I'm in a shopping nightmare

All ladies, listen up! If you ever wanted inspiration to hit the gym, move to China...and then try to go shopping for clothes.
I have not managed to work-0ut since we've moved to China other than the bike trips to Gigi's school, but finally after New Year's eve I started dragging my butt to the gym. And in reality, the only reason I went was because I realized that we were going on a vacation in New Zealand in a month and I will have to wear a bathing suit. (What, exactly, I thought I could change about my body in one month at the gym is a mystery to me.)

Anyway, it turns out that New Zealand and a bathing suit is the least of my problems. The day after I hit the gym for the first time, I had to go shopping for a dress for Joe's work party that is next week.
OH MY GOD. I live in a country of little tiny stick-people! Intellectually, I knew this, and I see it everywhere. But it's different to go into the stores when you HAVE to find something to buy. I even made a point of going shopping at a couple stores that I know carry "bigger" sizes. In the US I am a size 8 or 10. Here in China, I had to shimmy, shake, and squeeze my way into the dresses labeled US 10, Eur 40! So after the first trip to the dressing room with 2 dresses in size 10 I had to surrender and get the size 12. OK, if this was just a number game it would be depressing, but I could get over it.

But it's not just about the size, it's also about the style these Chinese women can pull off. The dress style that is "in" right now in China (no idea if it's also "in" in the States or not) is the very very short shapeless shift dress, or very very short fitted sweater dress. Either way, if you are anything but a stick, you look ridiculous. In the shift dress I looked like I was wearing a sack and in the fitted sweater dress I looked like a sausage!
And did I mention that if you ask for a bigger size than what's on the rack the sales-people don't even ask what bigger size, they just look at you sadly and shake their heads? Ugh.

But, in case anyone out there was wondering, I finally found out who looks good in skinny jeans. Chinese women. There's one fashion mystery solved.

Talk to you soon, I'm off to the gym...