I have a couple sets of North Face Paramount Peak convertible shorts that I bought many moons ago that will be going into the donation bin in the near future. These served me well over the years, but they’re cargo shorts which are long out of style in 2019 and ever since I purchased my most recent travel shorts (which are just as comfortable and dry a lot faster), I don’t really wear the older ones anymore.
One of these older shorts is a dark grey color which matches well with several of my travel tops, so on a recent lunch break I took a trip to our local outdoor store and looked around to see what was available in a similar color in the quick-dry shorts category.
I found a pair called the Prana Brion Short in a 9 inch inseam that looked perfect. Good, simple design without too many pockets, material thickness that felt sturdy but thin enough to dry overnight, and a versatile color. The problem was that the smallest size available – a 30 waist – was too big. This particular store can’t even order anything smaller than that for me. I checked Prana’s website and they do have a size 28, yet inexplicably there’s no size 29 which is what I think would best fit my frame.
So I left the store without purchasing anything. I don’t have an urgent need for new travel shorts, so I’ll be sticking with my Patagonia Wavefarer Walk Shorts for now.
This is a very common problem I come across whenever I go shopping for clothes; especially quick drying travel clothing which is not all that easy to find to begin with. Most of these companies do not make clothes designed for short, relatively skinny people like me, so it’s a constant challenge to find something that fits me well.
I could always go on Prana’s website and order a size 28 shorts, but who knows how well they will fit, and I’m sure I’d have to at least pay return shipping if I had to send them back. No thanks. I learned years ago that buying clothes online for the first time is always a gamble, and for me it’s a gamble that usually doesn’t work out.
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