And what brings me back here after so long? A clothing rant, of course. (Just in case I ever again need to wear non-lounging clothes.)
Here’s what I want: jeans that fit my body and are loose and comfortable. Because after a year and a half of not wearing real pants, I have no patience for skinny jeans! (Yes, my nether limbs are clothed – I’ve worn dresses with or without tights depending on the season, shorts, fleece tights, knit pants, flannel pj pants with elastic waists and so on.) Someday I will need to go back into public for more than just a short foray, and for that I would like some jeans. This is also complicated by the fact that I’ve gained ten pandemic pounds and don’t really know what size I need. It’s probably something like a 10 petite – I don’t need plus sizes at least (I’m not fat-shaming, I’m empathizing – I know that adds a whole nother level of complexity when finding clothes that fit).
We are in a weird period right now; the kids are wearing loose, high-waisted jeans, while clothing lines that cater to women of a certain age are still stuck in skinny jeans most – even their looser fits have names like “skinny boyfriend” or “slim straight”. So why don’t I go to Forever 21 or American Eagle and get jeans marketed to 21 year olds? That would be simple, right? Nope. It’s the belly, not just the one I always have but the added size to it that comes with middle-aged weight gain. And the fact that I’m short-waisted to begin with, so that the high-waisted “mom jeans” kids are wearing aren’t likely to work on me. What I really want is a medium-to-lowish rise jean with a loose fit or barrel cut leg.
The retail places are not cooperating. We have the Gap, who seems to have style that would work but to be out of my size, Anthropologie, whose descriptions of their styles as high or medium waisted bears no actual correlation to the length of their rise, and then the places that cater to middle-aged women and have nothing but skinny (or skinny-ish) jeans – J. Jill, the Loft, L.L. Bean, Eddie Bauer. It’s just frustrating to see the styles change back to something I like better and still not be able to get what I want. I think my best choices are probably either to get a cut I like and size up til the waist fits even if everything else is huge, or else maybe just buy men’s jeans. Sigh.