my body, my problem

I love to shop — since I was a little kid I could stroll aisles, try on dresses and pants and tops for hours without making any purchases. When I was a kid I didn't have the money to buy the large majority of what I tried on, now I have a different problem — no one makes clothes that fit me.

In the U.S., where the average height of a woman is 5' 4 1/2" and weight is 164.7lbs, why do the popular dresses look like this right now?:

Forever 21 Bodycon Dress

Forever 21 Bodycon Dress

As someone who considers themselves fairly small, it's been astounding trying to find some new clothes at popular stores like Forever 21, H&M, and Macy's and coming up painfully empty-handed and bitter. Am I reaching for the stars here?

When there is a huge mainstream surge to eradicate negative body image (here, here, here), why can't I find clothes to cover my newly accepted body?

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I've had body issues my whole life, like anyone who grew up in the era of heroin chic and Kate Moss I've never been tall/skinny/blonde(hah!)/cool/tan/stylish enough. Somehow I've overcome that, in the era of — I'm too old to care — but now I face a different issue in that I can't seem to clothe my body.

My body that's lump and bumpy and pokes out and is too flat in places and too round in places and too fat in places. I'm not alone. I've had friends with beautiful round bellies and the flattest pancake asses, with large hips and small waists and large waists and small hips. With large breasts, small breasts, short necks, long necks, long legs, short legs.

It's not about an ideal size, it's not even about an ideal shape, it's about variety and knowing that cutting a dress the same for a size XS as an XL is probably not pertinent. It's knowing that people aren't shaped like apples, or pears, or hourglasses, they're shaped like humans.

When trying on the over 60 dresses I thought would be "just right" for me I encountered unforgiving waistlines, unrealistic lengths (hello I'm 5'4" this should cover my butt) too big busts, too small arm holes, wrong wrong wrong. Some of this is my belief that I really should be able to wear anything and rock it, and some of this is just nothing will fit me ever. But somehow, right now, I can't find anything to rock.

I know a few things:

1. I am half of the "average" women's dress size
2. I'm about average height
3. I love shopping and have shopped at numerous large stores/small stores/medium stores
4. I can't imagine how hard it is for most women who are taller/hippier/curvier/bustier than me to ever find anything to wear 
5. No one, and I repeat no one, would look good in this swimsuit bottom:

ModCloth

So here's an idea, before designing clothes for the models who look good in anything let's design some clothes for people like me, who would love to wear nice/hip/stylish/fancy clothes but can't FIT INTO ANYTHING. Take my money already H&M!

In the immortal words of Lena Dunham:
Maybe I don't care about being polite, okay? 'Cause it's Wednesday night, baby, and I'm alive

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