New all time low in fashion

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I was late learning to read and was classed as "backward" until someone realised I needed glasses, as all the letters on the blackboard looked the same to me, eg e, c, o, u, v and other similar letter groups eg m, n, w etc.

My father used to "help" me but got so frustrated and angry that he always ended up shouting, so I used to try and hide my books.

When my reading got better I then devoured as many Secret Sevens and Famous Fives as I could.

I still have a pile of these.

We had a child in class that needed glasses. His sight also affected his reading so he was always sat in the front. And always a target for the headmaster. I was also a target but managed to avoid a lot of clips around the ear as I was tall and seated in the back.

Adult anger. Terrifying for children. While I don't think children are disciplined enough these days (for their own safety in most cases), I'm glad the days of the physically bullying teacher like my old head are over.
 
My favourites once I'd outgrown Enid Blyton were the Just William and the Billy Bunter books. I keep meaning to download them and re-read so maybe this will prompt me to do that. And yes, I wore liberty bodices. Did anyone else wear boots or clogs?

We moved and changed schools when I was 9 and I got into severe trouble from the headmaster for copying spellings down wrongly and I was too scared to tell him I couldn't see properly. When I burst into tears at home after one brutal telling-off, my mother got my eyes tested then marched me to the head and he got the dressing-down of his life - I was in awe! It never happened again, though.
 
We have the library bus come to our village. The first time I visited a real library it transported me straight back to my childhood and the smell of the book bus.

The road through our village was busy with coal lorries and with few residents to look out for us we were all taught the road code. The older kids would always walk the younger ones to school, too.

Does anyone remember Tufty the Squirrel?
I loved him, still have my Tufty Club badge, & he was brought back a few years ago.
 
Think as a child I must have read everything by Enid Blyton. God, I loved her books. The excitement of getting a new book, and finding somewhere quiet to read, trying not to read it all at once, but failing.

In Junior school on a Friday afternoon our teacher would spend the last class reading Enid Blyton to us. We were all spell bound, and needless to say that was the best class of junior school. I hated it when the bell sounded, and just wanted to stay and listen to more. I should also say she was a brilliant teacher, we were all a little scared of her as she could be very stern, but she taught us all so well. I never did find another teacher I liked so much.
 
Oh, I don't know. Maybe not in polite circles but we have one very large lady in our village that suffers really dreadful abuse about her size. She's known as the 'fat woman' by everyone. Even the local newsagent puts 'FL' on the magazines she has put away.

The determination that lady has in getting around despite all the name-calling makes me wonder if she has an underlying medical condition as that kind of grit could otherwise be put to good use in saying no to food. But who knows? I think I'd probably go home and compound my misery by stuffing my face, too.

I really dislike bullies who will target overweight people and will step in and tell them to bugger off if I see it happening but maybe the Body Positivity 'movement' will put an end to it. I'm not a fan of the clear result of unhealthy eating being 'liked' on social media as it's going to lead to medical problems for that person but if it stops abuse like my local 'fat woman' suffers and helps them feel better about themselves and gives them strength to tackle their problem I suppose it's a good thing.

The explosion of obesity is down a lot (IMO) to lazy parenting again. The number of kids fed takeaways on a daily basis is astounding. And that's just people I know. All of Mr. AE's nephews and nieces are obese simply because his sisters find it easier to drive to the Chinese than cook a meal. The delivery drivers are constantly in our little street and it seems to have multiplied during lockdown when the same people ordering are moaning they're bored!
My Mr T has never had an issue with his weight & could be described as a fattist. In the year after I retired I put on 10 pounds, I was annoyed with myself, joined Slimming World & lost it within 10 weeks, I carried on losing to get to where I am now, which is really too light for my height & age. When I've told him about the amazing results some people have achieved his response is that they should never have allowed themselves to get that big. We've seen young women at concerts who are so large they have to drape their arms over the back of the seats, others who've asked for office chairs without armrests & yet they still spend the evening drinking several pints of cider alternating them with eating family size bags of M&Ms. I buy a fair amount of second hand clothes & they tell the story of how much larger people are today; if I'm searching for 1980s items I look for size 14 & for anything older I have to know the measurements because even though I'm a 10 many of these are just too tiny for me. I've always found it ironic that the TV is full of food programmes yet so many people now live off takeaways & fast food. My daughter's closest friend is a Nurse Practitioner & has worked on covid wards, with the exception of the very elderly who were generally slight she said that the majority of people she's nursed have been at the upper end of the obesity scale & the thing that shocked staff at the start of the pandemic was how many of them it took just to turn patients.
 
