Jockey’s Size 44 to be exact.
We women have long known that there is no such thing as gender neutral pricing policies when it comes to things like dry cleaning and clothing prices. As much as I try to buy “classic” clothing, women’s fashion changes so often that I end up spending a small fortune on work clothes. It’s not like we can go buy a 6 pack of dockers and a handful of golf shirts and viola, we are ready to roll. There is no such thing as an out of style golf shirt.
On the other hand, the stupid ruffle shirts I bought this season (because nothing seemed to be made without ruffles this year) will probably be out of style before the year’s out. I bought a sleeveless white on that seemed okay in the store, but then when I tried wearing it with a suit coat, I walked up to my husband, closed one eye and went Argh… He laughed. Yes, I did look like a swashbuckling pirate and/or Seinfeld from the puffy shirt episode. I immediately took it off and never wore it again. I resisted buying clothes for a few years but my work clothes were getting shamefully worn and I got desperate. I really should have held out a little longer as a few of the items I bought were not what I’d call “classic” or things that I am particularly in love with.
Why Babci Wears Men’s Underwear
If you’ve been reading for a while, you know that Babci sews all of her own clothes. There are a few items that she does not sew. Sweaters, socks, underwear and some of her jackets have been purchased. When she had her knee surgeries, I went to a plus sized store and got her a few new pairs of underwear. She hated them because they were thin, cold and ripped after just a year or two while she was trying to get them over her self described barrel-like self. So, I decided she needed a few more pairs and she refused to get more of the same. Not only were the fancy plus sized underwear about 5x the price of men’s, but the fabric was too thin and synthetic for her liking. So, who am I to argue and we bought some jockeys for her and she couldn’t be happier.
I bet you think Kate Moss was the trendsetter when she wore those Calvin Klein briefs with Mark Wahlberg in those ads back in the 90’s. Well, I hate to say it, but Babci was doing it decades before. I tried getting her a pack of calvin kleins just for fun, but they didn’t fit as well as the jockeys. So sad.
I’m just as bad
So, while we were at the store I decided I needed a new tank to wear under my clothes. I’m always cold and I cannot believe how warm an extra tank top makes me feel…Oh, it feels so good. I grabbed a tank from the ladies department on the way over to men’s underwear. Wouldn’t you know, that a pack of 5 men’s tanks cost the same as one lady’s tank. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. I ditched the lady’s tank like a hot potato in favor of the cheaper man’s alternative.
In fact, back in college 20 years ago, before the days when I could readily find Long sizes for women, I lived in old faded men’s levis from the thrift store and white T-shirts. Trust me, they looked way better than a pair of women’s acid washed floods. I even went through a phase where I was wearing men’s tweed blazers from the thrift in lieu of jackets. It did look way cuter than it sounds, especially in the 90’s when girls used to wear ties for fun.
I used to laugh at Babci wearing men’s underpants and then I realized I do the same darn thing. I have men’s long underwear, ski pants, coats, boots, gaiters, you name it. Some of it has to do with fit, some has to do with what was on sale when I needed it, but generally speaking women get screwed on that stuff and I refuse to play the game.
So, here’s another example of how babci could care less about social convention and does things the ultra frugal way. Now she has 9 pairs of warm and comfy underwear for less than the price of the lady’s plus size counterparts. Heck, even Cameron Diaz wore boys underoos in Charlie’s Angels. This just goes back to Babci’s birthday quote. “If you’re thin and good looking, you can wear rags and still turn heads.”
So what do you think? Is this too extreme or do you think some people can pull it off and still look good?
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