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03 Oct 2004
I steeled myself yesterday to do the thing I hate most in the world: go clothes shopping. I don't mind at all when my clothes are old or unfashionable, but when they start to lose structural integrity I'm forced to the shops. I have no interest in clothes at all, and resent the amount of money I have to spend on them which could—for example—be much more enjoyably spent on buying hi-fi, computer equipment or music. But the real kicker is that it's seemingly impossible to find clothes that fit my lower half.
I'm built in the traditional way for women—big hips, big thighs, narrow(ish) waist. This means that I go in at the waist. It seems incredible, but manufacturers of women's clothes don't seem to have noticed this rather fundamental anatomical fact. I tried on several pairs of trousers and jeans yesterday, and if I found a pair to accommodate my hips, they were enormous around the waist. Even if I hauled them in with a belt, there would have been huge folds of excess material. The last two pairs of jeans I've bought have actually been men's loose fit jeans. This seems completely counterintuitive, and suggests that manufacturers make clothes for men that cater for curvy women better than those made for women. Or perhaps it means that men are getting curvier and women are getting straighter...
Surely in these days of automation, it shouldn't be too difficult to set up a cheap custom tailoring service, where you could separately specify the dimensions of hips, waist (and length, while we're at it), and robot cutter would cut and sew the material just for you? If anyone knows of a shop or an online retailer where they sell reasonable clothes for women who go in at the middle, I'm all ears (and hips).
2
"lose structural integrity" - what a wonderful geeky circumlocution! I can almost see your jeans crumbling to dust before my eyes! The hipster style jeans which all girls seem to wear now is one of the most unattractive fashions ever to blight the high street, whose sole purpose is to draw attention to the extent that we as a nation have become obese. Good luck in your quest!
by ThoughtBadger @ 03/10/2004 11:10 pm • Permalink •
3
Men are getting curvier. It's the binge drinking:
"Alcohol appears to speed up the normal conversion of testosterone and one of its precursors, androstenedione, into oestrogens" - New Scientist
by pete @ 04/10/2004 8:10 am • Permalink •
4
Off-topic As neither of us use IE we wouldn't have known but as I'm currently road-testing the Maxthon browser (which uses IE's engine) I can reliably inform you that this site is slightly borked (in it) with your right-hand nav being pushed below the main content.
Sorry, couldn't find an email address.
5
Again off topic, Maxthon is IE, just with a load of stuff over the top. As for trousers, though male I have similar problems: my legs are out of proportion with my waist, so it's a toss-up between incredibly long-legged trousers that still aren't narrow enough waists, or three-quarter-length shorts that are supposed to be trousers but at least fit at the waist. That's a slight exaggeration, but you get the picture.
6
David: Yes, that might be worth a go. I'm not keen on M&S's clothes, so perhaps a tailor or a place which does alterations would be a better bet.
Pica: I wonder if they do it here too? If not, it would probably be prohibitively expensive. Worth investigating, though—thanks!
ThoughtBadger: They are crumbling—more hole than material :-( I share your dislike of hipsters; unless you are stick-thin they look gruesome.
pete: Interesting! That can't be the explanation for women's figures going in the opposite direction, though. Intriguing...
Jann: Thanks for your suggestions elsewhere—I'll give the margin shrinking trick a go when I get a moment.
Matthew: Yes, custom-made clothes would benefit loads of people. After all, no-one is really a 'standard' size.
7
I had a somewhat similar shopping adventure on Saturday.
8
I am not 100% sure of this, but I believe that hipster jeans have not completely snuffed out other waisted female jeans in continental Europe, so you might have more luck if you are either going there soon, or perhaps search out some Euro brands.
by ThoughtBadger @ 04/10/2004 9:11 pm • Permalink •
9
Heh-heh-heh... being "nonstandard size" is fun, if only because of the expressions on suit salesmen's faces when they realize that most of your body would be happy in a children's size, but your shoulders will tolerate nothing less than a 38. 
Incidentally, a brand of shoes called "New Balance" came out in the U.S. a while ago. They apparently hoped to tap the unexploited market of people with "wide" and "extra-wide" feet, but from the number of people wearing them I get the impression that they accidentally struck a much richer vein of customers: people with normal-sized feet!
by Aaron @ 05/10/2004 3:10 am • Permalink •
10
1
My very first comment... I know that M&S offer tailoring services in some shops. They may be adept at such alterations. I also know of a tailor in Kings Heath (at Inshops, across from Safeway). I've been surprised at how competitively priced a bespoke piece of work can be. So I'd visit a tailor, ask a few questions, and return with a pair of trouser to be altered. Or take in a pair on an experimental basis. HTH----- You can get Levi's custom-made here in the U.S. -- I have a friend who did it, she's very tall and nothing off the rack fits her (she'd be left with the same gaping waist as you). It's Doc Rock at Write Out Loud if you want to ask her about it...
by Pica @ 03/10/2004 4:10 pm • Permalink •