ready to wear?

I've been eyeing some cute jeans at Uniqlo for awhile. They have pretty good jeans that are comfy and fit well, although the ones I wanted - grey and oh-so-soft without being too idiotically pre-distressed - are a little strange in the seat.

The ones I ended up getting are the "skinny fit - tapered" series. For some reason the bum is shaped differently. The only problem I had when trying them on is that they are freakishly long in the leg. Like they were made for flamingos. I'm on the tall side of average here, even though I'm decidedly average back home. So having six extra inches of leg was a little disconcerting. I figured I could bunch it up or hack it off and do a half-assed sewing job on them at home.

When I went to the check-out, though, the clerk asked me (after fumbling around trying to speak English to me, which was sweet but unnecessary. I appreciate it anyway.) if the length was ok. I replied that they were a little long. He said they could chop and hem them for me in store – for free. Really? Cool!

So I went off to my appointment and came back an hour later and they were beautifully hemmed to just the right length. Bonus.

I guess it's something I might expect when buying a suit, or shopping at some fancy-schmancy place. But a basics, big-box store? For thirty-nine dollar jeans (admittedly the most I've spent on jeans in a long time – maybe ever)? They actually have sewing machines and people who can operate them on site? So nifty.