Somehow I link dress-wearing with confidence and a decent body image.

(I have always wanted to be the girl in the red dress! I had one about 20 years ago. Cute little V-back to the waist with a little bow at the point. Wore it with nice high pumps. I liked my butt in that dress. Damn. I am about a hundred pounds heavier than that now!!)

It just struck me that it has been so long since I felt pretty enough to wear a dress, that I can't even remember when it was! Really. Could it be 10 years? 15? Where has my life gone?

Any thoughts, Ladies? Other than, maybe beach-wear, is there an equivelant for men?

Now, I'm just the opposite. A dress is a forgiving tent in my world. In pants, I have to deal with my butt and thighs so I avoid them mightily. I dream of getting back into a pair of jeans without having to break my mirror afterwards or wait for nightfall. Been a good 15-20 years since THAT happened.

I say you should go out an buy yourself a dress today. No matter your weight I am sure your lovely enough for a dress, is there really such a thing as not being pretty enough for a dress. I know its a personal perception thing, but heck my motto was always

If it comes in my size I can wear it.

with obvious exceptions, such as bikinis & tube tops, which just for the record I dont think cant be worn by someone larger, just I wouldnt feel comfortable in it ( probably at any weight)

SO honey go on down to the mall and find yourself a beautiful red dress!

Wow. Ain't that funny? I have a 'fat uniform' which always involves pants and a long top that covers my butt and doesn't "divide" me anywhere in the waist or mid bum. A lot of dark colours. I guess I just have my own thoughts on what size I should be to wear a dress. Interesting.

I can't speak for all men, but for me, feeling comforatable wearing tucked in shirts was when I started to feel somewhat confident about my body image. But the real goal is to hopefully someday be comforatable enough to take my shirt off at the beach.

I just remembered that I DID wear dresses not long ago! When I was pregnant I had a few comfy, forgiving tent-type dresses, such as the ones that JaneDough describes. What made it ok then was, I was very obviously pregnant to an onlooker, instead of now when one might just wonder if I was!

I hope this doesnt offend you but I took the liberty of finding a sexy red dress that you should think of getting.... ( This is al plus size and this women look hot, so would you!)

Heck, NO! That doesn't offend me a bit. I always admire a plus sized girl who can carry herself with confidence....and, that IS a really cute dress that I would like to wear! However, I know that I, personally would not be comfortable in it unless it was in a size 10 or so.

I could tell you of a few times that I have purchased an outfit that is out of my comfort zone, tried it on several times on the way out, girdled it up, accessorized, felt pretty good....then a glance in the mirror on the way out with the reality of my weight deflates me and sends me running to change into the trusty "fat uniform" again before I step outside the door.

It really is too bad that we can't all just decide to be happy with our weight. It is not for health reasons that I am here on a weight-loss mission, it is for vanity. If this world were a kinder place to people that are my size perhaps I would happily stay heavy and not have to be so disciplined in my WOE.

The bigger question here may be: "Why do you care so much what others think?", or perhaps, "Why do you think that they care at all?" I know that I see women who are my size or larger in dresses and skirts all the time and I don't give it a second thought. I certainly don't cringe or wonder what the heck they were thinking on their way out of the door.

But, I think you can only project beautiful if you feel beautiful. I know that I can't feel that at this weight...so I will try again when I am a little smaller.

(Heck of a cute dress though!! )

Lean to dresses because they can take a 10-20# range, where jeans and pants are more in the 3-5# range before they don't fit right.

One quote I heard not too long ago (forgot by whom) went something like "You would not worry so much what people thought of you if you realized how seldom they do".

Count me in on the side of no dress 'till I'm thinner! I feel so fat in a skirt or dress at this weight. When I was a size 10, I wore skirts almost every day to work. (even then I worried that my legs were too fat, though)

Now it's pants outfits, with the long tops to cover "a multitude of sins"

You gotta go with what's comfortable.

I can also relate to ToastyBoy. I used to love to tuck my shirts into my jeans and nice pants, and then wear a nice belt. You can believe I've saved every one of my thin outfits (I am an eternal optimist!). I long to wear jeans with a nice belt again! I don't think I'll be taking my shirt off at the beach though! (Only the bathing suit cover-up, thank you very much!)

I also agree that there are some larger women who look just great in dresses, or long skirts with an over-top. I'm not one of them.

Well, see you all at the mall!

you just described my entire closet . I also have that I am so fat it looks like I am trying to hard to be pretty if I wear a dress thing going on.

Kimmy,

I've never been dainty. Even at a healthy weight, I am a tall, big woman. But being this overweight in a dress? ........I look like a man doing the 'drag' thing, POORLY!!

I'm six feet tall. I was in San Francisco once and received an unusual amount of attention from men I perceived to be gay--normally, they just look right on past me. Straight men will often check out my shoes, to see if I'm really this tall or wearing heels.

These men in SF were checking my hips. I realized they were thinking I just might be a cross-dresser, and pretty darn good at it! But as soon as they saw these girl-hips, wider (in the bones) by an inch than the "standard" model for any size I've ever been, they would think, "Nope, that's a real one!" and go back to ignoring me.

A strapless, shirt, dress, doesn't matter. I want to be able to wear a strapless again. *sigh*

And of course, the "Red Dress" too.