Clothes and shoes

I hate clothes. I hate buying clothes, I hate trying clothes.  I hate clothes!  Don't get me wrong here - I'm not saying I like to be naked either!

I especially hate pants.  I hate dress pants, I hate jeans, I hate capris.  I really hate pants.  And shorts - shorts do not exist.

The only thing I hate more than shorts are dresses and skirts.  With dresses and skirts come pantyhose.  Pantyhose were created by Satan himself.  They had to be created by a man - I mean really...what woman would make a device of torture for herself such as pantyhose?

My job is business casual dress.  Everyday.  Ironing pants.  I can never find dress pants or like a chino that fit right.  Too tight.  Too short.  Too shiney.  Too droopy.  Too bell-bottomed.  Too dressy.  Too casual.  No belt loops.  Too many pockets.  No pockets.  Or the ever dreaded - stretch!  The only thing I hate more than pants is pants made from stretch.  They don't stretch!  They cling!  They cling to every place that I want to HIDE!

I have braved away from "Mom Jeans".  The high-waisted, tapered leg, pleated, stonewashed jeans of the past.  I am now low rise (and it's a struggle to keep the undies covered here), straight leg, boyfriend cut, and dark washed.  I'm proud of myself for making the leap.  Yet, I couldn't get away from the stretch, so I am learning to live with it.

I don't have much trouble with shirts.  Typically, long sleeve blouses don't come home with me.  The arms are never long enough.  Sweaters don't give me issues.  Knits are typically okay but, then again, I do tend to gravitate to the men's department where the cut seems to work better for me. 

I'm also struggling with clothing for Jacob.  I used to find a sale and stock up on the next size for him.  My strategy is beginning to backfire.  Did I tell you that I had to buy 3 snowsuits this winter?  4T, 5T and ended up in a Boy's 4/5.  I cleaned out his closet yesterday afternoon and have many more things for the yard sale/consignment/popular on-line auction site pile.  Did I mention that many of these items do have the tags still on them?  He's a big boy - then again, his brother is/was too.  It's all in the genetics, I guess.

We also cleared out Jeremy's closet in the past couple of weeks.  I had to replace the shirts he had with a TALL.  I was tired of watching him reach for something and seeing his belly or his back.  He'd always tried to compensate for the tall by buying bigger.  As we know, most times, bigger is just bigger.

And shoes - I am a sucker for a pair of Nike's anyday.  I bought a pair last month when I was in Manistee.  I found a pair on Friday that I am now in love with and I HAVE to HAVE them.  This makes no sense.  I said earlier that my job is business casual - that doesn't include tennis shoes.  Though I have found that in cooking, cleaning, etc. around my house, I do need to wear shoes with good support or my back will hurt for a week.    I simply cannot justify purchasing another pair of tennis shoes.  (but, I really want them!)

Jacob has the littlest feet.  I swear his feet never grow.  He's still in a toddler 9.  Now the sad thing is, it's February.  And I have to think about buying his sandals for summer.  Now.  I have to think about sandals, while shoveling the snow in my driveway, in February.  If I don't buy sandals for him soon, I won't be able to find anything cute come spring.  I can't get his clothes right - how am I supposed to by sandals that he won't wear for 5 months from now.

Jeremy is the typical man.  1 pair of black shoes, 1 in brown.  1 pair for his suit.  1 for mowing the lawn.  1 pair white tennys, 1 pair of boots, and 1 pair of slippers.  And he'll keep these until either I throw them out or decide that they might as well be white patent leather with a giant buckle for they're so old - or they smell so bad I can't be in the same room with his shoes.

...to be so simple.