Yesterday I made my semi-annual pilgrimage to Talbots® for wardrobe updates. I’ve shopped at other stores over the years, but Talbots’® sizes fit me best. That is, if I can figure them out . . .
Time was when a size 8 was a size 8, and that was that. It was the same time when there was only regular and decaf coffee, and you added your own cream or sugar. There was only one color of sugar back then too.
But Starbuck’s® began this effort to make everyone an individual – or maybe it was Burger King® who wanted to do it “your” way – and the entire thing has gotten out of hand. I call it the coffee syndrome.
As it relates to Talbots®, it goes like this: Previously, the standard “departments” of petites, misses, and woman plus had the standard sizes– 8, 10, 12, etc. (Talbots doesn’t have a junior department, so we can forget about sizes 7, 9, and 11, etc.) And even thought a size 8 at Target or Macy’s isn’t necessarily the same as a size 8 at Talbots, I knew what to expect.
Maybe it has to do with female vanity, but a while back I noticed that the sizes began to have sub-categories: slim, curvy, ankle, crop. They also began to have odd names like Signature and Heritage. It took a while, but I finally found a size and style that fit me.
But yesterday I had to start from scratch again. The sizes were still there, but the various styles had become more complicated. Talbots now has the Chatham Ankle, the Daily Ankle, the Hampshire Ankle, the Perfect Crop, the Perfect Skimmer, the Newport Pant, and the Weekend Chino. I really was only interested in what fit, not its name; and I shall be eternally grateful to the three clerks who knew the store’s merchandise and could interpret my simple requests.
When I got home I looked all these styles up on the store’s website. And it made me even more positive that the coffee syndrome had come to the clothing industry. After all, I learned I’d ordered a perfect crop with a front zipper, size 8, with front slash and back welt pockets with slim legs that will make me look taller.
That’s as confusing as my Starbuck’s order of a tall, decaf, nonfat, extra hot latte with additional foam.
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