This year I unexpectedly saved a fortune on new fashion, not because of Black Friday, but because I discovered the nearly new treasures at the back of my closet.
Pants pants for every body but mine
Seems like the holiday season sales started in my neighbourhood a day after Halloween’s sweet treat debauchery ended. All I needed was to replace my pants. The two pairs of pants in rotation for when I left the house for provisions, endured with me through the COVID-19 lockdowns and then hung in, all puns intended, in the year-long wait for hip surgery.
In the first instance, recreational retail therapy was impossible. Stores were closed. When they reopened the inventory was stale and yet still exorbitant. For me, in this city of sports enthusiasts and women in ethnic groups who tend to the petite, the hunt is also about finding clothes that are my style and size as well as affordable.
In the second instance, my ability to shop was limited due to mobility challenges that left me with little energy and not enough flexibility to try on clothes, Online shopping wasn’t practical and also didn’t guarantee success.
Luckily, they showed no signs of wear or tear, such as holes, stressed seams, or worn-out or thinning patches. Nada. Sadly, they did sag a bit. Perhaps I am the only one who notices the relaxation in the integrity of the fabric.
Still, it was time for them to move on from their steadfast service and their latter-day relaxation of the fabric. They did allow me to leave the house and mingle amongst the properly clothed public!
Getting dressed was a gymnastic event. The loose cotton leggings required a slide along the floor to line them up and yank upward with a grabber. The pull-on- polyester pair needed to be propped up at the crotch on the floor so that I could aim my toes into the leg holes without cramping up. Often lifting the leg was beyond my ability so I would suspend my leg over each ‘hole’ and lower it with the grabber as a baton and then turn it to let the grabber lift the pant leg towards my waiting hands to complete the manoeuvre and lift myself into a standing position.
It was a relationship that hung on too long and I need it to be over.
Inspecting the inventory of my closet, I was surprised to find what I had searched for unsuccessfully the previous week at the downtown Hudson Bay Company’s two fashion floors.
Bonus. They’re tailored as I prefer, especially after years of less fitted and casual pullons. They had nice zipper front fly closures. New fashions I saw offered multiple buttons on plus-sized pants. This could compromise a hurried trip to the toilet.
Unexpected bonus: There had been enough weight loss achieved before surgery, and maintained after with food pattern changes. The less bulky and bloated me fit into the pants which turned out to be one size smaller!
Revelling in my new natural fabric and quality finds at the back of my old closet, I solved much of the season’s fashion needs. I am not entirely sure that the pant legs are exactly on trend. I know they are not victim to the pre-ripped leg or threadbare and gaping-at-the-knee style. One is navy blue and one is black and while they are technically pre-used, I know they are clean and gently loved.
They are a consistent expression of my style. Nuff said.
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