I wanted to buy some sweat pants. To wear at home during the evening during the colder months. Rather than turn up the heat too high I was willing to wear something warmer.
I am a standard size, 32 W x 30 L (M). I wanted a simple medium weight gray or dark blue pair of sweatpants, with a draw string at waist, loose fit, and wanted to pay under $20. Simple, right? Wrong!
I drove to Walmart, with high expectations that I would find a suitable pair of sweat pants at a suitable price. In the Men's department I started my search. They had a lot of sweat pants, in all kinds of fabric and colors. After examining like 10 different types I did not find any I liked. They either were not a dark color, were too lightweight, had no adjustable draw string or were $30. Finally, I found a pair of Hanes sweat pants and they had everything I wanted, including a good price, $14.95. I found a medium size (M) and went to the fitting room to try them on, to make sure they were not too short or too long and the waist was not too large or too small. These days you cannot trust the clothing size, because of poor design and poor manufacturer. A medium can, in actuality, be a small or a large! Yes, this is true even if the size reads 32 W x 30 L. THAT'S why I have to try on pants. And jackets.
At the fitting room I saw that the area was empty. Good, no waiting. I approached one of the fitting rooms and saw that it was locked. OK, I needed to get an employee to open it for me. I saw an employee nearby and said, "I need to try these on. Are the fitting rooms open?" She said, "No, they're closed. They've been closed for 2 years, due to Covid." "WHAT?" I exclaimed, "Covid is over, all fitting rooms should be open for trying on clothes." The employee responded, "If you have a problem with the fitting rooms being closed talk to the manager."
Annoyed, I left the sweat pants on a shelf outside the fitting room and walked out of the store. If I can't try them on, I'm not buying a pair of pants. I do NOT want to blindly buy an article of clothing, even in a classic size, only to find it doesn't come close to fitting MY standard size and then have to go though all the hassle of returning the item, in person or by mail or shipping company.
Then, I went to Target. They had very poor selections and I did not find any that I wanted. All I wanted was a classic pair of gray sweat pants! For $20 or less.
I then stopped by a Big 5 Sporting Goods store. They had a lot of different kinds of sweat pants. Unfortunately, most of them were $30-$50. I did not find any that I liked, they either had a rough thick irritating side seam or no draw string at waist or something else. These sweat pants were designed mostly for jogging not sitting comfortably at a computer or watching TV indoors on a cool or cold night.
So, no sweat pants for me. I gave up and drove home. I decided that, indoors at night if I was cold I would put on a sweat shirt, or a jacket, of which I had several. For the bottom part of me if I was cold I would wear my jeans until bedtime. And, yes, I had socks, though I do not usually wear them.
So, there you have it. I was unable to buy a reasonably priced pair of sweat pants, and/or try them on to make sure they fit. Welcome to the new economy. It sucks! btw, the sweat pants shown in the picture at the top of the page are priced at $120. Plus shipping. And, no, you can't try them on before buying them.
And I don't want to buy clothes online and have to return them all the time because they don't fit or are of poor quality.
OK, that's a rant. Now, what's my solution?
Next time I'm in a clothing store that forbids try-ons maybe I'll take off my pants in the middle of the floor and try on the pair of pants I want to buy. Or do that with any other garment whose size and fit is in question. note: Certain articles of clothing can not be tried on before purchasing. Like underwear. And like with pants and shirts and all other garments today the listed size and fit of underwear sometimes is not close to the classic S, M, L. I have a 32-inch waist, and a leg length of 30 inches, And I want the clothing to be comfortable and have it fit properly. At a reasonable price.
It ain't happening. Welcome to the new economy.