Continued from the previous post

It’s not that I don’t want to look nice while I’m plopped in front of my computer writing all day. I have a hard time finding comfortable clothes that fit me well. For the last six months, I’ve been attempting to upgrade my sweatsuit wardrobe. I’ve tried on at least 100 pairs of sweats – every style of Nike, Adidas, Puma, Oleg Cassini and every other brand you can think of.

Who are they designing these outfits for, anyway? I’m a fairly normal-sized person – 5’ 6” with a slender frame for a person of my advanced age. My normal clothing size hovers between an 8 and 10, depending on how many mochas I drank that week.

The tops fit fine, but the pants – that’s another story. They’re either too high-waisted or too low-waisted. If they fit in the waist, they either sag in the rear or they’re so form-fitting that I wouldn’t be caught dead in them. If they fit in both the waist and the rear, they’re either way too short or they drag 4 inches on the ground (not conducive to exercising, unless you enjoy tripping).

Saturday I went to the mall with my American Express card in hand, determined to find and buy a sweatsuit, no matter what the price. Since I was in Bellevue (the ritziest city in Washington state), my first stop was naturally a designer athletic wear shop. There, I found a Nike sweatsuit that actually fit.

I rejoiced, singing the Hallelujah Chorus as I high-fived myself in the dressing room mirror. There was just one slight problem: they were soccer sweats (the kind with the tight legs from the knee down) and they cost a fortune. But I could live with them. I put them on hold and checked out the competition.

I ended up at Penneys, where I tried on about 30 sweatsuits in every color, every style, and every size imaginable (The Bellevue Square Penneys has a BIG sweatsuit department, I discovered). Finally, I hit the jackpot: I found a Nike sweatsuit that fit perfectly. AND an extra pair of no-name brand pants that matched the Nike jackets.

The two-piece suits were $75, marked down to $55, plus I had those “spend $50, get $10 off” coupons). So I splurged and bought two sweatsuits in two different colors. After all, they are for “work.” Or workouts. Or whatever (I asked my hubby if I could write them off as a business expense but he said that’d be stretching it).

Now, when I attend conferences and change out of my “business” suits into my comfy sweat suits in the evenings, people who see me will say, “Ooh, you look so nice, even when you’re wearing sweats! Will you be my fashion consultant?”

Feeling like Mrs. America in my impeccable pink sweatsuit, I’ll smile and nod to my admirers and respond, “Oh, these old things? I just picked them up one day when I popped out to the mall.”