Pant cuffs

I don't like buying new clothes.

I resent that fact that I'm still at a 9 to 5 and I have never liked wearing a collar and leash (shirt and tie).

One of the things I hate most about clothes is how well they fall apart.

As an aside, I know that Wal-Mart is "inexpensive," and that some people take that to mean it is the better deal, but cheap is cheap. Almost every article of clothing I've ever purchased there has fallen apart at break neck speeds. Last year I bought this amazing looking Hawaiian shirt there for $10.00 (I love Hawaiian shirts). I washed it once! The second time I wore it I found a hole right in the front chest. Cheap is cheap.

I digress.

So, one of the things I hate the most about pants is how the cuffs tend to become all raggedy and frayed. I tend to not care myself, but in the past year I have had no less than four people comment on my clothes.

My former boss called me out in front of others for having a hole in the bottom of my shoe.

A new guy in our unit looked at me and then said to his boss, "So we can dress casual here every day?"

My current boss told me that I needed to have some sports coats on hand, should I need to look good. (ouch)

And a co-worker, recently, told me that I should tend to the frayed edges of my pants.

"I cut them off when they get too long," I said.
"My husband would be freaking out," she said. I wasn't really offended by this because I know her and I know she wasn't being mean. She was just giving me a hard time.
"What would he do?"
"Well, he's an ex-Marine." She likes to remind us of that frequently. "He always burns the frayed edges off of his pants."

Really? I thought. That might work! I was thinking that perhaps the frayed edges would some how cauterize or melt together and prevent further fraying! That would be worth looking into.

Now, I'm not going to say whether the burning of the frayed edges of your pants is a good or bad idea. Perhaps it works well if it is done right. Perhaps it works better if you have a synthetic blend of fibers in your pants. But cotton does not cauterize. It just burns. And when it is done burning instead of having little pieces of frayed pants you have slightly shorter and slightly darker pieces of frayed pants.

What I will do is give you some advice.

IF YOU ARE GOING TO BURN THE FRAYED EDGES OF YOUR PANTS:

1. Make certain your pants are not 100% cotton. Maybe you can do it correctly with 100% cotton, but I did not.

2. Don't, under any circumstances, assume that burning off the edges of your pants can be done while you are wearing said pants.

3. Remember, that when the 100% cotton pants you are wearing start to burn, they burn on the outside and inside of the pant leg.

4. Consider buying new pants.