So I am willing to admit here and now that I am a whole-lotta lady. I’ve got a lot of baggage, if you know what I mean. And hey, it is what it is. Being overweight, clothes shopping is probably the least fun experience in the whole wide world. There are times when I would rather be mauled by angry beavers than try to find a new pair of pants.
I don’t have any issues finding shirts because I’m not the busty-type, but pants. .. I absolutely hate pants. I love them, actually, because I hate having a breeze where it doesn’t belong, but I hate *finding* pants. Sadly, pants need to be replaced, especially if they get ripped due to an embarrassing moment caused by an intoxicated stranger-woman at karaoke night barging around like a giant rampaging moose.
On one such occasion, I decided to go to one of my favorite stores. This store in particular was pretty awesome because they have both regular sizes and plus sizes, they’re cheap as all get-out, and very few of their pants have the dreaded old-lady elastic on them.
Imagine my surprise when I walk in and they have switched their ‘special’ brand to a funny looking new brand that required a size conversion chart… a conversion chart that, by all appearances, looked like it required a masters in advanced calculus and a sooooper-expensive graphing calculator to decipher… Not to mention some background in deciphering hieroglyphics.
I didn’t understand… I had never been exposed to this brand of pants before. What the hell do colorful rectangles, circles and triangles have to with my pants? Where are the actual sizes?
The conversation that ensued went something like this.
Me: But I’m closer to a 26 than a 6.
Sales Lady: These pants are sized differently!
Me: Yeah… I got that… but I’m not a size 6.
Sales Lady: No, you’re a Plus-Sized 6!
Me: But 6 isn’t a plus size…
Sales Lady: (Getting noticeably exasperated by this point) They have a different prefix than the regular size 6’s so you can tell the difference. (Perking right back up again) Isn’t it SOOOOOOOO cool that you can say you’re a size 6 now without having to feel bad about yourself?!
Me: But I don’t feel bad about myself.
Long Pause.
Me: I’m not a size 6.
Needless to say, I did not buy pants there that day. I wound up at an old lady store that had some pretty icky clothes, but at least had jeans with my normal, squishy sizes on them. They weren’t about to confuse old grannies with some wacky new system. And I really had a problem with any brand of clothing that says ‘Hey! You’re fat and insecure! Give us an extra $10 per pair of jeans and we’ll let you call yourself a size 4!’ As if buying pants isn’t a horrifying enough experience when you’re a plus-sized woman, now this stupid company was trying to capitalize on my own body image issues. Hasn’t the fashion industry already done enough damage to my ego… and my pocket book?
Since this specific incident, this particular brand HAS changed their sizing methods… at least in this region. But I’m still wary of their merchandise.
I am not plus size but I still hate buying jeans. They never fit right anyway. I guess that's why I wear the same pants over and over and over again until they get all nasty and I have to buy new ones. I feel your pain...
ReplyDeleteLol, I do the same thing you do. And it IS way comforting to know that this isn't necessarily a size-specific thing! :D
ReplyDelete