Does Size Matter?

Last week, I had an unexpected afternoon all to myself so I took full advantage and went to a mall I'd never been to before. It was HUGE. It had four levels and the usual big name department stores. It also had other big name stores like Target, Home Depot, BJ's (a.k.a. Sam's club), a New York Sports Club, and a LOT of restaurants...all in ONE mall. The best part was it even had a post office store so I could buy my stamps!

Anyway, the whole reason I went there was to go to this store called Steve & Barry's. I had never heard of it before but they sell a lot of workout apparel AND occasionally they decide to make everything in the store only $8.98. Clothes, shoes, heavy winter coats, everything is $8.98. Also, they're the only store to carry the new clothing line "Bitten" by Sarah Jessica Parker. (Normal clothes, not workout clothes). SO, I had to go check it out, naturally!

I was a little disappointed because I found almost NO workout clothes at all. They do have a line of clothing by Venus Williams but none of it would work for me and Zumba. They also carry a lot of collegiate apparel so if you need a sweatshirt with your favorite college team, this is the place to go.

Since I needed a new pair of jeans, I decided to check out Sarah Jessica Parker's line. How could I go wrong there, right? So there's this WALL of jeans, all in these cute white cubicles, you know. Each cubicle wasn't labeled but I think they were supposed to be somewhat categorized...in a perfect world. I decided to try to focus on one "style" at a time. There's the boot cut, flare cut, low rise, mid rise, and a new cut to me: the "boyfriend jean". I'm still not sure what that means, I didn't try on the boyfriend jeans. I knew I didn't want anything really low rise and I stuck to boot cut instead of flare because SJP's jeans didn't come in flare. I assumed that that meant that flare was out and boot cut is back.

So now I'm looking through the cubicles for mid-rise boot cut jeans and realize I have no idea what size to get. The jeans I was wearing, which fit snug straight out of the dryer say size 11. But I also have a pair of jean/capris at home that are size 6 and are too loose. I held up a size 10 and it looked like it might be too big. I spent a LOT of time digging through for a size 8. OH, and then I have to find a size 8 regular (length) instead of short or long length. And once I thought I had the right pair, I'd look at it and find something wrong, like it was actually the "boyfriend cut" or they were capris or there were rhinestones on the back pockets. Suddenly my nice relaxing afternoon of shopping is getting very stressful. Long story short: after spending all that time searching for the right style and size, turns out in THIS brand I wear a size four!?!? What?! I haven't worn a size four since...well, I never remember wearing a size four. Ever. I think I skipped right to a 7 in junior high and I'm certainly not thinner now than I was then.

I'm not bringing this all up to brag about being a size four 'cause, seriously folks, I am NOT a size four. Today I'm wearing my 11's. I'm just sayin' that we need to somehow standardize all this sizing nonsense in the U.S. It makes for a very stressful afternoon for me. (The only thing more stressful is bathing suit shopping. Ugh)! And what am I supposed to say when someone asks me what size I wear? Am I supposed to tell them I'm somewhere between a four and an eleven? That sounds ridiculous! I guess I'll just stick with saying, "Medium".

p.s. I DID buy the size four, mid-rise, boot cut in case any of you are wondering. I already have a chocolate stain on one thigh. Sigh...alas, they only cost $8.98 so who cares?!