Reverse Zippers and Non-Standard Inches

[major_clanger]

Ah, the joys of post-Xmas sales, when even economical types like me can motivate themselves to try to ensure that their wardrobe does have some prospect of varying from year to year. So I braved the massed hordes of George St and Rose St and managed a small but reasonable haul to keep me going over the next few months. But it didn't go entirely smoothly...

I picked up a new jacket to replace my rather ageing (and rather unflattering) fleece - a high-tech, water-resistant effort from Mountain Hardware. (This one, but in all black.) Very nice, but it has one oddity: the zip fastener is on the right hand side of the zipper. Not only does this feel odd, but it means that I can't zip it into my waterproof outer jacket, which has extra inner zips for this purpose, but set up for a fleece with the zip fastener on the left. Oh well, I'll keep the old one after all.

The other hiccup came when I bought some jeans at Debenhams. £20 for two for their own brand in assorted colours, so I picked up one black and one blue pair. Now, I wasn't sure exactly what my current waist size was, as it's fair to say that a few kilos have crept back on and I might be closer to a 38" than a 36". (But at least I'm a long way short of the 42" I hit about two years ago.) So I tried to be Mr Logical, and picked up a black 36" pair and a blue 38", with the idea I'd try both and then swap the one that didn't fit. Well, the 36" was not a practical option but the 38" went on fine, so I picked up a black 38" to go with the blue pair and went off to pay for them. Having got home, I decided to try my new black jeans... oh dear, well I suppose that's motivation to lose weight again. Evidently the black inches are slightly smaller than the blue ones. Moral: if fit is important, try everything you're actually going to end up wearing before buying it.

Comments

[mkillingworth.livejournal.com]

It's because the Chinese factory people get in too big of a hurry. I found a nice pair of shoes last month. They came in three colours, silver, black, and bronze. The first size seven I found was the silver pair. They fit beautifully. Just to be on the safe side, before I took home a bronze pair, I tried them on. Way too tight. Tried the black ones next, just for comparison purposes. Also way too tight. When I mentioned this to the sales staff, they said that they knew about it, but there was nothing that they could do. They just had to sell what they were sent. In the end, I didn't buy any of them, but like you, I have resolved to try on everything that I plan to wear.

[bellinghman.livejournal.com]

Oh dearie me: Server Error in '/' Application.

You've slashdotted them. Or something.

[daveon.livejournal.com]

Trousers are a must try on thing for me and have been since I slid passed a 36" waist somewhere in 1993. The range is astounding. I have a tailored suit with a 43" waist, a load of comfortable jeans with 42" and a couple of uncomfortable but serviceable chinos at 40". Even weirder is the inside leg. I have 33" which are too short and 31" which drag on the ground. All very confusing.

My goal for 2008 though is to get back under the 40" barrier, a feat which requires about another 15kgs to add to the 10 I dropped in the second half of the year.

Shirts are less of a problem as long as I buy the extra long options. Otherwise the sleeves on a standard XL seem to end about 2" short.

[ewtikins.livejournal.com]

I have had identical pairs of black and blue jeans made to measure for me, from the same pattern, and the black ones were tighter.

I have no idea why this is, but it seems to apply to all black jeans I've ever owned.

[flick.livejournal.com]

You're sure it's not a women's jacket...?

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

True, it's not always obvious in outdoors shops, but this one does have 'Mens' written on the label. I know buttons traditionally go the other way on women's clothes, does this apply to zips too?

[flick.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Now you mention it, I'm not sure if zips are the other way around....

[janetmk.livejournal.com]

I'm in the U.S. I just checked 8 items of outerwear that I own (winter jacket, 2 rain jackets, 3 vests, and 2 fleece jackets). All except two had the zipper pull on the right. The two exceptions were women's clothing--the right-side zippers were all on men's or unisex jackets or vests.

Must be a transatlantic difference--and the right-side zipper is invading the UK.

[pennski.livejournal.com]

I sympathise. I always have to try on everything as my size varies between an 8 and a 14 depending on what it is and when I'm trying it on.

And then there's been the occasional item of clothing that just doesn't fit no matter what size I try. Part of this is having a long body and short legs, but yes, some things just don't seem to be made to fit anybody.

[purplejavatroll.livejournal.com]

With jeans, in my experience, the black jeans always fit smaller than the blue ones. Why this should be so is beyond me, but I've been caught this way more than once, to my annoyance. You'd think I'd learn.

pjt