Lagenlook was stylish. Though I did like some of the clothing linked to above and was shocked to see it labelled Lagenlook so perhaps I’m a pretentious prat!

Their companies house filing is still showing up as in administration - thanks for the warning @ThreeRandomThings

I don't do the whole Lagenlook layering thing cos it doesn't suit me, but I try stuff on and just return it if it doesn't suit me. I've had some lovely clothes from the sites I listed but also ones where I laughed when I tried them.on 😂. Just order loads and send it all back at once! I have learnt to step.put my comfort zone but it's just trying new stuff on. Good luck x

I like Yours clothing, sometimes Simply Be Good old M&S. When I was in Berlin I found a lovely shop called Ullapopken and the staff were very lovely and helpful. They have a UK website . I was given a surprising £50 from The Nationwide and spent it on a lovely long cardigan and a few tops from vinted and ebay. I found out about Marina Rinaldi as they had an outlet shop which was far cheaper than the big shop next door. So for £50 I have a few tops. I also like cotton traders tops. I get a lot of compliments when I wear those clothes. They last as well as my OH told me it was twenty years ago we went and only recently I had to chuck out an Ulapopken t-shirt as it got a hole in it. I also get a lot of my from charity shops. All the best with getting a great wardrobe sorted.

You sound very similar to me in terms of size, bust and colouring! I would give wearing your colour palette a proper try, I have embraced mine over the last couple of years and now I basically never wear black or white, I look infinitely better in “my” colours. It took me quite a while to build up a wardrobe of clothes that complement each other but I am now at the stage where I do have tops and trousers which almost all go together and I do feel a lot more pulled together when I’ve just thrown something on.

im surprised that wide leg trousers don’t work for you, have you tried them with a fitted top, maybe in a wrap style like your favoured dresses?

ChatGPT is quite helpful for finding clothes that suit and are the right style. Being size 20 is hard though, at least at 18 you have some high street options. I use next a lot, order a massive bunch of clothes to collect, try them on in store and return most or all of them.

there are a lot of brown, rusty red and khaki/olive shades around at the moment which are great for a warm autumn. None of them look good with black though, so you need to bin the black and go for it fully!

https://www.gudrunsjoden.com/en-gb/clothes/news?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22316633174&gbraid=0AAAAADOZmH-vBaa7XThRPv-weqhAFRRK-&gclid=Cj0KCQjwrs7RBhDuARIsAIVfBD1UKrN2aWHZ4fabz9dwjc1WdxGVUEfmj30NWvEKBSptlxfzxjHQaaEaAvXYEALw_wcB
My dds teacher used to wear this brand. She always looked fabulous and would get many compliments about her clothes. She was at least a size 22, but somehow looked light and airy and stylish. Clothes aren't cheap as often need to be worn in layers to get the right look but timeless and interchangeable.

Have a look at Tilletts

https://www.tillettsclothing.co.uk/collections/new-arrivals?utm_source=Klaviyo&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=18th%20June%2C6am%20new%20arrivals%20%2801KV8DNXM0S11DAJ1RVYVFK490%29&utm_id=01KV8DNXM0S11DAJ1RVYVFK490&utm_term=LNJ3Ym&utm_content=&_kx=Nuvrws62IhhwnGrdDq2AgLAWWu-vW_tzRI5UV7uzpa0.P3Quzp#my-menu

Really good and efficient online service, prices don’t break the bank either, so good for everyday wear.

Oh following

Thank you for all your suggestions and good wishes! I’ve seen UllaPopken before and they do look like they’d be quality. I can see how the Gudrun stuff at least makes a statement but it’s very colourful and more funky art teacher vibe than me. Perhaps there are some treasures buried on the Tillett’s site but yikes! The first few pages feel very country-cottagey to me. Sorry I don’t mean to sound ungrateful!

Why oh why can’t there be the equivalent of a Matches look for bigger people? Or even a more creative take on Me and Em? Are there any truly fashion forward bigger role models/designers?

I have always been quite good at finding stuff that fits or suits my shape (perhaps less so with colouring but I just don’t love autumn colours - they fill me with dread).

What I am less good at is finding stuff that is on or ahead of trend. While I have never been into fashion, just on occasion I would like to look like I’m not wearing stuff that’s a decade out of date. i honestly can’t distinguish between early 2000s stuff and now which is crazy given it’s the same gap as the 1960s to the 1980s where the styles are so super different!

I just asked ChatGPT and it suggested this:

Universal Standard
Anthropologie Plus Size
Karen Millen Curve
Never Fully Dressed Curve

I have never even heard of universal standard but have shopped at the other 3 with limited success. Anthropologie and NFD were good, Karen Millen less so

Karen Millen curve stuff is made very cheaply abroad, I sent everything back I ordered from there. And it's not cut well for larger sizes at all.

It's not often I venture on the S and B boards because I don't think I really fit in but I'm a size 16/18 and I wear whatever shapes and styles I like without worrying about looking big or it being flattering and that works great for me. I get complimented a lot on my clothes and style. My general day to day clothes are big jeans with small tops or casual wraparound style jumpsuits. Fuck covering up.

Watching. Tha ks for starting the thread OP!

I know what you mean. It is hard to feel excluded from fashion. But I don’t know if you are. I’ve spent the morning reading Elle, Vogue and Harpers Bazaar, free at the gym! And I was struck by the timelessness of the clothes shown. If you like fairly classic lines, then nodding to current colours and and shoe/ trainer shapes will take you a long way. I quite like Nothing Ordinary, they have a chocolate brown dress, currently, and in Next Clearance, a fabulous butter yellow cotton trench coat. Their clothes tend to be quite simple, but with some structural detail. I found as a size 18/20 with a 38 g bra size, that the only way to create a good line and look stylish was to dress as a column, anything with a break in the middle was instant Miss Trunchbull. But some of the rules you have absorbed may be holding you back a bit. Definitely experiment with different trouser shapes, as long as you balance a wider bottom with a tighter top, it can work. Also, I agree that scoop and v necks work well for us, but some slash necks and crew necks can look great.

While I agree totally with wearing what you want and fuck everyone else, the problem with GG boobs is how they make clothes look to the wearer. No one wants to catch sight of themselves in the mirror and look awful/ridiculous to themselves.

It's much more a problem around having huge boobs than overall size which is easy enough to dress.

There are so many things you can't wear , on me anything with a waistline gets pulled up to under my bust, things that hang down from the boobs make you look twice the size, anything like an empire line or fitted bust won't fit and emphasis the huge bust, wraps expose too much or need something underneath, so it's very limiting. Even t shirts hang from the boobs unless I buy them a size too small.

I have G's too and they are a pain in the arse, I found clothes hung so differently after I had kids because of them and I used to think I would have a reduction because I used to dislike them so much. But I was just trying to ascribe to that willowy sort of look instead of accepting I'm a middle aged chubby Mum now and I do look a bit matronly sometimes, doesn't mean I don't look nice.

I suppose the point I was trying to make is that I don't think you can ever consistently achieve 'stylish and cool' unless you accept that you're a bit chubby and you're cool with it. Which I know is really hard.