For the ladies: how do you deal with ill-fitting pants?

[momof2cubs]

So I spun this because we were getting off subject in the original thread.

 

But we touched upon the fact that uniform pants are awful on women. So ladies, how do you deal? Do you tailor them? Do you grin and bear it?

 

What do you wish we had? Better fitting? More options like in jeans (i.e. boot cut, tapered, stretchy, etc)? Do you wish we had skirts or skorts?

 

Personally, I loathe them and not wear them. I had resisted becoming a uniformed leader because I refuse to pay $40 for pants that make me look like a trussed chicken.

 

So what say you female scouters?

[Eagle92]

Not a lady, but can tell ya about the wife?

 

1) When registered as a Venturing leader in '98-99, she wore the Venturing shirt, with gray shorts she got from somewhere I do not remember. Still has the uniform in the attic

 

2) When a troop committee member, she didn't wear the uniform. The only time you knew she was involved with the troop was at committee meetings, and when she was getting signatures for the unit checks.

 

3) When she said she would be a CS leader for middle son, she stated that she HATED WITH A PASSION the tan and green uniform, and would refuse to wear it. She did ask if she could wear a vintage uniform, so she has a 1950s "Den Mother's" uniform that is 95% complete in the closet. All it is missing is one fully embroidered number. Got her that for Christmas one year. Unfortunately shortly after getting that, she changed her mind.

 

AN ASIDE: If you give your wife an almost complete vintage uniform for Christmas, you might be a Uniform Policeman.

[Scout_Ma'am]

I buy olive pants from other stores. For some reason, our local Goodwill always has a great selection (including the odd pair of scout pants that some female leader has finally said "enough!" to...). My favorite pair were Old Navy brand. Lots of great pockets, comfortable, and, well, cute (I say "looked", because they bit the dust a couple of weeks ago, and I'm still in mourning for them).

[eaglescout1996]

Again, not a lady, but my wife serves as a District Committee member. When every I mention to her about wearing the uniform, she says, "I'm a Committee member, I was told I don't have to wear a uniform."

 

She hates the tan and green uniform, mainly because she hates Khaki (she went to Catholic School), but she hates the pants. The only pants she wears are jeans, as she wears dresses and skirts all the time. I've been trying to find her an older Ladies Boy Scout skirt. She does have a green Venturing shirt, which I thought she would probably wear with jeans since a lot of people will wear those with jeans.

 

E92, what number do you need? I have a few fully embroidered ones laying around.

[momof2cubs]

My husband told me that when he was a cubbie (this would be in the early 70s) den mothers were very common and were actually leaders, even though they didn't call them that. He said his mom had a skirt and a shirt.

 

So...what happened to the skirts? Why can we not have those anymore? Or are there around somewhere? Other than in dusty attics I mean.

 

And Eagle, you are correct. You are a Uniform Policeman.

[Engineer61]

Neither of the female adults (CC and AC) wear any form on the uniform. So it's a non-issue for our troop.

 

 

[dg98adams]

Don't qualify as a "Lady" but I felt the need to rub my charcoal stick on the cave-man wall......

 

I'm just a Cave-man-like ASM, I don't care how unflattering your uniform makes you look. Do you think the boys do?

 

As long as it's clean and worn correctly (as possible with what you can afford - just like the boys we SERVE) just the same as the other "Scouts" are asked to wear it.

 

It's not the "7 Methods" as you see fit to observe, there are 8 methods and "Uniforming" is what not only the boys we SERVE see, but what the community we SERVE see.

 

Grogg, my fellow ASM drags me from the Cave-wall back to the campfire.......

 

(did I mention Grogg is a 6' blonde female leader in our Troop?)

 

 

[infoscouter]

My only problem with (original) Switchbacks is they don't sit at my natural waist. I wear a belt to pull them up to where I like them. I haven't purchased any of the newer versions.

 

I have an official olive green skirt I purchased from eBay which I wear for district dinner, council dinner etc.

 

My blue pants, which I wear for most Cub Scout things, fit more like tradtional women's trousers, and I have no problem with them. My biggest objection is that the pockets are not large enough - but that's the case with most women's trousers. I actually *use* my pockets - wallet, keys, pocket knife, change, Blistex, tissues, thumb drives and a few other things. I do not carry a handbag.

 

I have two of the old (blue) skorts, which I sometimes wear for Roundtable, a 1980's vintage wrap around skirt (again from eBay), and a couple pairs of blue shorts. I would dearly love it if they made women's blue switchbacks.

 

The skirts never sold well. For an active leader (even of Cubs) they aren't practical - can't play games, sit on the floor, etc. without risking giving the Cubs an eyeful. The skorts were more practical for that, but are REALLY dorky looking.

See: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_a7bIhuI96yg/TNiM9P5V8iI/AAAAAAAAFpw/6yJAQXsidyk/s320/cub_scout_ladies.jpeg

 

Women just wear fewer skirts these days. At one point GSUSA and Den mother female uniforms included a tunic style top worn over trousers. See: http://www.oocities.org/~pack215/hist-dm-conf307x202.jpg and http://media.silive.com/advance/photo/2011/12/10329678-large.jpg But that was a really 60's-70's style trend, which is long gone.

 

One of the challenges with female leader uniforms is the fashion aspect. Men's clothing has changed only minimally over the last 100 years. Women's clothing changes constantly. It is a struggle for every uniformed organization (from fast food to the military) to provide uniforms for women which are practical AND stylish enough for women to be happy/proud to wear them.

[Eagle92]

Actually what happened to the skirts and culottes was that ladies complained about them as well. They were not big sellers, in fact I only remember selling them to pros back in the day.

