Oh, It's Not Your Fit…

I forgot I was going to talk about this and then Dave's post yesterday about him getting GQ reminded me of it (whomever is giving him that subscription, I'm here. HELLO....?). So here’s the thing: for New Year's I wore some pants that I had bought last November. They needed to be tailored, though, because they were too long for me. It's kind of the off-the-rack curse: anything mass-produced has to be long enough for everybody and wide enough for everybody. Right?

Wrong. 

When I went to wear the pants, the length was perfect. The tailor did an excellent job. The problem was the waist. It was supposed to be a 32, but it felt like it was a 30. I like to wear roomy pants when they are wide-leg because the line feels and looks better IMHO. It's also more comfy. It's New Year's. I'm going to eat like an animal and probably drink one Khalua or three. I need to have space to move.

I had not gained too much weight during the year (I usually fluctuate between two or three pounds throughout the year, but that is not really too noticeable, especially in the waist and having a few inches to spare) so I was surprised to feel the pants fit well, but they were not roomy. As in ‘yes, I’ll have that scone also’ roomy. 

I chalk it up to the way Zara sizes their clothes. Their pants usually fit me like a glove and that threw me off. Was I fat? I know I gain a pound or two over the holidays (all of Huntley's cookies are to partially blame, because yes) but I had not gained that much. I think I agree with the speaker in the video when he says that brands are totally obsessed with the skinny. I do not look like a Zara model. I'm your average height, average weight guy (but I'm biased, you'll have to ask Huntley or Mads). I used to be on the slim side (kind of) when I was twenty, but it's been a long while since then. 

I did not feel bad, mind you. I felt great and had a fab time at the New Year's party, but the fit of the pants stuck with me. There's a  subtle pressure in the industry to make you feel like you need to be closer to what the brand is than to what you can comfortably do. Their models are usually very tall (I'm around 5'8" in Doc Martens) and kinda average (I'm around 160 lbs now that I have eaten my way around two holidays) so the clothes are not going to fit me the way they fit the store mannequins or the models in their webpage.

I am also very much not an Instagram 'influencer', so I don't have to be a clotheshorse. But I AM a gay man who's used to his clothes fitting well and used to just picking my size and not even bother with trying them on at the store and that fit left me thinking. But fuck it. I guess next time I'll have to try the fit in the store. 

Sorry, Zara. If I have to go up one size or two to feel comfy, then I'll do it. Pity it's not Instagrammable.

XOXO