In Pursuit of Pants

The wardrobe correction continues.  Post-baby, post-weight loss and I'm trying to get back to a functional wardrobe with clothes to fit any occasion.  For the most part, I have what I need.  But there are gaps.  Annoying gaps that I've been trying to fill with limited success.

My feet thankfully didn't change size with the pregnancies—that can happen, my one friend wears a full size-and-a-half larger after three children—so I'm mostly set on the shoe front.  Shirts and dresses, sweaters and socks, all still fit.  But things around the waist have been a problem.

Most of my pants were pregnancy or larger in the waist.  After going through my closet, I found for daily, casual wear, the only thing I had was three pair of jeans and one pair of black pants.  And shorts season is long gone.  And all of them needed a belt and got a bit bunchy when they'd done that jeans stretch thing jeans tend to do after you've worn then for a day or two.

On my first foray to the mall for pants I was happy. I'm a girl, I like shopping.  But after trying on several pair of pants things started going downhill.  Okay, that's not actually correct, I didn't try on the pants so much as I spent time stretching and pulling and cursing miss-sized garment labels and then taking off a partially put on pair of pants.  Damn these styles this year.  Must be in the wrong section—the one for pre-teens.

But I wasn't.  Even in the working lady sections of the department store the pants were skin tight.  Disgusted, I went home.   It didn't last long because I still needed pants.  I'd been thinking that maybe The Gap or other stores in the mall would have better options.  I had memories in my head of khaki  pants along the walls in loose-fitting labeled cubbies.  Renewed and determined, I went back to the mall yesterday.

Briskly I walked down the main drag of the mall.  The Gap?  First, everything in the pants section was in bright, primary colors.  Primary colors that I don't have matching shirts to accompany.  And sorry, I don't want Crayon Yellow and Pumpkin Orange pants.  Hollister?  I couldn't fit my leg in the pants and don't even get me started about Express and Guess.

I texted my husband that the spray-on pants were everywhere and I'd changed tactics and was planning on wearing skirts and boots all winter.  Refocused, I went back to the department store.  I went from section to section.  I found some old lady pants that definitely weren't spray-on but they weren't for me.  I found the athletic section and got a few pants to try on that would go well with boots, but I was pushing athletic clothing into everyday clothing to make that happen.

I finally asked a sales person where the skirts were.  She told me she had a skirt over here.  I didn't want "a skirt," I wanted to know where the droves of skirts were; where the skirt section had been hidden or what floor they'd put the skirts on.  No.  Sorry, not so popular this year.  Arugh.

I did find one pair of pants that don't need a belt and don't look too sports-ish.  After getting that, I heard an announcement on the speaker system that should I be interested, they have people who can size me and get me fitted into the perfect bra.  As bad as the pants situation has been, the bra situation is worse.

I don't even know what size I am any more.  Things got bigger while I was pregnant.  They got bigger still while I was nursing.  They deflated after I stopped nursing and they got smaller again when I lost weight to get back to my ideal weight.  Dimensionally things changed too.  More skin, less filling.  Shall we say, floppy?

The bras I had were either far too big or were somewhat correct in size, but had extra space in the cup.  In short it had been, Wal*Mart cotton non-shaping, non-fitting, mostly-flattening, definitely not flattering bras for a good while.   Time to get fitted.

The lady was very helpful, kept referring to, "my girls" and got me into the right size.  We had several discussions in which I said the bras were too tight or didn't fit well and was she sure.  She tried not to laugh at me as she told me that this was how a bra was suppose to fit, I just hadn't been wearing one for a long time.  She really did know what she was talking about.  Today, I've forgotten I even have the bra on, but going from little triangles of cotton to a true form-fitting, supporting bra is a different feeling.

And when did department store bras start being over fifty dollars?!  I wasn't in the "super sexy" section of Victoria's Secret, I expected these things to be reasonable.  I did come home with a new bra, but I'm going to have to go on a more cost-effective shopping trip for additional ones now that I know my size.

So, shopping trip summary:  one pair of "they'll do for now" pants, zero skirts that look sharp with boots and one bra I wasn't expecting to buy, but am glad I did.   At this rate, by the time I get geared up for winter, It'll be well into spring.

The Big Boy Update:  Cars.  He is obsessed with cars, trains and anything he can line up.  He will line up lots of toys on the floor.  Lots of them.  He'll bring out toys from all over the place, just so he can line them up.  Then he says, "choo choo."

The Tiny Girl Chronicles:  Forgetting to crawl.  I think she's moved on from crawling.  For the most part, if she wants to go places, she stands up and walks.  Unless she's just woken up.  In that case, she looks at you, isn't sure how to walk, and sits down to think until she wakes up and is ready to move again.

Fitness Update:  I thought I had run two days ago, not yesterday morning when I realized I was tired at eight last night.  At eight I'd been up for fifteen hours.  This getting up early thing can be confusing.

Someone Once Said:  What is time but something to savor?