According to their size scale, XL should have been an Australian 12 (38-30.5-40) to 14 (32-32.5-42), and at the time I was basically a size 14 to 16 (34-34.5-44), so I knew that I was too big for them, but thought that they might have enough stretch, and that I might lose enough weight for them to fit.
I very quickly realised that neither were going to fit at the size that I was, and put both back into their plastic bags, chucked them in the bottom of my wardrobe and forgot about them.
Until today.
In an odd sequence of events, I bought a plastic headless female mannequin today. It's 34-27-37 (about a size 8), but its very close to the same height as I am. The idea is to start by padding it to my size, then use it to make new padding to bring my proportions to a female size larger than I used to be.
The first step is to find some fabric to cover the mannequin. A pair of footless tights that neither my wife or I wear wear an obvious start, and they are tight enough to fit it properly.
I was looking through my wardrobe to see if I had any small but stretchy tops that would be the right size for the mannequin, and I spotted the dress and skirt.
When I put the dress on the mannequin, I discovered that it is actually pretty close to a size 8, except that the waist is probably closer to a size 10. Even if I lost weight until I was below a safe minimum weight, I would never be that small.
