So here's a slice of my life from today. Not a monumental one, but I'll try to build up to something more meaningful.
Just two inches taller. That's all I ask. Five foot six inches instead of five foot four.
Tonight I tried to hem a pair of jeans I bought last weekend in Toronto. I say "tried" because I actually did not accomplish my sartorial goal for the evening. In my haste to complete the task, I ended up
sewing the cuff on the outside of the jeans instead of the inside. So
now, to add seam-ripping to sewing, I need to redo the whole thing.
Serves me right.
Despite my relative handiness with a treadle and thread, I resent the fact that I have to hem my jeans. I am just the wrong height. 5'4" means that I am right on the cusp of the "petite" sizes but definitely (as the DKNY pair I bought at 75% off last weekend proves) not a "regular." One of the reasons I even bought the jeans, in fact, was that the pair I had brought on the trip (my husband and I had a wonderful long weekend vacation in Canada for my 40th birthday) were a "petite" size and, therefore, too short. I found myself hyper-conscious of the fact that the tops of my shoes were visible as I walked and irrationally envied slightly taller women I saw whose jeans I thought were just the right length.
So I snatched the DKNY pair off the rack, paid for them, and actually went so far as to change in the mall bathroom. Here I was, a woman on the cusp of her fourth decade, acting like some kind of neurotic teenager. As I balanced myself precariously in the thankfully private Canadian stall, I wondered to myself what it might say about me that I was being so vain.
In retrospect, I don't regret the purchase. Even with the ridiculous Canadian sales tax, the jeans were only $22. A steal. Although I did end up traipsing through the cold, wet sidewalks of Toronto with the cuff of my jeans lapping over the heel of my shoe, once I get them to the right length they might just become that elusive pair of perfect jeans that everyone else besides me seems to have.
Since I haven't grown an inch since 6th grade, I doubt I'm likely to start shooting up any time soon. So I guess I'll just have to keep my sewing machine in working order and hope for the best.
