Thursday, May 14, 2009

The Day I have been Dreading

It's happened. I knew it was inevitable since the first week we moved here. Even though it has been eight months in the making, I am not ready for it. I tried to avoid it by smart planning back in the US. But, alas, the time has come.

The three pairs of blue jeans I brought from the states have officially been retired from service. The first pair died our first week here; lost luggage and one pair of jeans for a week resulted in an orange size hole under the front pockets. My second pair fell victim to the commercial dryers; they are two inches shorter than before. The last pair gave up last week due to too many bikes rides and constant wear; they are threadbare in too many places down the seam.


I know they have jeans over here, but they just aren't my favorite Long and Lean jeans from the Gap. I'm the kinda jeans wearer that has one favorite fit/style and buys multiple pairs in different washes. I remember the day I walked into Express and learned they had changed their jean styles and no longer made my favorite jeans. A little part of me died and I have not been much of an Express shopper since then. It took me weeks of trying on every pair of jeans in every store in the mall to settle on my new favorite style: Gap Long and Lean.

I know they have nice, possibly even nicer, jeans over here, but I hate having to shop for jeans in waist sizes. Just 'cause we have the same waist size doesn't mean we have the same hip or leg size. I also can't figure out if your size changes based on the rise of jeans. Shopping for jeans over here leaves me frustrated and empty-handed.

I know they even have Gaps over here, but have you seen the cost of jeans at a European Gap? Just in case you haven't, they run about € 90. With the current exchange rate, that is about $122! Maybe if I didn't know how much they cost at home I could buy them, but at a 100% mark-up I just can't walk out of the store with them.

I guess I can always turn my favorite jeans into jean shorts and join in the fashion trend...That should get me through July, right?

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Hear ya chic... I have been here for almost 4 years & have bought ONE pair of jeans here...(I wait until I get home...) Can't you order them on line & have someone send them over to you? (thats what i do... I also get 5 pairs of the same jeans...) Good luck...

Matt said...

I died a little inside the day Express took over Structure.