Find Out If Clothes Fit Without A Dressing Room

I live for Garage Sales and Thrift Stores. When I find a piece of clothing I like, I want to be fairly sure it will fit me BEFORE I go to the trouble of standing in line for the dressing room! (and sometimes there is NO dressing room!) I learned this very useful trick from a friend back in the 1980's and I still use it: Our necks are about half the size of our waists, so we can use our necks to measure if something will fit our waists.

What you do is: take the skirt or pants your are interested in buying and lay them so they are flat (the front touching the back) then pick up each side of the waistband with your pincher fingers and hold each side of the waistband up to your neck and pull the 2 sides together to see if they will touch each other BEHIND your neck. If the pants, or skirt's waistband won't touch, or feels a bit "tight" on your neck, then the pants will be too tight to fit your waist. If the waistband feels "loose" on your neck (when you hold the 2 sides together) then the waistband will be loose on your waist. By the same token, if the waistband feels "just right"; on your neck, the garment will most likely fit "just right" on your waist.

This only works for those of us who wear our skirts and pants on or close to our waists. It won't work for teen-agers and those who wear their pants super-low on their hips (like "low-rider jeans"). But this technique does work for 501 Levis, which ride just a bit below the waist. It works for both men and women!

I use this technique every time I shop and have for the last 25 years! It really works! PLUS, it saves all kinds of time! Try it and you'll be a believer too!

By Cyinda from Seattle