What little things drive you completely up the wall....?

[Dazi]

I have now discovered that every clothes manufacturer in the UK got together and decided that women's jeans must have elastane in them.  I hate elastane in jeans, they never fit me properly and I'd far rather have a few uncomfy days to get some nicely broken in jeans than jeans I'm constantly tugging at.  To add insult to injury no-one sells what I would call "denim blue" jeans any more.  I'm seriously considering trying some men's jeans.

I hate this.  I feel like I've been shoved into a sausage casing and it makes it so you see every body imperfection you have.  It also makes the clothes wear hotter and any sweat seems to stick to the skin instead of evaporating.  Also, your jeans never seem to break in properly.  The last time I had this problem, I went and bought old, already broke in jeans from a thrift store...it was a great solution.

I don't know if anyone else has this issue, but I also find that elastane smells BAD and makes me have bad body odor...it's bad in jeans, but the smell issue for me is worse with shirts.

[Piratelvr1121]

I've noticed jeans in the US tend to be like that too.  Everytime I wash them, they fit just as they did in the store but within a couple hours they've loosened and I'm wishing I had a belt. 

[kherbert05]

Yup. Stinky detergent and/or fabric softener. there's one reservoir for all three, and many times there's leftover which then goes into the next load (s). I guess some people don't follow the "less is more" and use a lot more than necessary. 

I put very little detergent in, since you don't need nearly as much as the bottle says, and some baking soda along with it. Might have to switch to vinegar with the soap, if the stinkiness keeps up.

Did you have to pay to do your wash? we do, so I can't even imagine someone complaining about wasting water. that's another reason it irks me to ahve to re-do my stuff; it costs enough to do my normal loads, without having to add in the cost of the extra ones.

We paid. She just couldn't stand the washers going without clothes drove her batty. She  couldn't wrap her head around being allergic to detergent. Even when I showed her what the detergent had done to the back of my legs.

[Free Range Hippy Chick]

When I discover which glorious arbiter of fashion decided that all women wanted to wear low rise trousers all the time, and basically caused there to be no other style available in any type of trouser in any shop, ever, I am going to... well, it won't be etiquette approved, is all I'm saying, and it may involve somebody giving me an alibi. They are not flattering on anybody aged more than about 14, or weighing more than about 6 stone, they are not comfortable, they are not suitable for anyone who is in any way active. I want a waistband on my waist, please. Nobody except my DH needs to see my knickers, and not always even him.

[Mental Magpie]

Pod to the above! However, I managed to find good fitting jeans at Buckle. They cost a lot but they couldn't fit better on me and they last! I have wide hips and thick thighs but a smaller waist; they way they size pants kind of takes this into account. Further, they have jeans in between low rise and "around your belly button". Buckle renewed my faith in jeans.

[Hillia]

Jumping on the jeans bandwagon...when will plus size manufacturers realize that not all 'plus size' women have curvy hips and bottoms and larger thighs?  For those of us who are apple shaped, pants cut like this fit like clown pants.  I have a round belly, no behind to speak of, no waist at all and thighs that are proportionately small compared to the rest of me.  If I get pants thare are comfortable around the waist, the legs are huge and look ridiculous; pants that fit in the legs won't fasten.  Even the jeans that are supposedly made for less curvy women only cut a little bit off the legs, and still assume more of a waist curve than I have.

[siamesecat2965]

I've noticed jeans in the US tend to be like that too.  Everytime I wash them, they fit just as they did in the store but within a couple hours they've loosened and I'm wishing I had a belt.

That's why I tell my customers if they are on the fence about sizing, that anything with spandex willl give and stretch a bit, so even if they are a tad snug initially, get the smaller one. unless its really really skin tight. The larger one may fit fine with a bit of room initialy, but once they stretch a bit, they;'ll be falling off.

[mmswm]

My boyfriend took me out shopping for a couple pairs of jeans that fit, since I'm shrinking so rapidly. I bought everything VERY tight because of a combination of the natural stretch of denim and the shrinking mmswm bit.

[Outdoor Girl]

For the Canadians on board, Mark's (Work Wearhouse) carries all sorts of different fits, in stretchy and non-stretchy denim.

They have classic fit - normal around the waist pants (no good for me since I'm so short waisted; they fit like a corset!).
They have Contemporary fit - fit just below the natural waistline - work for me to fit at my actual waist.
They have Modern fit - which is even more of a low-rise.
They have curvy fit - which is for you folks with larger butts and thighs and smaller waists.

[Pen^2]

For the Canadians on board, Mark's (Work Wearhouse) carries all sorts of different fits, in stretchy and non-stretchy denim.

