Friday, May 4, 2012

What Did You Do To My Pants????

It's been a weird Spring here in New England.  We've had May weather in April, and April weather in May.  

It's been cold and damp for the last two weeks, and there's no sign of truly Spring weather on the horizon.

I, of course, have pretty much run through my cold weather Spring clothing options.   I have a number of events and dinner outing coming up.   The kind of events where you're not exactly dressed up, but you don't show up in jeans and a sweat-shirt either.   I usually call these "pants" events because all the women generally show up with nice trousers, tops and heels when the weather is cool.  

Since my pants have been getting a bit of a work-out and there's no end in sight (once it warms up you can switch to a skirt or a dress) I thought that I should pick myself another set of pants to get me through the next few weeks.

Now, buying pants for me has never been easy.   I'm short, have a fairly small waist, but a large butt and thighs.    I can't wear most pants, even jeans, without a fair amount of reconstructive work.

A few years ago, however, I discovered that Brooks Brother's size 4 petite pants fit me perfectly.  I could go into the store, pick a size 4 petite pant off the rack, and bring it home with me the same day.

So naturally when I realized I needed another set of pants to get me through the next couple of weeks I headed to Brooks Brother's, and they had the perfect pant--a black cotton capri.    

I happily pulled the size 4 petite off the rack and headed to the dressing room.  

There was only one problem.   I couldn't get the pants up over my thighs.   I tried on progressively larger sizes until I finally fit in a size 10 petite, but even then the fit wasn't right.  They sagged in the crotch, and even though they fit over my rear end and thighs, there was a big gap at the waist.

When I queried the saleswoman she reported that Brooks Brother's changed it's "fit."   Apparently, the new "fit" for their petite line is a 12-year old boy with no hips or butt.   My old stand-by for pants is no longer making pants that fit me.

I was, as you can imagine, upset, and the saleswoman informed me that I am not the only long-time Brooks Brothers customer to feel that way.  

Just to make sure I went home and pulled an old set of Brooks Brothers petite size 4s out of the closet.   They fit perfectly.



1 comment:

  1. Interesting...it's like a massive over-reaction to vanity sizing. I have the opposite problem as you--my waist is proportionally larger than my hips. So if it fits at the waist, it's too big at the hips, etc. Over the last few years I find I have to try on EVERYTHING, no matter how many times I have purchased something in the same size or fit before. It is one of my major pet peeves that women's clothing sizes are so fluid. I can go to one store, try on three dresses in the exact same size, and have one too big, one too small, and one just right. I feel you on how aggravating this is!

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