Mens Fashion

Just A Little Reminder About Buying Clothing

This weekend, I had what could only be termed a traumatizing experience. I went shopping with my boyfriend. Doesn’t sound so bad, right? Here’s the thing: I think you should try clothes on before you buy them.

We were at Walmart because he needed to buy new jeans - his had a hole in them. And I quote, “I’ve only had these a few months. I don’t understand how they could already have a hole.”

A few comments: I know it seems like a waste of money to spend $50 on jeans, but it’s not. Those $50 jeans from Gap, or American Eagle or wherever you buy them should last longer than the $17.77 he spent on the jeans at Walmart. Think 2-3 years instead of 2-3 months. Here’s why:

1) Walmart does not sell good-quality clothing. They won’t resist a lot of wear and tear, and the more expensive (jeans) will. That’s why they’re more expensive. 2) If your Gap, American Eagle Jeans get a hole in them, chances are good that the store will either a) exchange them or b) give you your money back - even, sometimes, if you don’t have a receipt. Walmart won’t do it. I know, I used to work there. 3) The name brand jeans are backing up their name brand. The store is putting a promise on the product, and people expect them to deliver, and they want their customers to keep coming back. Walmart, suffice it to say, really doesn’t care.

Next up: Put the jeans on. It’ll take ten minutes, and you’ll know you like how they fit, and you won’t need to drive back out if they don’t fit. The other thing about fit, is there are a number of different types of fit: relaxed fit, a boot cut, etc, and the different cuts look better on different people. By trying them on, you can know what you look and feel better in. My boy refused. This was even more frustrating because he’d told me less than five minutes before that he didn’t know his size! Instead of trying them on, he got a bigger size, “This way, if I’m wrong, they’ll still fit.” Ahhh!

About color: every man should own a pair of dark jeans. Light jeans are fine, but dark jeans look really sharp. And they don’t cost any more than light jeans!