They have classic fit - normal around the waist pants (no good for me since I'm so short waisted; they fit like a corset!).
They have Contemporary fit - fit just below the natural waistline - work for me to fit at my actual waist.
They have Modern fit - which is even more of a low-rise.
They have curvy fit - which is for you folks with larger butts and thighs and smaller waists.

Another thing that drives me spare is when a clothing manufacturer thoughtfully designs different fits like this, and then the shops decide to stock entirely in only one of them. Usually something which is both low-rise and made of elastine. Gaah! I've had this happen a lot. Not the shop selling out of the fits that work for 99% of people--the shops just never sold these fits because they aren't "in" right now. The city I used to live in was terrible with this. I had to buy all my jeans from second hand places for over two years at one stage because I simply could not find a chain store that sold a pair that wasn't low-rise and stretchy.

Now that I think of it, though, there was that famous ad campaign for jeans designed for any size woman, but the models on the ads ("pear shape", "plus size", "hour glass", etc.) all looked identical to one another. Talk about behemoth fail.

[Betelnut]

Jumping on the jeans bandwagon...when will plus size manufacturers realize that not all 'plus size' women have curvy hips and bottoms and larger thighs?  For those of us who are apple shaped, pants cut like this fit like clown pants.  I have a round belly, no behind to speak of, no waist at all and thighs that are proportionately small compared to the rest of me.  If I get pants thare are comfortable around the waist, the legs are huge and look ridiculous; pants that fit in the legs won't fasten.  Even the jeans that are supposedly made for less curvy women only cut a little bit off the legs, and still assume more of a waist curve than I have.

We have the same body shape!  Apple!

My issue is that I'm fat but I DON'T have big breasts--which seems to be the default expectation of large size clothes makers.  Tops are almost always too big voluminous.

[Thipu1]

I've noticed jeans in the US tend to be like that too.  Everytime I wash them, they fit just as they did in the store but within a couple hours they've loosened and I'm wishing I had a belt.

That's one of the reasons why all my jeans and dress pants come from the Men's Department and have done so for about 20 years.

I have a fairly large waist but small hips and no behind to speak of.  Women's pants that fit me at the waist have room for a lot of smuggled goods in the hips and seat.  Men's pants fit just fine and I don't even have to try them on.  Men's pants are also cheaper, better constructed and have great pockets. 

MIL is shorter than I am but has a similar figure.  She was in the habit of buying Lady's pants, picking them apart and re-tailoring them to fit her shape.  I tuned her in to the Boy's Department and she's been very happy with the results. 

 

[siamesecat2965]

Jumping on the jeans bandwagon...when will plus size manufacturers realize that not all 'plus size' women have curvy hips and bottoms and larger thighs?  For those of us who are apple shaped, pants cut like this fit like clown pants.  I have a round belly, no behind to speak of, no waist at all and thighs that are proportionately small compared to the rest of me.  If I get pants thare are comfortable around the waist, the legs are huge and look ridiculous; pants that fit in the legs won't fasten.  Even the jeans that are supposedly made for less curvy women only cut a little bit off the legs, and still assume more of a waist curve than I have.

We have the same body shape!  Apple!

My issue is that I'm fat but I DON'T have bit breast--which seems to be the default expectation of large size clothes makers.  Tops are almost always too big voluminous.

I'm more apple shaped too, but my issue is excess fabric in the front of the pants, looking like I'm wearing a diaper.  I need a slighly larger size for my belly, but just below isn't all taht large, so there's a lot of saggin going on.

And low rise? no thank you, the aforementioned belly hangs over and as I'm also quite long waisted, they hit me even lower.

Today's issue, though not a bad one, is annoying. I've lost weight, so the pants with slight spandex that fit me fine before are a smidge loose. which means i'm constantly hitching them up.

[Piratelvr1121]

My best friend is a tall curvy woman who complains that clothing manufacturers only make cute stuff for "Tiny things like you!"  Tiny meaning petite and slim.   I'm not even that slim, I wear a size 10 in pants/skirts and tend to get large sized shirts.  I can see what she means though, as Target definitely seems to have a rather large section for Jr clothing.  I can't buy jeans at Target though as they don't make petite sizes so the pants are just too long for me. 

[BarensMom]

The elastic jean posts have triggered my favorite rant:  Why do clothing manufacturers think that plus-size women have to have spandex in their clothing?  Be it tops or pants, almost everything at The Avenue or Lane Bryant has spandex.  Spandex on almost any woman just emphasizes every bit of fat and cellulite and makes us look like we're wearing two sizes too small.