Hour Long Jeans

My body is not in transition from a higher to a lower weight, sadly, or a lower to a higher weight, thankfully. At the same time it was time to buy some new jeans. My favorite blue pair fit in the waist more or less but with a 30" inseam they were most certainly high waters that I could no longer justify wearing. Plus, they'd finally worn a hole in the crotch rendering them no longer fashionably faded.

For the sake of cost if not exactly the perfect fit I had been buying my jeans at Wal-Mart for the longest time. I mean, yea it shows in the cut but who can pass up $20 jeans? Knowing that I would potentially double my paying price - but definitely no more than that - I headed for Cavender's Boot City, one of the popular western wear chains in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Who knew that I would be there for a solid hour picking out exactly the right pair!

I haven't worn "Slim Fit" in I can't remember when so I knew automatically to cut my losses there. Part of what took so long was the myriad colors and shades of jeans available; no more just basic black and deep or faded blue, there was chocolate brown, tan, gray, camouflage and acid washed. Add on to that whether or not one could pull off high waist, zipper or button fly, Wrangler, Levi or Lee.

I knew I wanted a pair of deep blue jeans. They fade after a few washes but never end up the "sky blue" color after years of wear. I knew what general size I needed but wasn't in a big hurry to be anywhere that evening so decided simply to invest the time to find the best possible pair I could find. Being in Texas I also bowed to conformity in choosing Wranglers, the more popular brand for real and urban cowboys.

The counter staff were solicitous and helpful in seeing my obvious dilemma - finding a pair of jeans that fit but wouldn't also broadcast the full volume of my girth. The first go-round I went in to the changing room with three pair of jeans, the "I Wish" size, the "Most Likely" size and the "God I Hope Not" size. Thankfully, the most likely was closest to the mark, remembering that fresh jeans are snug through the waist and thigh until they relax enough to hold you the way you want. Still, the counter help suggested I try a new line called "Stretch."

This style of stretch was not like the "Slim Fit" in being intended only for the most reedy of ranglers. These were designed to stretch more than the regular fit product while still attempting to hang naturally from the frame. Uh..not. Like the half moons between button-holes in a shirt too tight for reason I knew better than to even try those things. Wanting a sale, the sales guy went back to the drawing board and said to at least compare between the regular and relaxed fits. Fine.

Regular Wranglers did the trick. Four solid trips to the dressing room and at least ten pair later I found the one that did the trick for under the budget set. My look was improved and my wallet was saved. Trying to be a courteous shopper I even folded and reshelved the pairs that didn't make the cut before picking out a couple of interesting shirts to finish the day.

I'm still my mother's son but I'm definitely not her little baby anymore. An hour...just for some jeans.

Gotta go.