By: Blonde Two
You will remember that back in January I set a challenge to ‘Mr Outdoor Retailer’ to find me and my Blonde Bottom a pair of trouser that fitted. This challenge had been prompted by a rather miserable, post-birthday outdoor retail experience.
Well, I am very pleased to announce that our favourite Blonde retailers, Cotswold Outdoor elected to take on the challenge, and indeed rose to it in a most admirable way.
From the numbers of comments (thank you for all of them), I know that there are lots of people (not just ladies) out there who struggle to find walking trousers to fit. I have a few, hopefully helpful, pointers for you in tomorrow’s blog post. Today I want to tell you about my new trousers, because … YES … I have finally found (with the help of Pete from Cotswold’s customer services and Haydn from their Exeter store) A PAIR OF WALKING TROUSERS THAT FIT!
After I wrote the blog post, I had an almost immediate response from Pete who told me that he was confident that they would be able to help and would like to take on the challenge. This was followed by a rather long conversation (sorry Pete!) in which I talked about my sizing foibles and trouser desires, and Pete explained some of the issues that Cotswold have with sizing from different manufacturers. Pete had already done his trouser homework and talked to some of the ladies at Cotswold Outdoor about their preferred trouser; he had also prepared a list of ‘possibles’ which we went through online. From that list I was allowed to select as many pairs as I wanted to be ordered into the Exeter store (at Dart’s Farm) and tried on at my leisure.
Blonde One and I went over to the store on Saturday (it took exactly zero persuasion to get her to come with me) and we were greeted by Haydn who presented me with a pile of packages to take into the changing room.
You might imagine that I would have been feeling the ‘changing room’ pressure by this point; but I wasn’t, Pete had assured me that, in the event of another unsuccessful fitting, he would continue to come up with options until the challenge had been met. I have to confess however, that I was starting to feel a bit twitchy when, after pair five of seven, I still hadn’t managed to do up a top button. It came a bit of a shock then, when pair six (Women’s Kiwi Pro Stretch in 20 Long) fitted beautifully. I hope that I didn’t shout too loudly as the store was quite busy, but there was definitely a Blonde ‘whoop’ as I examined myself in the mirror.
I will tell you all about my new trousers in another blog post. You can see from our top picture that I am very pleased with them; but I am even more pleased with Cotswold Outdoor who have been and are, clearly considering the issue of larger sizes; and who met this particular Blonde Challenge with an impressive level of commitment and friendliness.
Good old Cotswold (also extremely tolerant of those of us who just browse a significant number of times without buying !!! ) One question for them ..(not could Haydn be my personal shopper ) . Could they display all ladies trousers together and All ladies waterproof trousers together … so I can just walk, select, try on instead of foraging the shop floor for a rare breed Ps. Will try the kiwi pro
Cotswold are without doubt the best “BIG’ outdoor shop by far. Well done again to them for going the extra mile.
Kiwi – very apt! I suspect a lot of us will be looking for those.