I love jeans that have been worn in, that are soft and comfortable, that mold to my hips but are boot cut so that my calves and ankles are unhindered by the fabric. I love the faded blue denim that only comes from washing it a hundred times.
Because of that, I have a really hard time buying brand new jeans from a retail store. The jeans, no matter how well they seem to fit in the dressing room, are always stiff. The colors, no matter how distressed or washed they are supposed to be, are always too bold and brash.
Instead of buying them from retail stores, when I have the time and energy (and need, of course) I go browse at a thrift store or Goodwill. My size isn’t real common to find there so it takes some time to sort through everything to find my size -I suspect everyone my size does what I do: wear the things that fit until they are too worn to be worth giving away! When I do find something, though, it’s like finding a buried treasure!
I recently wandered into a Goodwill store to find some jeans for my son. I did find a pair for him, which he loves. While I was there, though, I couldn’t resist browsing for myself. I was pleased to find several pairs of jeans to try on. I found the same brand and style in two sizes, but the sizes were one above and one below my normal size. The bigger ones were way too big. The smaller were a mite snug. I hadn’t had any luck finding a pair that were my perfect size. Still, I opted to get the smaller size jeans since they weren’t too tight and the price was right.
In retrospect, I got the perfect size. I’ve had them on all day and they fit just right. They aren’t too tight, they aren’t sliding off my hips. They fit where they are supposed to and I feel good wearing them. How great is it that they cost less than a quarter of what I would pay for them retail, and they were a size smaller than I’m used to buying!?
