the store for big-assed women

[ironymaiden]

a former housemate told a story about trying (as a caucasian) to buy underwear when she lived in Japan. in spite of being petite by US standards, in three years there was only one store she found that sold underpants that fit. she called it the store for big-assed women.

this is a preface to saying that i ordered a pair of pants from an ad on Instagram. i know, i know, but at the time Dad was on day 5 of his four day stay in the hospital with no end in sight and they claimed to be made of softshell material for all of my durable waterproof dog walking and hiking and soccer-watching needs and would make me happy, dammit. as time passed and i came home but the package still hadn't arrived, i thought they might be a scam - but it turns out that they were shipped by regular mail from Shanghai, which took 22 days.

i tore open the mailer, and there was a sticker on the inner package: 4XL. that's at least 3X more than i would expect. noooooooo, they came, but they're the wrong size!

actually, they fit fine. maybe a little tight in the hips but after weeks of eating my feelings and not walking enough that's no surprise, and they're even long enough in the legs and the crotch. they seem to be well-made; they arrived too late to go to the rainy soccer game but there will certainly be other opportunities. they really are 4XL according to the tag.

apparently i am a giantess in Shanghai.

Comments

[flexagon]

Asian stores and super-compressive activewear both play similar tricks. I'm a Large in leggings from nuxactive.com, and I'm... not large...

[annofowlshire]

Oh yes, I've had this problem when ordering from Asian retailers.

On the other hand, when I was in Tokyo, I was delighted that I could find clothing that wasn't tailored for people 5-8 inches taller than me, even thought I was otherwise considered size huge XD (And recently, when G was looking at ordering something from a Hong Kong retailer, I had to strongly caution him to check the measurements on everything, because they probably weren't made for 6 foot caucasian men, even lean ones.)

[ivy]

I have also found this. In Vietnam, almost nowhere had anything that would come remotely close to fitting me. In China, I overflowed the subway seats when I sat in them and regularly whacked my head on ceilings. Everything is just designed for much smaller people than I am.

[mummimamma]

He, I've heard about others who've ordered clothes from Asia, and had the same experience. I don't dare to think how many x-es I would end up with.

On the other hand, I have a Japanese student who delights in the choice in what she calls "large size shoes" here in Norway. She is a size 39, which I have gathered must be on the large side there, here it's the average (I'm a 41).