I was looking through old photos yesterday and shocked myself with one where I was obviously a lot fatter than I am now, without realising it. Someone recently commented that I'd lost weight - really, I never knew I'd put it on so much. I don't diet but I'm trying to eat healthily again.
 
I bought and read the original Peter Pan as an adult. It really is much darker than most think watching Disney or the other film versions.

I started my periods when I was 11 so started to develop boobs etc. I am an hourglass shape boobs and hips. I always thought I was fat compared to the other girls in my class in secondary school they all seemed to be size 12, and I was a 14 I was under 9st. Yet looking back at a size 14 then it is tiny compared to now, no stretch in clothes back then either.

I remember going to Canada with my Mum for the first time to visit my brother in Canada. I was shocked at how big quite a few people seemed to be. Didn't bother them as they wandered around in all sorts of fashions. What I saw back then in Canada and the US is what loads of people are like here and taken as the normal.
 
Think as a child I must have read everything by Enid Blyton. God, I loved her books. The excitement of getting a new book, and finding somewhere quiet to read, trying not to read it all at once, but failing.

In Junior school on a Friday afternoon our teacher would spend the last class reading Enid Blyton to us. We were all spell bound, and needless to say that was the best class of junior school. I hated it when the bell sounded, and just wanted to stay and listen to more. I should also say she was a brilliant teacher, we were all a little scared of her as she could be very stern, but she taught us all so well. I never did find another teacher I liked so much.
I had a teacher like that in my last 2 years of primary school - Miss Gadd. A woman ahead of her time. One big regret is that I never kept in touch with her. She will be long gone now but she is still one of my school girl heros
 
My Mr T has never had an issue with his weight & could be described as a fattist. In the year after I retired I put on 10 pounds, I was annoyed with myself, joined Slimming World & lost it within 10 weeks, I carried on losing to get to where I am now, which is really too light for my height & age. When I've told him about the amazing results some people have achieved his response is that they should never have allowed themselves to get that big. We've seen young women at concerts who are so large they have to drape their arms over the back of the seats, others who've asked for office chairs without armrests & yet they still spend the evening drinking several pints of cider alternating them with eating family size bags of M&Ms. I buy a fair amount of second hand clothes & they tell the story of how much larger people are today; if I'm searching for 1980s items I look for size 14 & for anything older I have to know the measurements because even though I'm a 10 many of these are just too tiny for me. I've always found it ironic that the TV is full of food programmes yet so many people now live off takeaways & fast food. My daughter's closest friend is a Nurse Practitioner & has worked on covid wards, with the exception of the very elderly who were generally slight she said that the majority of people she's nursed have been at the upper end of the obesity scale & the thing that shocked staff at the start of the pandemic was how many of them it took just to turn patients.
I've noticed giant clothes appearing on QVC recently - by that I mean size 24 and up. I think it was some Michelle Hope that was available in a 26-28. You just didn't even hear of that size twenty years ago - it would probably be large for an outsize shop (remember them)?
 
And to make everyone feel better, the adjective "fat" is just about banned. I'm not fat, I'm heavy or large. Why am I heavy or large? Because I'm fat. That's what makes me heavy and large. But I still can't be called a fat woman, I'm heavy. Or large. Six foot plus, a lovely figure and skinny but with big bones could be either of those, but still.

We live in a world where we're encouraged to not face up to reality.
 
"Curvy girls" is the latest euphemism for fat. I think it does sound a bit rude to call someone fat, even if they are. The terms plus size, outsized or fuller figure when it comes to fashion - slightly less so...but curvy grates on me a bit, as to me it implies that anyone over a size 14 is a bag of bones and somehow that's undesirable. Perhaps if high street fashion didn't stop at size 16 or 18 then we wouldn't have these issues!
 
There is a weight that you feel happy with.I have gone to slimming clubs for years but looking back I could never have been seen as really overweight.I am following SW at the moment but more for a healthier lifestyle although dropping a few pounds is good.Being too thin when you are older has a negative effect, my fat cells push my face wrinkles out but I have excess on the hips and tum.I want to loose half a stone but being quite tall I can get away with a bit extra! Even when younger I was never a lean beanpole.The number of people I see and think ‘ why am I worrying’ but they are compromising their health.
 
