Supersize Me

Today, I bought a down vest. A while back, I had bought a tight-fitting stretchy denim jacket (CK, in case you were interested) which was the perfect excuse to complement it with a quilted vest. Yes, that's exactly how a shopaholic's mind works. Anyway, I had had my eye on Blaumax's range for a while, but wanted to wait for the sale. Yesterday, I went into a branch and saw that they were 50% - bingo! As the shop assistant was talking to another customer, I helped myself to the pile and dug out one in my usual size "S".

Now everyone who knows me in person knows that I am no size 0 waif and I certainly don't have delusions to this effect. It's just that 95% of the time, my size for tops is "small" (the only problem being short-sleeved blouses as I really have sumo wrestler's upper arms, but that's another story). Even in Japan size "M" fit me just fine.

Not so with that vest. When I had it on, there was a 10 cm gap (I'm not exaggerating here) between the two zippered halves. Okaaaay. The shop assistant saw my frown and said "Yeah, these are a really small cut. I think you'll need the XL". As in: extra large. As in: the largest size they came in. As - not surprisingly - they were completely out of Ls and XLs, she rang another branch nearby which actually had "the last blue XL in the whole of Austria". Once there, I also tried on the "L" and for the record, I could have worn it without bursting the seams or being charged for indecent behaviour, but then decided to go for the larger size which fits me just fine. Oh, and no, I did not put on weight (surprisingly enough) after all that food over Christmas and therefore have "upgraded" 4 dress-sizes in the course of 2 weeks.

Was there a mix-up at the Chinese factory? Who knows... But should Paris Hilton or Nichole Richie be in desperate need of quilted vests for € 49, I have a hot tip for them: sizes "S" and "M" are still available in all colours...