introspective periscope : peeking inside since Y2K ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- white label boyfriend jeans curvehuggers - 9 april 2o15 "...one left, one right--that's how I organize 'em / you know I fill my cups no need to super-size em' / right now you probably thinking how she get in them jeans / well I'm gifted all natural and burstin' the seams"~robyn i feel like i've been writing a lot here about sad things and boring things and half-baked things that i haven't quite puzzled out yet...i think i need some sunshine and fresh air here, eh? okay, here's a pretty great thing that happened. on saturday night after the aquarium with k and some down time with the kiddo to recharge, my sister and i got in my car and headed natick, a boston suburb. we were on a mission to find me some new jeans. i've been swimming in my clothes since the baby was born but shopping for clothes seems impossibly tricky these days. i can't even imagine how much more stressful it would have been trying to do this without her along to mind the little guy. jeans shopping is a terrible horrible thing i tend to avoid for as long as reasonably possible and the jeans i wore this time last year are barely staying on. she was probably right...i looked ridiculous like a bag lady, i suppose. i was thankful for her wanting to put on the wrap and carry him while i prepared to test my shopping stamina for the first time in a long time. until last weekend, the whole of my jeans shopping over the last decade or so involved me walking into a lane bryant, hitting the wall of denim and hoping for the best. i'm too short for their regular length and, when petite options weren't available, i usually ended up washing whatever i brought home a few times in hot water hoping they'd shrink or something. sometimes, i'd find a stray pair that fit well but then they'd be gone the next time i went back and i was relegated to decoding whatever weird way of size labeling they happened to be trying out at the time. the different sizing systems annoy me. just call it what it is...a 28 is not a 4 and i have no idea what yellow circle blue square red triangle thing even goes with my shape and i've never gotten a consistent answer when i've asked different sales associates. shopping at lane bryant frustrated me so much but i don't think i ever felt like i would find clothes any place else. most of their clothes are cut for one shape but they claim they've got different shapes for jeans...i'm not buying it. after a few hours of wearing them, they pretty much all end up looking the same way. wash them a few times and they never quite fit the same way again. jeans shopping fills me with particular dread because i never know how many pairs i'll have to try on before i give up and just take whatever bootcut pair i could find and let's move on with it already, please...i've gone through small mountains and found nothing....each new pair just making me feel worse and worse about the situation and myself. over the years, i've learned that when i find a pair i like, i need to buy them all so i can make them last longer and stave off another shopping trip as long as possible. i suppose i shop like an old lady....but if i find jeans that will hug my strange curves, i'm taking them all home. i explained to the two women working at torrid that i haven't shopped for jeans in over a year and that i've just had a baby and my shape has changed and that i've lost all this weight and i have no idea what size i am....all this while i'm seeking out the biggest size they have because for some reason, that's still what i think it'll take to find something to fit. i don't even know where to start. one of the women was nice and fun and reminded me of my friend metal sarah from erie. her gravel voice spoke of a party the night before and she emitted her own light like sarah does. i warmed to her pretty quickly which isn't how things usually go. more often, i have this sense that all salespeople are suspect. this lady just wanted to help me find something that made me happy. when she saw me picking up the size 28, she slapped my hand away. she sent me into a dressing room with a couple pairs to get started. i was surprised to find that i was getting into a 22 with no question and went smaller still depending on the cuts she brought. the two associates slowly coaxed me into trying on different cuts that were way outside my comfort zone but i tried them. in the end, i left with three pairs of jeans that i love, none of which are the usual bootcut same old thing i always get. i don't know if it was just this particular pair of women that made finding jeans so damned enjoyable or if it's the training they were given or the company itself that are winning me over. whatever it is, they had it going on in that store. i don't know if i'll ever go to a lane bryant again, guys. the harder i work at this, the healthier i'm getting and i love it. i love that i'm getting a little more brave and am happy to find that i didn't hate jeans shopping as much as i have in the past. i looked in the 3 panel mirror and didn't hate what i saw looking back at me. that's some sort of progress, anyway. xo, ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .what came before. - .what happened next. a diamond at the bottom of the drain - 20 october 2017 |
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