The most frustrating thing happened to me over spring break! I had been wanting a pair of True Religion jeans forever, but I couldn’t bring myself to spend $200 on them. Over spring break, I went to Bonita Springs with my aunt and my grandma to do some shopping and go to the beach. There is a really good outlet mall over there and you can imagine my delight when I saw they had a True Religion store. I went into the store and tried on two pair–one skinny, one flare. I ended up deciding on the flare, even though they were too long and would have to be hemmed.

“I’ll just use Bev,” I thought. “She does all of my dresses and slacks so nicely, I’m sure she’ll be able to make these look like I bought them this way.”

When I got back home I made an appointment with Bev (the lady who has done my alterations so beautifully for several years). I tried on my new jeans and as she was pinning them under, I asked that she use original hem, so they would look exactly as they did when I bought them and no one would be able to tell the difference. She said yes–she would use the “true” hem. I left her house feeling a little uneasy but reassured myself that she would do a good job.

If only you could have seen what she did. I literally started crying after I picked my jeans up and got into my car where I could get a good look at how she did, without being obvious. The thread didn’t match (color or thickness), there was backstitching and they just looked plain AWFUL! I was so upset. After spending money on the jeans I had wanted for so long, she ruined them. I was in angst as I drove home. I couldn’t fathom why she had told me she would do original hem when instead she cut it off and did “true hem”, whatever that means!

I immediately called my mom and told her about what happened, and she didn’t help by saying that she didn’t think there was a way to do original hem. I knew that there was, because I’ve had several girlfriends in similar situations, so when I got home I found this how-to post to prove my point. There is a way to do it, just not after the hems have been cut off :(

After I calmed down, I realized that it wasn’t the end of the world and the jeans could probably be fixed. I didn’t trust Bev anymore so I got a recommendation from my roommate, who uses a lady in Tampa for original hem on all of her designer jeans. I took them to her and she took the bad stitching out and although she couldn’t use the cut-off original hem I had saved, she matched the stitching almost perfectly and did them in about 10 minutes while I waited.

The positive point of this story is that I learned to be more clear when I am doing business with people. I should have questioned her “true hem” response to my “original hem” comment. It also showed me to trust my gut. I felt uneasy about her doing what I wanted, so I should have listened to my instinct and taken them somewhere else in the first place. Another positive point I found in this mess, is that at least I didn’t pay full price for the jeans. I can’t even describe how livid I would have been if that was the case. If it were not for this social experiment, I don’t know if I would have seen any good in this incident, so although it may seem silly, I’m glad I was able to relate my positive thinking to this story.

Advertisement