Shopping and eating disorders

Most adults shake their heads and wonder why anorexia and bulimia are in the rise in Medellin, when it is easy for any young woman to know. Clothing in stores comes in two styles: fashionable and frumpy. Guess which sizes match each style.

I went shopping today, and it is amazing how a short trip into a store could make me feel like a blimp. I´ve lost a lot of weight, and I still feel like I need to be half my size to look well dressed.

This is one of those things I miss from my visits to the US. The fact that I could find clothing that fit, and was designed to look good on my body. Here, the latest fashions are just scaled up: so if I can get something my size, it is a skinny jean that makes me look like an ice cream cone with muffin top to boot, or a shirred top that sticks to .every. curve.

I even made a mistake and tried on a bathing suit. Brr. I won´t go into details but let´s just say that I hated the experience. I wanted to hide under a rock and never again see the light of day with anything less than jeans and a long sleeved shirt.

But this time it was much different than 15 pounds ago back in February when I first tried to go shopping. Today I did manage to bring home a jean. I had to search in the "woman´s" department among muu muus and elasticized waist pants, but I found a pair of jeans that makes me look good and doesn´t go up to my arm pits. It was also under my budget, which was amazing, since it seems my taste goes with very high prices I can´t afford.

There´s a lot of pressure to be really thin here, and I´m constantly reminded how being naturally curvy isn´t as accepted as having a silicone implant chest. That´s my explanation for the bathing suit I tried on. It seemed that the sizes referred only to the chest, and the rest of the suit was left more or less intact, perfect for a size 6.