![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
adrian_turtleI went shopping yesterday. It was supposed to be the boring kind of clothes-shopping that replaces clothes that are almost worn out and don't exactly fit with clothes that fit well and are new, but are otherwise the same clothes. I went to the LL Bean store in Burlington to try on jeans, before ordering online. This wasn't as silly as it looks. They don't have black jeans in the store, and I didn't know what size I wanted, now that they've rearranged their sizing to have "natural fit," and "classic fit" and "adirondack cut" and "straight leg" and "relaxed fit" and a bunch of other options in every size.
While I was going back and forth through the women's department trying on various blue jeans, I saw a bunch of the shirts they were selling. I often thought "Oh, that's pretty," and looked more closely. Occasionally, I even tried it on, but I was consistently disappointed. Seams were uneven and puckered. Cloth was fraying already. I was looking at lightweight summer shirts, so I don't expect great durability...but if it's going to look badly worn before I get it home, I'm not going to buy it. I don't look to LL Bean for exciting up-to-the-minute fashion, but I do look to them for a certain steady durability.
I found it in the men's department. Their summer shirts were made of consistently soft material, and were stitched well, with no fraying or loose buttons. I bought a very well-made men's shirt on clearance. I don't know if the pink color contributed to it being left for the clearance rack.
I also noticed a difference between men's and women's departments for selling hats. I was looking for a single hat I could wear to protect from rain and sun. On the women's side, the sun hats were light colors, with brims all around, often boasting of SPF and bug protection. Some of them had vents, and linings to comfortably wick perspiration from one's brow. None of them were anything like waterproof. Rain hats came in dark colors, with brims only in front. They were sticky-feeling plastic, with no wicking lining, not even terrycloth. I contemplated the wildly inadequate plain cotton cap I had been wearing, and wondered if EMS might have something better.
Then I went across the aisle to the men's department. They have hats for sun and rain! I found one made of gore-tex, with a wicking liner. It fits, and it even adjusts a little (so it fits my head whether or not I have my hair up.) The brim goes all the way around, but it folds up. I'm very pleased with it. I would never have found it if I had stayed in the fashionable swimsuit and millinery department near the door.
While I was going back and forth through the women's department trying on various blue jeans, I saw a bunch of the shirts they were selling. I often thought "Oh, that's pretty," and looked more closely. Occasionally, I even tried it on, but I was consistently disappointed. Seams were uneven and puckered. Cloth was fraying already. I was looking at lightweight summer shirts, so I don't expect great durability...but if it's going to look badly worn before I get it home, I'm not going to buy it. I don't look to LL Bean for exciting up-to-the-minute fashion, but I do look to them for a certain steady durability.
I found it in the men's department. Their summer shirts were made of consistently soft material, and were stitched well, with no fraying or loose buttons. I bought a very well-made men's shirt on clearance. I don't know if the pink color contributed to it being left for the clearance rack.
I also noticed a difference between men's and women's departments for selling hats. I was looking for a single hat I could wear to protect from rain and sun. On the women's side, the sun hats were light colors, with brims all around, often boasting of SPF and bug protection. Some of them had vents, and linings to comfortably wick perspiration from one's brow. None of them were anything like waterproof. Rain hats came in dark colors, with brims only in front. They were sticky-feeling plastic, with no wicking lining, not even terrycloth. I contemplated the wildly inadequate plain cotton cap I had been wearing, and wondered if EMS might have something better.
Then I went across the aisle to the men's department. They have hats for sun and rain! I found one made of gore-tex, with a wicking liner. It fits, and it even adjusts a little (so it fits my head whether or not I have my hair up.) The brim goes all the way around, but it folds up. I'm very pleased with it. I would never have found it if I had stayed in the fashionable swimsuit and millinery department near the door.
