Feeling Frustrated

Ok, this post is for the girls. Guys, read on if you like, but at your own risk, lol!

Here is the reason I'm feeling frustrated: CLOTHES. Grrr.

First of all, I'd like to say that I'm very careful about what I wear. The last thing I want to do is to be a stumbling block for guys around me. Sometimes it can be so hard, though! There's, like, nothing out there in my size that is made to be modest! Needless to say, that's the main reason I'm not crazy about shopping. We're always out for hours and hours and hours, and we always come home with maybe 2 things. Or nothing.

But this month we ran into a real problem: we're going to a homeschool week-long government class thing at the state capitol, and they have a dress code. When I heard about that, I was like, dress code? No problem! Right... then I took a closer look. First of all, no tank tops or cap sleeves. In other words, no short sleeves. That only about made me panick... most of my stuff is short-sleeved! Everything that is decently cool enough for late March is. And then, they said we have to look very professional (guys in suits and everything). So that effectively ruled out all my shirts. Then, we absolutely have to wear skirts (no pants of any kind for the girls... why is that? And why do I get the feeling that it's a little legalistic?), and the skirts have to be mid-calf-length or lower, preferably lower. Most of mine are mid-calf-length, but some of them don't meet the requirement of going lower than your knees when sitting. Most longs skirts don't fit me well. So time to go shopping again.

After a day's work, I ended up with 2 of those 3-quarter-length sweaters (a white one and a red one) and some tank tops to go under them, as well as a cute black skirt that quite fit the code.

Well, that was last week. Today Mom reviewed the code and noticed something else: nothing tight or form-fitting. I had skimmed over that earlier, because I don't wear tight or form-fitting stuff! Gross. But she thought and thought... and decided that some people might consider my sweaters form-fitting. It took me a LONG time to see what she was seeing, let me tell you. She told me point-blank that I tend to wear form-fitting things, and I burst into tears because I thought I had been immodest all my teenage years and didn't know it. But apparently we had different definitions of form-fitting! I had always considered "form-fitting" as tight. I, frankly, think that I don't have to completely hide the fact that I'm of the female gender to be quite modest. But as she explained, a few people out there might consider "form-fitting" to be anything that shows that I have a female form. "So then," I asked her, "if they wanted me to wear a trash bag, why didn't they say so?" Since that's the only thing out there for girls my size that would not be "form-fitting." Grr... it's so frustrating!! And then we figured out that on top of my sweaters being "form-fitting," my white one is slightly transparent, another no-no, and then all those tanks I wear under my sweaters, well, someone might think they were underwear or something... I was astounded at that revelation. I mean, it's called layers! It is THE way to be modest today, because there's nothing else out there. I think it's very modest! It more than covers, and I wear it loose (apparently still "form-fitting," though)! And if they rule out that, too, then what are we supposed to wear?

I'm just about to go out of my mind. Now that we've effectively ruled out all my clothes and all the stuff in the stores today, can anyone tell me how to find some clothes for next week??