Pants for Every Figure But Mine

The Thoughful Dresser linked to a funny/sad article that purports to show trousers for every figure. They have trousers/pants recommendations for tall, thin, petite and hourglass figures, but alas, nothing for average pear-shaped women.

TTD and I are both 5'5" and pear-shaped. We both prefer skirts. We shouldn't be so hard to fit; some sizing studies claim that pear shapes are the most common. At 5'5", we are both slightly taller than average. Why then, aren't manufacturers producing pants that fit us? Why do they insist on telling us that our legs are too short? Perhaps the pants are too long or cut unflattering?

(And why are petite sizes designed for women 5'4" and shorter and misses sizes for women ~5'7"? Does the fashion industry really want to relegated half the populace to petites? What about average size women? Should someone 5'4" shop petites or regular/misses? As it stands right now, the average size woman has the least choice. Is that a smart business move on the part of the manufacturers?)

However, I have found pants that I can wear. They are just not trendy. For work, I wear boring straight legged trousers in dark colors like black, navy, charcoal or chocolate (and aubergine for adventuresome days). For variety, I have some with pleats, some plain front and a few with small patterns.

Jeans are the toughest to find. This fall, I retired two pairs of 5-10 year old jeans. I like pants that do not ride too high, nor too low. I don't want to feel like a sausage; I sit at a desk all day. I do not want my pants to graze the floor--too much laundry. I usually wear my pants a few times between washings. (That's another labor-saving thing I do for the sake of the environment.) I sat out the low-rise boot cut pants era.

I went through my closet and found a pair of size 6 average (length) Charter Club (Macy's house label) stretch denim straight leg jeans that fit OK, with only a slight gap at the back waist. I also headed over to JC Penny and bought a pair of size 8 average Lee stretch denim relaxed fit jeans ($22). Surprisingly, a pair of size 10 long SJB (JPC house label) straight leg jeans ($7.50) fit me very well except for the inseam. That can be fixed easily enough so I bought them also.

I also found a pair of size 8 CK Jeans wide-legged denim trousers at Goodwill ($5). They are very comfortable, but have a difficult cropped and wide silhouette. I tried to let out the hem, but that didn't look right. I added navy/white trim to the hem and that didn't look right. The legs are too wide Perhaps they will be turned into shorts.

Both pairs of new jeans were made in Mexico, which is buying local for someone who lives in SoCal. I hope to find more clothes made in Mexico in stores in the future. Our cleaning lady (a legal immigrant) says that she would have preferred to stay in Mexico with her mother and siblings, but she couldn't find work there. I am all for helping people find work near their support network so they can keep their families intact.

Speaking of Mexico, we took Iris there last Sunday. We drove from San Diego through Tijuana to Ensenada. We strolled around Ensenada and had a seafood lunch. (It's funny how some restaurants are all locals, others all tourists. We ate at one that was mostly locals.) Iris and I bought lovely silver bracelets as souvenirs (3 for $20). Then we drove through a beautiful wine-growing region between Ensenada and Tecate where we crossed back into the US.

This brings up why I am at home today. Big sigh. I am simply too delicate to sleep on my in-laws guest beds/pillows. There is so much spinal inflammation that I cannot turn my head more than half an inch. I am staying home today to ice and rest. A physical therapist said that the inflammation peaks 2 or so days after the injury. The exact same thing happened 2 days after the last time I stayed overnight at my in-laws. Oddly, the first sensation I had of something amiss was nausea all day yesterday. That happens with ear infections, too. I notice the nausea before the pain.