Petty peeves #1

I’ve decided to (perhaps) revive the blog by doing some shorts, sorta like what I might do on FB but less ephemeral and without the attendant annoyances. And since I have many pet peeves, all of which are petty, I thought I’d start with one of them

This one is really a combination of two: women’s clothing sizing and buying clothing, or shoes, on the internet. You can see why they might go together.

I do realize that creating clothing for the full range of the population is inevitably going to leave some people out. Of which I have often been one, except for shoes, where my problem is that my feet are average so my size sells out rapidly. And there has actually been progress in addressing different sized people over my lifetime. I’ve been buying my own clothes since I was fourteen, 61 years now. When I started, I ALWAYS had to modify whatever I bought, and then they invented petite sizes and for a long time they worked for me. But of course my body has changed, and I wouldn’t be astounded to learn the sizing conventions have also changed, because petite sizes no longer work for me. Anyway, here I want to home in on an issue that has stayed with me throughout.

Specifically, I have shoulders. And biceps. And boobs. None of them huge, but big enough that in combination, I have often had difficulty finding blouses, shirts, or coats that fit, or fit the way I want them to. The width of my shoulders in particular is often a problem. And the current one that has inspired this post.

If I lived in an urban, or even semi-urban place, I could shop in actual stores and hope to find something in a day or two. But living in SW Oregon, that possibility is unavailable. So instead, I make my best guess based on whatever information I can fond online, order something, wait a minimum of a week-ten days for delivery, try it on, figure out what’s wrong with it, return it, and go back online. Have done two rounds of this so far. At this rate, by the time I get close to finding a winter coat, it will be summer. Oh wait, in another month, no one will be selling them anymore.

I’ve been shopping for a new winter coat. Haven’t had a new one for fifty years, so I feel entitled to one now. I want to be able to wear layers underneath, and to be able to move my arms in all the ways without having the coat strain across my chest or back and without feeling uncomfortable. Women’s sizes don’t work because apparently the powers that be have decided (once again—this phases in and out) that women’s clothes should cling to their bodies, so to accommodate my preferences for my upper body, the rest of the coat is too long (sleeves, overall length) and way too big around my hips. In the past, I have bought men’s sizes with reasonable success (men having broader shoulders), though sleeves are always too long. But men’s coats are always basically jackets, hip-length at most, and I would like something that goes to mid-thigh so I can sit on a wet seat and keep my butt dry. So that isn’t working either.

I’m doomed.