Sunday, August 30, 2009

The Lowdown on Skivvies

Since this blog is about becoming an American African, and since I'm running out of material, I thought it's time to broach a delicate subject: underwear shopping.

You might think that underwear is the same the world over, but I can tell you from experience that this is emphatically not true. For instance, my 7-year-old son needs new underwear. I went to the shops expecting to find underwear plastered with Harry Potter scenes, Ben 10 or whatever else young boys are into, but no. There are no characters to be found on boys underwear here. In fact, there is no boys underwear of any kind to be found here. What is called boys underwear looks like a Speedo.

Girls underwear, on the other hand, does not come in solid colours. Each pair is carefully plastered with pictures of Hannah Montana, fairies, or cute little monkeys. And no matter what the label says, the underwear goes halfway up to your armpits. Even the ones labeled "bikini".

You might be keen to admonish me at this point, "When in Rome, do as the Romans," but I don't think even the women in Rome wear underwear that covers their rib cage. And did I tell you I'm allergic to Speedos?

So now I'm faced with a real dilemma: do I go against ever fibre in my being and by my son speedo underwear, or do I hope his Buzz Lightyear underwear lasts another five years?

5 comments:

ROSIE said...

Do you need a shipment of undies from the States? :) I'd be happy to oblige!

Anna said...

PLEEAAASSSEEEEE! But only if it's not too much trouble or too expensive. Ben wears a size 8 in trousers, but he's super skinny, so I'm thinking maybe a size 5 or 6? I don't know.

ROSIE said...

(By the way, are you receiving emails from me ok?)

I'd be delighted to help! Undies tend to run small, both in boys and girls, by my experience. Size 8 will probably be fine. Do the girls need some too? :) I'll be happy to help!

ROSIE said...

PS, just email me their sizes so all of blogland doesn't have to know ;), and confirm your mailing address too. :)

beti said...

was going to offer to send some - but I guess you've got that umm covered... :)