Weight issues whether it be obesity or too thin is always a minefield. I`ve seen one of Mr V`s granddaughters battle with anorexia which started when she was 15 and is still a battle now she`s 18 and will probably be so for the rest of her life. Her weight dropped to just 5 stone and she was a very very sick young woman.
Even now after counselling and numerous hospital appointments she still can`t eat in front of other people and at meal times her Mum can`t just serve food on a plate but has to allow the girl to choose which items she will eat and to arrange them on a plate herself. She then stands and eats alone in the kitchen when everybody else is at the dining table and it takes her ages just to eat a tiny portion of food.
She`s still classed as being underweight for her height at just under 7 stones but she`s better than she has been for a long time but the slightest hiccup could send her spiralling backwards again. She`s recently passed her driving test which has helped and she can now feel more independent and get away from the house when she feels she needs to.
Her parents, Mr V`s son and his wife divorced when she was 6, her Mum then moved in with another boyfriend she`d been secretly seeing and had another child by him and then that relationship broke up and E and her brother plus her new sister then had to adjust to yet another new boyfriend who has 2 sons which also came to live with them and E as the eldest and at that time studying for her GCSE`s felt swamped and unsettled and as if she didn`t matter.
Mr V`s son, her Dad was mortified by the whole saga but his ex wife was adamant she had custody but thankfully now E and her brother are older, she`s 18, her brother is 15, they can make up their own minds about staying with their dad especially now E has finished her education and is working.
Both of Mr V`s children, a son and a daughter have broken marriages and in both cases it`s the kids which have paid the price one way or another. His son`s wife left him for someone she was having an affair with and his daughter divorced her husband because she was having an affair with her boss. Her oldest girl went the opposite to E and piled on loads of weight because she was comfort eating because she couldn`t get to grips with not seeing her dad. She blew up from being a size 10 or 12 to a size 20 plus, wouldn`t go out of the house and lost herself in junk food.
The point I`m making with this long winded diatribe is quite often there are invisible reasons why people eat too much or too little or eat all of the wrong things. Problems they can`t or won`t talk about and problems which at that time of their life they either can`t handle or don`t know how or where to get help. They may know they are eating too much or too little or the wrong kind of food but they simply don`t have the will nor the energy to change and feel like the stuffing has been knocked out of their lives. Emotionally and psychologically they are exhausted and when you see a 15 year old who shakes with cold because her body is failing and her skin is terrible and her hair is falling out because of lack of nutrition or you see a one time pretty girl hate herself because she has gained several stones and tries to hide her young body in black baggy clothes and sits and cries and eats junk food alone in her bedroom whilst her friends go out and she can`t face going with them and she wants her dad but he`s no longer there, then you can often see the " too fat or too thin " person of tomorrow and the labels people will attach to them.
 
Weight issues whether it be obesity or too thin is always a minefield. I`ve seen one of Mr V`s granddaughters battle with anorexia which started when she was 15 and is still a battle now she`s 18 and will probably be so for the rest of her life. Her weight dropped to just 5 stone and she was a very very sick young woman.
Even now after counselling and numerous hospital appointments she still can`t eat in front of other people and at meal times her Mum can`t just serve food on a plate but has to allow the girl to choose which items she will eat and to arrange them on a plate herself. She then stands and eats alone in the kitchen when everybody else is at the dining table and it takes her ages just to eat a tiny portion of food.
She`s still classed as being underweight for her height at just under 7 stones but she`s better than she has been for a long time but the slightest hiccup could send her spiralling backwards again. She`s recently passed her driving test which has helped and she can now feel more independent and get away from the house when she feels she needs to.
Her parents, Mr V`s son and his wife divorced when she was 6, her Mum then moved in with another boyfriend she`d been secretly seeing and had another child by him and then that relationship broke up and E and her brother plus her new sister then had to adjust to yet another new boyfriend who has 2 sons which also came to live with them and E as the eldest and at that time studying for her GCSE`s felt swamped and unsettled and as if she didn`t matter.
Mr V`s son, her Dad was mortified by the whole saga but his ex wife was adamant she had custody but thankfully now E and her brother are older, she`s 18, her brother is 15, they can make up their own minds about staying with their dad especially now E has finished her education and is working.
Both of Mr V`s children, a son and a daughter have broken marriages and in both cases it`s the kids which have paid the price one way or another. His son`s wife left him for someone she was having an affair with and his daughter divorced her husband because she was having an affair with her boss. Her oldest girl went the opposite to E and piled on loads of weight because she was comfort eating because she couldn`t get to grips with not seeing her dad. She blew up from being a size 10 or 12 to a size 20 plus, wouldn`t go out of the house and lost herself in junk food.
The point I`m making with this long winded diatribe is quite often there are invisible reasons why people eat too much or too little or eat all of the wrong things. Problems they can`t or won`t talk about and problems which at that time of their life they either can`t handle or don`t know how or where to get help. They may know they are eating too much or too little or the wrong kind of food but they simply don`t have the will nor the energy to change and feel like the stuffing has been knocked out of their lives. Emotionally and psychologically they are exhausted and when you see a 15 year old who shakes with cold because her body is failing and her skin is terrible and her hair is falling out because of lack of nutrition or you see a one time pretty girl hate herself because she has gained several stones and tries to hide her young body in black baggy clothes and sits and cries and eats junk food alone in her bedroom whilst her friends go out and she can`t face going with them and she wants her dad but he`s no longer there, then you can often see the " too fat or too thin " person of tomorrow and the labels people will attach to them.
It's also true that when we were young, there just wasn't the availability of junk food and other highly-processed, high fat, high sugar foods to 'comfort eat' on. It just didn't exist like it does now. I was brought up in an environment of you eat what's put before you, 'snacking' didn't exist and you ate three meals at mealtimes whether or not you were hungry! And those meals were home-cooked, meat and two veg affairs, and maybe a steamed pudding or crumble for a treat. For people nowadays who lean towards turning to food as a comfort anyway, today's environment is completely stacked against them.
 
