I went shopping yesterday. That in itself is not news, but I went shopping with the specific intent to buy some new clothes. The only real clothes shopping I’ve done since the
world shut down for COVID has been online. That may work for some people, but it doesn’t for me. It seems clothing sizes vary as much as fall temperatures do in the South; not all manufacturers follow the same sizing guidelines.
For instance, I recently ordered a simple shirt. An ad for this shirt popped up on Facebook, and I thought it was cute. I clicked the ad, placed my order, and waited. In other words, I swallowed the bait hook, line and sinker.
The shirt arrived about two weeks later, having been shipped on an actual slow boat from China. Now I’m not a tiny woman, but I ordered a size that should have fit quite nicely, with room to move (tight clothes are not my thing). What I unwrapped, as I opened the package with excitement, was a teeny weenie doll-size shirt that would fit adolescent Barbie, and snugly.
The RETURN process was a nightmare, with undecipherable email addresses that routed my communication through England to – you guessed it – China. I’m going to assume that people in China don’t grow as big as people here in the States, and good for them. However, if people in China are going to sell clothes to people in the States, they need to educate themselves. We like our meat and potatoes.
Anyway, I actually went to a real brick-and-mortar mall yesterday. The sights and smells were exhilarating: cinnamon, mixed with popcorn, mixed with bright lights and retail acreage! Imagine my disappointment, then, when I found my favorite department in my favorite store, and all I discovered were partial tops hanging on display. Mini-tops. Tops they forgot to finish making. They were cute, but where was the rest of them? Needless to say, I came home top-less (you know what I mean).
What’s a sixty-something woman to do? I’m not quite in polyester stretch pants and compression socks yet, but I’m way past the age of being able to wear dental floss and band-aids in fun, colorful prints.
I’m a fun person. I like to go to fun places and events. My husband and I enjoy nice dinners and evenings out. I refuse to give in to the two new extremes of fashion – clothing made for the just born or for the nearly dead. There has to be a happy medium in there somewhere.
I’ll try again next week. Wish me luck.