Clothes shopping...blech!

I like to shop/browse in places like Lowes or Pier 1 or Pottery Barn or a Garden Nursery, but I really hate shopping for clothes. I mean I really hate it! And I when I do go shopping for clothes, I'm not going to browse. My clothes shopping is usually a hard target search. Get in, find it, try it on, buy it, and go!

Well, I've been needing some new shorts for a while now and now that my last two favorite pairs have either sprung a hole or a rip, I decided it was time. So my plan was to find something that I like, try it on, buy it, maybe grab a couple of shirts on sale, and go home. My hard target efforts were thwarted by whatever the hell has been going on with sizing and such in the women's fashion industry. I couldn't find one thing that fit right and for two reasons. For one, women's sizing for pants/shorts is now meaningless. There is no such thing as a standard size 6 or 8 or 10 or whatever for women. So why do they bother putting sizes on those damn things?? The other reason is that I think manufacturers are cutting their pants/shorts differently through the crotch and butt.

I read an article a month or so ago that talked about how the big name designers have started to do something called "ego sizing". What that means is that what would normally be say a size 6 when sizing was standardized could now be a size 2 or 4 depending on what big name designer it is. The article said that it's being used by these higher end designers as a marketing tool, so shoppers may be more inclined to buy from this over priced designer because you can wear a size 2! What craziness! And now I think that this ego sizing has totally screwed up all the sizing because now I think that some of the main stream brands are jacking with their sizing now, too!

I tried on a bazillion shorts today, and could not find one pair that fit decently and comfortably. After about the fifth pair, I gave up on trying to go by size and I just grabbed a variety of different sizes. When I would find a pair that seemed to fit alright in the hips and waist, they would be very uncomfortable in the crotch. Actually almost every pair I tried on today felt weird in the crotch.

I tried on several pairs of Levi's shorts after trying on a bunch of other brands to no avail. I really don't care what the size says since I think it's meaningless anyway, and in the past I noticed that Levis would run a little big. So I grabbed a pair of 6s. Nope too tight. Okay fine. I'm not offended or worried that I've been eating a bit too much chocolate since there have been plenty of times I've tried on anywhere from a size 4 to size 10 on the same day and they have all fit. So back to the rack to grab an 8. What the hell? They fit exactly like the 6s that I just tried. Okay maybe they're mismarked. So I go back and grab both another 6 and 8. Okay this time the 8s are tighter than the 6s, and the 6s on this round fit reasonably well, but what the hell is going on with the crotch? Nope. That won't do. Back to rack again. Now I have exhausted the supply of 6s and 8s, so okay I'll try a few different 10s. For crying out loud something's got to fit and look decent! Nope. The 10s are too big, all three that I tried despite being too big have something funky going on through the crotch and butt. I can tell that if the10s fit me right, I would be annoyed by the fit in the crotch.

After all this I started feeling pretty grouchy. I'm not usually so unsuccessful when I go on a hard target search. although I found a few shirts on sale. Thank the powers that be that shirt sizing seems fairly standard!

Driving home I started thinking that maybe I have been eating a bit too much cheese and chocolate lately. So when I got home, I dug out a couple pairs of Levis that I hadn't worn in a while just to see if it is me and that perhaps a little less chocolate consumption is in order. They all still fit fine. Plus my favorite shorts have been fitting the same as usual. No tightness. I don't know what's going on. Is my body shape off the norm or something or do most women just like to wear pants and shorts that are tight in the crotch? Oh well.

All I know though is that it would be nice if women's clothing manufacturers would standardize women's pants like they do men's. At least with men's pant size 32, the waist is 32 inches. Why can't or won't manufacturers standardize for women? I know it's not foolproof, but it's better than this crazy "ego sizing"! Plus I would love to buy shorts or pants over the internet, but with the way things are I would never even dare to do it. Even if it's a brand and size that fit me in the store, it seems that no two pair of pants for women are the same as my experience today shows.

So today wound up being an unsuccessful, frustrating shopping day. Blech. And this is why I hate clothes shopping so much!