Weight issues whether it be obesity or too thin is always a minefield. I`ve seen one of Mr V`s granddaughters battle with anorexia which started when she was 15 and is still a battle now she`s 18 and will probably be so for the rest of her life. Her weight dropped to just 5 stone and she was a very very sick young woman.
Even now after counselling and numerous hospital appointments she still can`t eat in front of other people and at meal times her Mum can`t just serve food on a plate but has to allow the girl to choose which items she will eat and to arrange them on a plate herself. She then stands and eats alone in the kitchen when everybody else is at the dining table and it takes her ages just to eat a tiny portion of food.
She`s still classed as being underweight for her height at just under 7 stones but she`s better than she has been for a long time but the slightest hiccup could send her spiralling backwards again. She`s recently passed her driving test which has helped and she can now feel more independent and get away from the house when she feels she needs to.
Her parents, Mr V`s son and his wife divorced when she was 6, her Mum then moved in with another boyfriend she`d been secretly seeing and had another child by him and then that relationship broke up and E and her brother plus her new sister then had to adjust to yet another new boyfriend who has 2 sons which also came to live with them and E as the eldest and at that time studying for her GCSE`s felt swamped and unsettled and as if she didn`t matter.
Mr V`s son, her Dad was mortified by the whole saga but his ex wife was adamant she had custody but thankfully now E and her brother are older, she`s 18, her brother is 15, they can make up their own minds about staying with their dad especially now E has finished her education and is working.
Both of Mr V`s children, a son and a daughter have broken marriages and in both cases it`s the kids which have paid the price one way or another. His son`s wife left him for someone she was having an affair with and his daughter divorced her husband because she was having an affair with her boss. Her oldest girl went the opposite to E and piled on loads of weight because she was comfort eating because she couldn`t get to grips with not seeing her dad. She blew up from being a size 10 or 12 to a size 20 plus, wouldn`t go out of the house and lost herself in junk food.
The point I`m making with this long winded diatribe is quite often there are invisible reasons why people eat too much or too little or eat all of the wrong things. Problems they can`t or won`t talk about and problems which at that time of their life they either can`t handle or don`t know how or where to get help. They may know they are eating too much or too little or the wrong kind of food but they simply don`t have the will nor the energy to change and feel like the stuffing has been knocked out of their lives. Emotionally and psychologically they are exhausted and when you see a 15 year old who shakes with cold because her body is failing and her skin is terrible and her hair is falling out because of lack of nutrition or you see a one time pretty girl hate herself because she has gained several stones and tries to hide her young body in black baggy clothes and sits and cries and eats junk food alone in her bedroom whilst her friends go out and she can`t face going with them and she wants her dad but he`s no longer there, then you can often see the " too fat or too thin " person of tomorrow and the labels people will attach to them.
Comfort & control are so much part of any eating disorder.
 
It's also true that when we were young, there just wasn't the availability of junk food and other highly-processed, high fat, high sugar foods to 'comfort eat' on. It just didn't exist like it does now. I was brought up in an environment of you eat what's put before you, 'snacking' didn't exist and you ate three meals at mealtimes whether or not you were hungry! And those meals were home-cooked, meat and two veg affairs, and maybe a steamed pudding or crumble for a treat. For people nowadays who lean towards turning to food as a comfort anyway, today's environment is completely stacked against them.
We also did more exercise. Walked everywhere, did lots of P.E.and games at school, and played outside. We didn’t have parents with cars to take us everywhere, and if they did, weren’t used as taxis to ferry us about.
 

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