Beijing Baby!: One-Size-Fits-All

Thursday, February 23, 2006

One-Size-Fits-All

Why do the majority of us feel so happy when those little digits on our scales go down?

Why do we eat the last five Tim Tams then feel like shit afterwards?

Why do we instantly feel slimmer, longer and healthier after jogging for the first time in years?

It’s all to do with our head. Our minds are controlled with the immutable statement, "must be skinny, skinny is good." In this day and age when our society is so absorbed with the thin and beautiful bodies of celebrities we have become susceptible to think the worst of ourselves with the most trivial comments.

"I think you look better in those other jeans."
Shit, I’m fat!

"Wow, you eat so fast."
I’m soooooooooo fat!

"I think the studs suit you more than those dangly earrings."
My face is fat isn’t it?

I blame this on… Nicole Richie. In a court case the plaintiff’s lawyer always points the blame to one particular person even if many were involved, therefore in this blog post I shall do the same and point my little finger at Nicole Richie.

She was healthy (this word has almost become synonymous with "fat") when she was still friends with Paris. It appeared that once they became arch enemies she decided that she would compete like to compete with her Barbie counterpart and lose a hell of a lot of weight just so she would look as hot as her ex-best friend. Ok so maybe I should blame it on Paris…

The point is (because I’ve completely gotten off track with celeb gossip) no matter how thin we are, we always find ways to degrade ourselves.

I found that perfect way for me by going to China. Although I was born in Beijing I’ve never had the body shape of a typical Asian girl, which made shopping in China a depressing ordeal.

Everyone there is tiny… although in Beijing I spotted a tremendous amount of girls who were taller than me but they were thin thin thin!!! Like Calista Flockhart and Lara Flynn Boyle thin! And it’s not because they diet and exercise, it’s because they were born that way.

I’m a size 10 in Australia (size 6 in the States) which is almost leaning towards the small side (Aussie women averaging a size 14-16) but I always had to ask for the largest size in China, and for that matter in Japan as well. The SA would look at me up and down then say, "I don’t think you’ll fit in the largest size".

I almost died of mortification the first time I heard that. But after the month was over, I let it go through one ear and out the other… I was used to it. A lot of the time they had clothes which was one-size-fits-all. I don’t know who developed the concept of ONE-SIZE-FITS-ALL but it’s a stupid stupid concept. How can Rosanne fit into the same top as Mary-Kate Olsen? One size does NOT fit all!

Shoes also treated me badly. I have size 8 feet (39) which is probably the most common size in Australia, but it was so hard to find a pair of shoes in China that was a size 39. The shoes in Asia generally range from 34 to 38, and the prettiest of shoes don’t even have a 38. Something about big feet won’t make the pretty shoes look pretty anymore *dies*

I remember I was in a lingerie shop and I saw a sexy set of bra and panties. When I asked the 100 kilogram-ed (seriously!) SA for my size she frowned and said, "you can’t possible be the same size as me. Here’s a 34B go try it on…"

Why would I lie to her?! When she finally realised it was impossible for me to even squeeze half a breast into a B cup she showed me to the larger section where all the bra’s had fat floral straps with extra support for the big women -_-;; Apparently the sexy lacy set only went up to a B.

Did I also mention the sizes are smaller? So a B is really and A and a C is really a B. So ladies, don’t plan on going bra shopping in Asia if you are anything larger than a B cup. On the occasion you can find a C cup but that’s about as far as it goes. Don’t even think about a D unless you plan to buy one of those ugly fat floral strap, extra supported ones. Oh yeah, DD does not exist in China. I asked and they didn’t know what it was.

That’s why I took the liberty to buy a lot of handbags, the only thing that makes sense with the label one-size-fits-all.

Back in Sydney, I went shop crazy. I think I’ve bought over 30 items since the beginning of this year… which was oh two months ago. I guess I was just really happy that the sizes fit properly and I went back to my old habit of buying anything that I could fit into which was a size 8. Instead of the "largest size please" I could say, "can you please get this for me a size smaller?" Thinking about it clearly, the size 8 probably was a bigger make anyway, which meant it would have been a size 10. But having the smaller size made me feel better about myself because somehow my head translated that to "I’ve lost weight… I’m thinner". It’s a vicious cycle which really takes our self-confidence on huge rollercoaster rides.

Just today I went shopping in the City with Ellis and ended up buying 3 tops and 3 dresses spending another few hundred dollars of my go-towards-my-Japan-trip-money. However the most exciting buy of the past week was on Monday when I went vintage shopping with Philippa and Likim on Crown Street.

I’ve never been someone who wears a lot of vintage. I have stolen a few items from my grandma and mother but I’ve never actually spent money on "dead people’s clothes" as I like to succinctly put it. In one particular shop I went into, I fell in love with this 80’s ruffle dress with lace up back. When I tried it on it was a perfect fit (size 8 of course ^.~) as if it was orginally made for me. I walked out of the shop knowing I would never be able to wear it anywhere, but the thought of losing this one of a kind dress got to me and I returned to the shop after 20 minutes. I was destined to have the dress.