I hate clothes shopping. Like, really, really hate it. It’s one of those tasks that every girl is supposed to love so when I was growing up and I hated it, I felt alone, secluded and like something was very, very wrong with me. I, of course, know now that this is not the case but I definitely had an identity crisis as a teenager and just tried so hard to fit in by forcing myself to love clothes shopping but it just did not happen.
So when I got older and online clothes shopping arrived, I was extremely happy. I’d go click happy on the purchases and then return anything that didn’t fit. No going into thousands of shops and getting more and more deflated when more and more clothes did not fit right or look good or flow perfectly. Long gone were the days of feeling fat and the wrong shape all day. Walking home red-faced and empty-handed.
Or so I thought.
Recently my favourite pair of jeans that I wear mostly every day and have done for the last 5 - 7 years died. It was about time really but I was devastated but I put them to rest and opened up the webpage for the store I bought them from (and every other pair of jeans I own) and ordered a few pairs to be delivered to store.
They arrived the next day and I popped in happily and picked them up. They’d obviously fit as they were the exact size I always buy from this store. So it was a bit of a shock to find that, in fact, they didn’t fit. The first pair were a bit too baggy around the crotch and the second pair were fine at first but felt uncomfortable after a while and the third pair didn’t even have pockets! Annoyed, I returned them and decided to try again on a longer leg length.
Four new pairs later. Guess what happened?
All four pairs were called “Skinny” Jeans. I have always worn skinny jeans. I know what Skinny jeans are. These four pairs of jeans were all so tight I felt like my legs were struggling to breathe. I would have definitely advertised these as super skinny. So I do not even want to think about what their super skinny jeans do feel like!
Anyway. I returned all four jeans to the store and this time thought I’d have a look around and see if I could find any straight jeans that they were advertising on their “different styles” board. But no. No straight jeans. So with a sad little sigh I decided to put this store behind me and try another.
In the second store I was faced with the same issue. All the jeans were skinny. And I started to feel all that loathing I have for shopping creep in. I never shop the fashion style, never seem to like what everyone else does and now I’d be stuck wearing Jeans I felt uncomfortable in simply because the fashion world doesn’t care for the minority like me.
Fortunately in the third store I tried, hidden by the thousands of skinny jeans I found a pair called slim fit and in my size! After trying them on and finding they do in fact fit all over the leg. I ran back to rack and found another pair and bought them quickly!
Upon leaving the store and waiting for a bus, I couldn’t help noticing that everyone in jeans were more or less wearing skinny jeans and now I can’t help but wonder - are all their thighs screaming in pain too?
While this shopping trip was finally successful, I'm still not sure I'll be making a habit of going clothes shopping. I still hate the way clothes that don't fit make me feel fat and ugly and undesirable. So I really hope these jeans last a while so I don't need to go through that hell all over again. One day, maybe the world will realise that women come in all different shapes and sizes and we all like different styles, but sadly that day is not today.
And don't even get me started on the difference between jeans for women and jeans for men!
I've always been quite good with money. I'm not on to splurge on really expensive things, not unless it's something I need and/or will use regularly. I'm not interested in the latest "thing" - whether it's clothes, shoes, bags, mobiles, other technology and so on - because it's new and everyone else has it. If I don't want it or don't need it, I won't get it.