Adventures in men's clothing

A number of years ago, I was at the beach on vacation and stopped by a beachwear store. A pair of men's swim trunks apparently caught my eye and I ended up getting them. They sat unworn until this summer, when I wanted to go swimming but didn't have any of my regular women's swimsuit bottoms conveniently on hand and hadn't been able to find any acceptable ones in stores. Then I remembered I had swim trunks, and I figured those would work just fine for the time being. I wore them and I liked it.

The one thing that baffles me is that swim trunks have functional pockets, which doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Swim trunks are intended to be worn for swimming, in the water. Whatever stuff you might have in your pockets, aside from keys and loose change, would probably get ruined by the water. Not to mention the stuff might fall out while swimming or otherwise moving around in the water. And women's pants for everyday, out-of-water wear don't even have pockets that functional. It boggles the mind.

This particular initial pair in question is a bright scarlet, with little geometric/abstract sailboats in yellow and white. I think they're acceptable to be worn as casual, non-swimming shorts. After the initial foray into swim trunks, I decided that I needed more. I happened to come across a nice pair at Target that has a relatively feminine print -- bright pink and white tropical floral. Also perfectly suitable for everyday wear, which I've made use of a number of times since I got them. I've particularly made use of the pockets. And people can't even tell that they're swim trunks unless I inform them.

Over the last few months, I've determined my taste in jeans and have gotten it down to a pretty specific concept. Not high rise (mid or low is fine). Ideally, cropped (which turns out to be regular length on me). Sturdy, substantial-feeling fabric, not too stretchy. Absolutely not too tight in the calves because I don't want my legs to look bulgy, which I absolutely hate. However, not too loose and sack-like because I don't want to look like a sack either.

Those criteria in mind, the slim/skinny boyfriend crop style tends to be about the closest I've found as far as a general favorite/ideal cut/style goes. Of course, this being women's clothing we're talking about, it's not that simple. Not every brand will carry that particular style every season. Even if they do, maybe they don't offer any colors/washes that I like, or maybe I just don't like their particular iteration of or take on that style. Maybe the fabric doesn't have a consistency I like.

On top of that, women's sizing is inconsistent, to say the least, which means I won't make purchases online. Not to mention how picky I am about fabric consistency, which can't be conveyed well without physically touching/stretching the jeans in question. Sizing isn't too much of a nightmare in person; I have an idea of which size to generally start with, and from there I'll just look at the jeans and visually assess how they run, whether that's for the brand at large or a particular style (boyfriend jeans tend to be cut large, so I would probably size down) and adjust accordingly.

The specific motivations and backstory as to how I ended up buying some men's jeans can be glossed over for now, but yours truly is now the proud owner of some black Levis 511s, size 29/30. I found them in a thrift store, believe it or not. Thanks to whoever donated them; I'm eternally grateful. They appear to be in pristine condition save for slight wear on one side of the button, which I actually find sort of interesting as a trace of the previous owner. 

Although they're a bit long (at least 90% of pants are, so I'm used to it) and I have to roll them, they otherwise fit wonderfully. Sturdy fabric! Not too stretchy! Not too tight in the calves so my legs don't look bulgy! FUNCTIONAL FRONT POCKETS! (my entire phone fits, or a stick of men's deodorant, which is larger than women's, and I'm sure many other things I haven't even thought to carry in pockets would fit too)

The back pocket placement perhaps leaves a little to be desired, but I've had women's jeans with pockets I believe to be more unflattering. Owing to the sturdier fabric, I think these jeans are actually warmer than the other pairs of women's jeans I have. These also don't have any premade holes in them. I'm not opposed to holes in principle, but sometimes you just want your jeans to look a little nicer.

Seeing how pleased I am with these actual men's jeans, I figure I might as well just eschew women's "boyfriend style" jeans altogether and just go for the real thing, men's jeans. Style-wise, the effect is pretty much the same and you get real pockets on actual men's jeans. Plus, shopping for Levis, 511, 29/30 is a lot simpler than trying to find a certain style across various brands/stores which may or may not be carrying it at any given moment.

All this in mind, there are certainly women out there with body types that would probably not work so well in men's clothing. I apparently have a manly figure so I'm able to make this work for me. After realizing that the men's jeans fit particularly nicely, I decided to look at some size charts. Turns out my waist/hip measurements align more closely with the men's size charts than the women's size charts (for women's sizing, they expect someone my waist size to have larger hips, which I don't). 

I do somewhat wonder if wearing these kinds of things makes other people think I'm a lesbian when they see me, but it's not like being a lesbian is a bad thing, and the pockets are too good to really care too much.