One of the errands I ran Sunday with SteelyKid was a run to the local Eddie Bauer outlet to pick up a couple more pairs of khakis for work (well, they're black, actually, but in style the same as the khaki ones). As is often the case, I ended up buying two different sizes-- not just because this was at a discount outlet store, but because of the inconvenient quantization of pants.
I have a collection of khakis in two different waist sizes. this is partly because I lost a whole bunch of weight back in the Bad Time when I had horrible stomach problems (much of which I've gained back), but also because I'm currently kind of between available sizes. The 38 waist ones are a little tight, the 40 waist ones are a little loose. But there's no easy way to get a 39 waist, because the clothing industry has apparently decreed that only even integer sizes shall be sold in stores. What I really want is a 39-33 (34 length is a bit long, and wears at the cuffs, but 32 length is borderline high-water), but 38-34 (or 40-34) is the best I can do. You'd think that at least one retailer would decide to go for the in-betweeners and stock only odd-integer clothing, but I have yet to see that done. Yet more proof that Paul Krugman is right about the stupidity of economic models.
Yeah, I could probably mail-order them, but it's cheaper to pick them up at the outlet place, and more convenient. And hey, I'm a physicist-- nobody expects me to dress well.
I can at least take some comfort in the fact that I'm a man, and thus the numbers assigned to my clothing mean something. As opposed to women's clothes, where size numbers appear to be assigned using a sophisticated random number generator.
- Log in to post comments
Try the Gap. I have the exact same measurements as you and I get my khakis there. Well, at least in central NJ.
I have the same problem on length. I buy 34 inch long pants and my wife shortens them. I am lucky that my wife sews, since I sure don't. The annoying thing is that shorter lengths frequently are available on odd integer sizes. You can get 29 and 31 inch long pants, but at 32 inch they switch to even only.
I have a similar problem with shoes. My foot is about a size 12 and 1/2, but half sizes stop at 12 and then it is whole sizes only. I get a choice of tight size 12 or loose size 13.
the clothing industry has apparently decreed that only even integer sizes shall be sold in stores
They do fill in that gap for people with waist sizes in the low to mid 30s. I have no problem getting a 35 waist, and I know that 31 and 33 are also widely available. But beyond 36, yes, it is even integers only. (I get most of my clothes through LL Bean, either via the catalog or an evening run up the road to their main store in Freeport.)
Where I take the hit is shoes. The clothing industry gods have decreed that no men's shoes shall be available retail in anything narrower than D width. This problem has become increasingly severe; as recently as the late 1990s you could still find B widths, although not all stores would carry it. I have A width feet which are too long (size 12) for the workaround of buying women's sneakers (women's feet supposedly average B width). I can buy shoes online and get narrower sizes, but still my choices in sneakers are limited to AA or B.
The particular retail model that baffles me is when I go into a store's clearance area and find it stuffed to the gills with XS and S clothes, with only a smattering of larger sizes anywhere to be seen. You would think that somewhere, at some point, some unsung front-line retail genius would say "Hey, we have an awful lot of XS and S clothes left over. Maybe we shouldn't order so many next time!" But no.
(/bitter M/L/XL depending on store female)
As a physicist, I should say that I just recently discovered the joy of having things tailored. Well-fitting clothes just make life better.
The pants decision is easy -- just get the longer ones and have them hemmed to suit. It will cost all of $10.
Weirdly, another solution is just to find a brand of pants where 38-34, or 40-34 or 38-32 fits. My experience is that different different brands have a different definition of what 34 inches really means. They're not wildly different, but I find up to a half inch of variation, and that can mean all the difference.
(Of course, there may be that much variation within a brand as well. I guess I've never tried on a half dozen pair of "identical" pants to check that out. Surely someone out there has . . . ?)
This is exactly why I shop online. The "convenience" of going to a store is lost when I can't find my size -- and at that point I don't much care about the savings either. Once you find a line that fits you well, you can just keep ordering the same stuff every year. Lands End does pretty good for me on this. Oh, and with many of their pants you can order them hemmed to length, down to the nearest .25".
Dude, try on a bunch of different pairs of the two closest sizes. The piece-to-piece variability in both waist and length of a given size is at least plus-or-minus an inch for mass-produced pants.
Just be glad your quantized pants don't have spin. Or you might get your knickers in a twist.
I'm fond of the way Uniqlo does pants - a range of waist sizes, but exactly two lengths, 32 and 34. If you're not one of those two sizes, they have free same-day alterations. Works great for me, since the combination of 31 waist and 34 inseam is pretty much nonexistent in your typical chain stores. Alas, they're only in NYC.
As for skinny sneakers, Eric, have you tried a specialty running store? I run and have skinny size-12 feet, although maybe not A's, and can get some pretty well fitting shoes that way.
And I thought this would be the same discussion I had with many of my uni friends about whether pants were digital or analogue (clearly digital, as if your pants are not 100% on outside the bathroom, you will be done for indecent exposure. Though many of my friends claimed they would not be kicked out of an exam if they weren't wearing pants because, after all, they don't put pants on the list of required equipment for exams.
I am a slacker and just buy stuff that fits well enough, and end up looking scruffy.
I'm similar, I need a 27 inseam. which they don't sell. However, LLBean WILL hem your pants to order. They charge $2 for it, but totally worth it.
Doesn't solve the waist, but belts solve that problem nicely I find...
try finding 29" waist 34" inseam carharts.......
Can't you just move up or down that half pant size by playing basketball one more or fewer days per week?
It was really nice post and most admirable part is great comments are here. Very nice.