Zipping up.

Have you ever walked into a shop, picked up a gorgeous dress in your size and taken it into the changing rooms, perfectly confident that it will fit? And then the next thing you know, you are wiggling around, having a hot flush, trying to do up the zip. When this happens to me, I get all hot and bothered jumping around and worrying that I'm going to end up breaking the zip, that I don't even bother trying the next size up. I just retreat to the safety of home and demolish a bar of chocolate to comfort myself. Illogical, I know, seeing as chocolate is probably the reason I can't do the zip up in the first place!

My big issue with the high street is the difference in sizes from shop to shop. I suppose it doesn't matter so much if you are a petite size 6-10 like most of my friends. But when you are a voluptuous size 16/18 it can make clothes shopping a depressing experience. After years of feeling inadequate when trying on outfits in shops, my mum now avoids clothes shopping like the plague. If she does have to buy a dress for an occasion she automatically heads to her old faithful, Wallis. Shouldn't shopping be an exhilarating adventure for women? How can that be the case if you feel you can only purchase from one shop on the high street?

I have had many similar retail disasters myself, but I refuse to let my size affect the pleasure I get from perusing through all the gorgeous dresses. Even if they won't actually fit me I can still appreciate their beauty, as if they are a piece of art.