Anyone dealing with Fibromyalgia knows how difficult it is to find a wardrobe that can deliver all of our needs which include the following:
- Expandable waistline for when our medications make us bloat
- Soft clothing that doesn’t hurt when it touches our skin
- Style! Normally so hard to find along with the above two requirements
I am 46 years old. I was a slave to fashion in my twenties and dressed like a mom with clothes that could be spit up and pooped on in my thirties. Now I’m ready to dress for me. Along with the points above I also require clothing that allows me to breathe for when I have hot flashes. That means sleeveless soft shirts and light sweaters for when the chills come on. Today I look for what will comfort me while at work and at home yet not make me look like I just rolled out of bed.
Most of J.Jill’s clothing fits the bill perfectly and an added bonus is their concierge service. I normally shop online because I just don’t have the energy to walk into the mall and face all of those people. The drudgery of looking in a three-way mirror at the bloated middle-aged body is sometimes just too much to take and once I’ve expended the bulk of my energy walking around the store and stretching to try clothes on the battle is normally lost.
Yesterday I walked into the store at the North Shore Mall in Peabody, MA and headed right to the woman in the middle at the wooden desk. I sat down, told her my song of woe and she hopped right to business. I thought she had forgotten about me but within a few minutes she told me to follow her into the dressing room and try on about 12 different outfits. She kept checking on me to see what I needed and then we headed back to her desk. Some items needed to be ordered so she did it right there and told me I would not be charged a shipping fee. When she wanted to check to see if a different size was available in the store I said I’d go look and she told me, “You sit right down there and relax – this is what I do. “
What can I say? I’m in love with this store! Now I can actually go in and try things on without the hassle of looking for clothes myself in a comforting environment that almost made it fun. The fun will come if the Predisone works but for now I still hate shopping in public with a passion.
I highly recommend women with autoimmune diseases, especially who are middle-aged, to try out J.Jill. I purchased a full wardrobe that will treat my body with care and allow me to function during a hot flash or a Predisone bloat! There is nothing worse than being at work in an uncomfortable outfit while dealing with this horrible disease, and now you don’t have to.

Great post! I hate going to the malls too, or any crowded place for that matter. Department stores and the malls are awful because of the smells and loud music. Plus I always feel like I’m going to get knocked over.
Sounds like you found a great store and a lovely helper! Cheers!
Thanks!
I wish thigs in UK where as apparently easy as things over there you can read my plight over at http://x3webworx.wordpress.com/2011/09/27/fibromyalgia-and-sleepless-nights-part-5/
I have quite a fewhorror stories about FM alone. granted rants but then again, I dont have any therapy so ranting is my way of venting instead of going postal…
Wow how horrible that you cannot access help for your disability! I hope you eventually do get the help that you need.
well hers what help I got myself while waiting for some “official” help
http://wp.me/p1gyb4-n9
Any real help is hard to find but when push comes to shove, if you want something done properly do it yourself… Which would be more practical if the drugs worked, the cloths fitted and we all had some dignity left.
please let me know your thoughts on my posts, I feel a bit abandoned when fashion shop assistant trumps health services.
Fabulous post, great topic. One rarely addressed. Thank you!
Shopping? Not this lady. In fact I prefer to purchase online from a boutique I trust and who knows me. Not only do the smells, the noise, the lights bother me, so does having to dress down in a cramped airless closet. I have a problem with not being able to control my body temperature that for a dozen years was blamed on hormones albeit no hormone replacement therapy brought any improvement.
Central Nervous Impairment effects many things, some we’d never had a clue are part of Fibromyalgia.
I think having to try on clothes is the absolute worst. Hopefully I won’t have to do it for another few years!
I hear you, when I pit on 20 kilos and never lost them, I bought a pair of jeans, the rest fitted, beig a guy I still have some sense of fashion, however getting in and out of clothes I agree, thank god for online shopping.
Looks like a great store, and I love the clothes – except for two things. I don’t understand why they use skinny models for their plus size clothes in their online catalogue. I want to be able to see what a piece looks like on someone at least remotely close to my size, as opposed to skinny as a rail.
That’s a surmountable problem. The un-surmountable is the prices. A lot of us fibrofolk struggle with low incomes because we are on disability or we are working at low wage jobs because we are unable to compete with healthy folks for the better jobs.
For the average middle class person the prices are reasonable. For the rest of us, this clothing is out of reach.
As for myself, I’ve gone back to sewing my own clothes, and shopping at thrift stores.
I hear you on the skinny models modeling plus sized fashions! That has been a pet peeve of mine with many stores. I also hear you on the prices. I had just had a birthday and got some money to splurge so that’s what I bought my clothes with. I haven’t bought clothing for myself in years since all my money goes to clothing and educating the kids. I’m happy they were having a sale though! Good for you with the sewing! My machine has sat on my dining room table for the past four months. I look at it occaisionally when I don’t feel enough guilt for one day. I really wish I had the time and patience to sew! It’d be great to get a handle on fabrics that you could sew with that are gentle to our skin and breathe with our hotflashes! Thanks so much for commenting!
I was just looking at some print ads for a plus size retailer and thinking the same thing — this model doesn’t look plus size!
I hear you about the hot flashes…anything brings them on lately.