In a lifetime of bargain hunting, this was my biggest score: Elizabeth G breeches (my faves and no longer made!) at a resale shop, winter-weight fabric and real leather seat in great condition, for $10!!! OMG! There was no size marked, but Elizabeth G’s were usually customs and didn’t have a size label, so I slipped them on quickly to check the dreaded waist area. They felt great. I flung my $10 at the counter person and fled since I was late for a lesson.
How could this be!? Maybe because it was March in Wellie World, and who would ever want winter-weight breeches in Florida? How did they end up there in the first place? I didn’t care that I wouldn’t be able to wear them for nearly a year. I just grabbed them and ran.
This week, when our remarkable Christmas gift from Mother Nature of 70-degree days gave way to more normal temps for the Carolina foothills, I dove into the back of my closet and brought those wonderful breeches up to the surface. I pulled them on, noticing for the first time that the legs were really long. Huh? Well, that could be fixed, and in the meantime I could bunch them under my socks and half chaps.
Within 10 minutes after arriving at the barn I realized I had a problem. The rise on the breeches was too short (never a problem with Elizabeth G’s, one reason I love them so much) and I had to keep pulling them up. Then it struck me: They were men’s breeches, made for a reaaalllllyy TALL man! I now understood why men need suspenders or at least a good belt. They looked okay, but off the horse I had to keep lifting them by the waist. It was really an issue when I stopped by the supermarket on the way home and ducked into the ladies room in the back by the meat section a couple times to maintain my modesty.
I am now in mourning for my “great” bargain – it’s sort of like buyer’s remorse, except the purchase was only $10 and there’s no way they can go back after nine months. It’s nothing like buyer’s remorse after buying a gorgeous 3-year-old instead of a steady Eddie plain 10-year-old. But, I expected to wear those breeches for a lifetime of winters, and I’m still a bit sad.
Anyway, there’s a resale shop near me, so the breeches can find a new home, and I’m back to wearing silk ski long underwear under my summer-weight breeches.
