Size Matters

I've been hemming a pair of pants this week. There's no reason it's taken me a week, other than the fact that I'm a procrastinator. In fact, I planned on working on them tonight and here I sit on the computer. Hmmm! The reason I'm hemming a pair of pants is that I went to Target last weekend and bought some new clothes. Yeah, me!

Here's my dilemma. Not all of Target's (nor many stores) women's pants are available in varied lengths. Even when they are available in different lengths, I still end up in a quandary. Point in case: I purchased a pair of exercise pants, which were available in "short", "average" and "long" lengths. I held the "average" up to my waist and the legs went about 4 inches past my foot. I held up the "short" and they hit me right at the ankle. I looked at the tag and it said the "short" pants are for women 5'3" and under. I am 5'3". So, I'm right on the cusp of being too tall for "short" pants. Since I know these pants will be laundered on a regular basis, I'm afraid that they're going to shrink and I don't have any room to spare. I went ahead and bought the "short" pair because 1) I refuse to hem exercise pants and 2) I plan to wash them on cold and hang them to dry (fingers crossed that they don't get mixed in with the regular load)!

I also bought a pair of slacks. These were not available in different lengths, but they looked cute (after I turned them hem under in the dressing room and stood on my toes to get a good idea of what they would look like) and they were a reasonable price. So, these are the pants that I'm hemming. I had to take off 4 inches.

So, while I'm hemming my pants in bed lying next to Matt, he asks, "why didn't you just buy shorter pants?" I start explaining this scenario to him and he's not getting it. It occurs to me that he thinks women's pants are sized like men's--with a waist size and an inseam length. They're not. Why not? Women's clothing sizes are ridiculous! You never know what size you are from one store to another or even one brand to another within the same store (i.e. Target).

On this same shopping trip, I bought some new undies. Here's another sizing dilemma. These sizes don't mesh with women's pant sizes. So, if you're a size 6 in pants, you might be a size 7 or 8 in undies. Of course, you don't want to try them on, so what are you supposed to do? I bought 5 pairs. I came home and before I cut off the tags, I tried on a pair over my own, right? Like swimsuit shopping? They fit. All is good! I cut the tags off and wash them all. Yesterday, I wore one of the new pairs. They fit like a glove. Perfect! I wear another pair today...tight in all the wrong places. What the...? That's never a pleasant experience and I can't do anything about it now!