 

As for district committee members, they can wear any uniform they want, may I suggest a Sea Scout one? I personally like the Whites.

 

As for unit scouters on the committee, they, and anyone else for that matter, can always the wear the dress uniform: gray skirt or trousers, white shirt, stipped uniform tie, blue blazer and blazer device.

 

Finally, I don't need the number anymore. Wife is adamant about NOT being a leader at this time. Now she has thought about when the boys get in Venturing, but Oldest wants to be a Sea Scout though.

[momof2cubs]

Those tunic style tops are actually not bad AT ALL. I think they could cover a multitude of sins regarding the pants. I like them. Cuz that's another issue with the shirt, they are not tailored for women either, but those tunics look actually pretty nice and could flatter a lot of figures. In the last link, the green shirt (1st on the right), is actually quite nice. I'd wear that.

 

The skorts are really dorky. I wouldn't wear that either.

 

I see your point, but actually dress uniforms in the military for women are not bad at all. I think BSA could do just as well.

[Lisabob]

You are missing the point. It isn't that they're unflattering (they are, but ok). It isn't that I prefer a different cuff or boot cut vs. ankle cut or something like that (I don't care, really). It is that they simply do not fit properly. To get a pair that is long enough in the rise, I need to buy them ridiculously large everywhere else. I won't waste money on clothing that doesn't fit well. Telling most women "well go get them tailored" is a) adding to the cost and b) ignoring the fact that the BSA makes a product that doesn't work for most women customers.

 

As for a skirt or culotte - yeah, maybe some people like them and that's ok, but those lack functionality, too. When's the last time you went camping or canoeing in a skirt?

 

I do own an old pair of the ODL pants that I drag out when I need a uniform. They're ugly as can be and not especially functional (heavy, hot in the summers, take a long time to dry when they get wet, etc.). The switchbacks are a big improvement, both in style and performance. I would have gladly bought a new pair of switchbacks...if they were cut in a way that is wearable. But because the BSA makes clothing that doesn't fit women, they lost out on my $40. A scout(er) is thrifty.

 

 

 

[kari_cardi]

I've been looking for a pair of pants similar to the uniform pants to wear. I'd love a skirt too. I'm also in the process of taking apart and resewing a uniform shirt to fit me. I'm short and busty and BSA uniforms don't fit me at all. I've tried the last few iterations of female and male uniforms. I have a similar issue with other tailored clothing and generally make my own or stick to styles and clothing lines that I know will work. I'd sew my own uniform if I could find similar fabric, I wish it was an option.

 

I do have a pair of switchbacks, too, that don't fit. The amount of topstitching alone makes the idea of alterations a daunting one. The changes I need wouldn't work anyway with all the pockets, etc. I really should just donate them.

 

[trainerlady]

Lisabob,

 

I guess I'm just lucky the women's cut pants fit me well and they fit several of my frineds very well too. Are you wearing a women's pant or a man's pant? When the only thing available was a man's pant they were a crumby fit and wore out in the crouch every six months (I wore my uniform in those days 40-60 hours a week due to work). I got 2+ years out of what we affectionately called Lady pants in my former National Supply store.

 

Now with that said I don't care for the cargo pockets on my already large thighs, but that is a style issue not the fit issue you ask about. The only altering any of us here in the great white north (not so white this year)have needed is to shorten them. The canvas pants also fit a million times better than the nylon one too. The nylon ones are tents on just about everyone, man, woman or child. Nylons now come in a women's cut too. Those fit better than the old men's ones or the original switchback women's one.

 

Good Luck

[5yearscouter]

I wear the women's pants, most recent addition. the elastic thingy in the waist fits awkwardly, and it's rough on the inside. guess that roughness ensures I always wear my uniform shirt fully tucked in so the pants don't rub a hole in me right at the waist. the zipper part rubs on my legs when I walk a lot or if I'm doing a lot of bending down.

 

I prefer the coulottes even if I can't spell that word. I bought them when they were clearancing them, and if I knew how comfy they were I would have bought two. Unfortunately the plastic zipper is now missing a tooth so it won't stay zipped anymore, so I wear the pants full time. I finally found a seamstress who will change out my zipper for a reasonable price, so hopefully next month I'll have those back to wear.

 

I like the coulottes as they do fit better than the pants and they make me appear a bit more ladylike than the pants do. I get comments when I wear them from so many people, positive comments, and I can crawl around on the ground with a den of tigers or sit down and start a campfire with the boy scouts and still fill sort of ladylike and not show my butt. In AZ they are better than the zipper pants for keeping cool as well cause they are a thinner fabric that breathes better.

 

I do have to go look up the uniform police/uniform inspection sheet from the time of the coulottes. I can't remember if I have to wear scout socks with the coulottes. Cause in AZ the last thing I like to do is wear socks with my leather sandals or moccasins which are my preferable shoes to wear for most scouting things I do. Of course, then I probably should wear hose instead. Either sucks when it's really really HOT outside...

[IM_Kathy]

I personally don't mind them... but then I use to work outdoors and needed cargo pants for hauling stuff in doing parts of my job. most of the women pants with cargo's are mostly for "style/look" and won't hold anything so I started wearing the men's.

 

since having to go on disability I still wear them. they are comfy. I hate purses so they allow me to carry my wallet, phone, and such.

 

when it comes to scouting I guess I'm not worried about how I look other than that I'm setting an example for the scouts. so I follow my son's troop's rules on uniforms... though I have to say since I easily overheat due to my meds that I do look forward to the summer months when they go to class B's and I can then wear sleeveless shirts (I always end up with 2 camp shirts each year so 1 I leave with sleeves and the other I cut them off)