Pants

Pants from the Mall of America:

The USF Concert Choir took a trip to Minnesota and Wisconsin for a weekend tour. To keep all 40 of us occupied for six hours on Saturday, our director and bus driver left us at the Mall Of America.

Yuck.

At first I thought, "Oh, this is nice. I need some new pants and there are dozens of stores here. Surely I will find something I like which is also affordable." My judgement of the mall was correct. My assumption that I would find something in it was incorrect. I walked, and walked, and walked around the world's largest mall for several hours, confused and undecided where to risk entering: Gap, Banana Republic, Aeropastale, American Eagle, Eddie Bauer, Sears, Macy's, . . . Basically, I started with my friend Lauren's advice: "Look for sales."

A few stores had sales going on. I looked in my favorite store, Gap, but my size is too common to remain on a sale rack for long. Besides, the style I like probably never goes on sale. Never mind! I'll look for something else. I found some nice styles in Banana Republic, but nothing on sale enough. I settled for a pair of long cargo shorts from the last store and left. I tentatively walked through aisles of jeans in countless unnameable stores. Usually, I did not stay long, because it was overwhelming and simply annoying. I wish I could walk into a store and see my jeans, on a model MY SIZE waiting for me on a pedestal. Shopping would be fun then. I wouldn't be so easily distracted by other "great deals" and advertisements plastering my brain. My feet were tired, and my head was light, and I had no jeans. So I found a comfy chair at Caribou Coffee and read the rest of the afternoon.

Pants from SierraTradingPost.com:

Since my Mall of America experience did not provide what I need most right now; pants! I took a couple hours this afternoon to do a little online shopping. There is a wonderful company based out of Wyoming that sells name brands at discounts. I've been purchasing stuff there since I started buying my own clothes as a teenager. Sierra Trading Post sells mostly outdoor clothing and recreational equipment, but has casual clothing as well. Certainly none of the clothing is my favorite style from Gap, but I can sometimes find something nice.

I went to http://www.sierratradingpost.com/ and began searching the women's pants category. Most of the cuts are not my style, and some are much too pricey, but I did prefer this mode of shopping. Whatever looked slightly promising, I put into my shopping cart to sort through later. When I had exhausted the list, I started deleting items. (At one point my purchase was going to be around $285.) I was looking at one pair of pants at a time. Ah, how nice!

Wish I could try them on, of course. Then again, I am so self-critical in store dressing rooms, fitting is no fun either. I think I would rather order a pair of promising pants, quietly try them on in the privacy of my room, then be forced to get used to them or, if they are super hideous, quietly return them for a full refund.

This afternoon I ordered a pair of Columbia Sportswear Chino Pants--Natural color--size 10--regular inseam. The pants cost $19.95, will take 4 to 6 business days to arrive, and I REALLY hope they fit nicely because I am REALLY desperate for new pants.

I know I am silly for not going to the Empire Mall or other stores here at home, but I really don't want to. Not after the Mall of America. I would probably just get mad. I can shop for shirts, underwear, and socks in normal stores, but not pants. By the way, online shopping is also very distracting. I ordered a pair of Raichle Matrix LS Trail Shoes and a Moving Comfort Sports Bra - T-Back Racer along with my pants. I REALLY needed those too. . .