My mom and I took a roadtrip yesterday up to Freeport, Maine to go to L.L. Bean. Yes, we could have ordered things from the catalog or off the web, but sometimes you just need to try stuff on. Especially when pants are involved. And did I ever need pants... I was down to my last pair of jeans, which had themselves just sprung a hole, and I couldn't replace them because the Gap is no longer stocking anything that isn't completely hideous or ill-fitting. Plus even my nice pants, purchased at Eddie Bauer so long ago that I was still living in California, seem to be on their last legs too (so to speak...).
Unfortunately, pants-shopping is a completely tedious and frustrating experience. Unlike men's pants, which come with dimensions, women's pants come in overly-generalized sizing that only roughly approximates how they will actually fit on the person. Woe be the woman who has her curves in places the pants-makers haven't presumed… It takes a zillion attempts, trying on pair after pair, before one can find a pair of pants that fits. Even within the same pants-brand they can vary widely in sizing and styling.
Compound that with being petite. Never mind the impossibility of finding pants that don't make my hips look 100 times larger than they actually are, I also need to find pants that end where my feet begin. Which is no small feat (so to speak...).
Anyway, I can't imagine that there's any woman - not even the most hard core shopper - who enjoys this process. And for someone like me who hates shopping entirely, it's a complete nightmare.
But it had to be done. And it had to be done now.
So thank goodness for L.L. Bean. And my mom. We spent all afternoon up there, trying on pants after pants, but the result was two pairs of brilliantly-fitting non-ugly jeans, and four pairs of nice slacks. They look lovely. They look like MY pants, and not pants that I hastily borrowed from someone either twice or half my size. In fact, they are so nice that I bought them in all the (non-ugly) colors available (hence why there are four). And for the jeans, once I found a pair that fit I bought a second. I can now dispose of my holy Gap jeans... PLUS, while I was at it, I bought shorts to replace some of my beloved but now ragged ones. Again in two colors, just to be safe.
All this, plus a shirt, for under $250. And as the best bonus I DON'T HAVE TO GO SHOPPING EVER AGAIN. Or at least not for pants for the next several years.*
* (Provided, of course, I don't forget to pack them again...)
Comments (2)
Now don't you regret not going pants shopping in Japan at all? Yes, Japanese women might be built a little differently, but more of them are probably sized the way you are.
But I suppose it was more important shopping for Huey Lewis CDs. Spending an entire afternoon in the fashion capital of Japan, and all we looked for were CDs...
Posted by Koichi, who ironically shops Eddie Bauer, especially since The Diet | March 10, 2006 5:49 AM
Posted on March 10, 2006 05:49
Searching high and low for Huey Lewis CDs is MUCH less grating on one's patience. I don't just mean for me - I mean for you too. Trust me. You should be praising me to the skies for not making you go pants shopping.
Posted by Cathy | March 10, 2006 7:12 AM
Posted on March 10, 2006 07:12