This is why dresses don't fit

I've decided to start sewing clothes again, starting with easy things to get my confidence back up. The Simplicity patterns website is also having a sale (heads up, fellow seamstresses!), so that seemed like a good spur to get going. They also have a handy guide for working out your size, saying "Begin by discarding any assumptions you may have about what size you wear. Then think about the last time you went clothes shopping. Did every garment in "your" size fit you? Of course not!"

So I took my measurements and wrote them down and compared them to the chart and the absurdity of trying to find an off-the-rack dress that fits me well hit me. My hips are a full six sizes different to my top half. Six sizes.

image from here

It also highlights that my body type is definitely an inverted triangle, even though often I feel like an apple or hourglass.