Review: REI OC Granite pants

[KnottedYet]

20 years ago REI was *the* place to get women's pants, the good tough kind that you can wear hiking and camping. Anywhere else, you pretty much had to go to the men's dept. REI had their own brand, and they had great cargo shorts and camping shorts, too.

I'm frustrated by how now at REI there aren't women's versions of all these great men's pants, and I'm kind of stuck shopping in the men's dept. (I whined about this a couple years ago, and that's when one of the clerks begged me to write some letters. He said they were all frustrated by what was being stocked in the women's dept.)

But I will say the OC Granite pants are GREAT women's pants. You just have to convert men's sizes to women's sizes, and the clerks in the men's dept have little laminated cards in their vest pockets that convert sizes! (tells you how often women are shopping in the mens, eh?) And the Organic Cotton Granite pants are only $40! Much cheaper than anything I found in the women's dept. And COTTON! And ORGANIC! (there's another cool pair of men's pants that are partly recycled poly, I might have to get some of those, too.)

[bmccasland]

For those of use who's only option is REI catalog sales, or internet, I guess I'll have to call customer service to get the conversion? The closest REI store is in Houston or something - way too far away. Can't get my office to send me to Seattle for training again.

[KnottedYet]

From the way these fit me, I'm guessing a 34 waist in the Granite pants is a 14 women's. 32 would likely be a 12 womens. 30 probably a 10. Something like that.

32 inseam is a women's Tall or Medium Tall. 30 inseam is probably a Regular (too short for me, like most women's pants)

Best bet to figure out inseam would likely be to measure the inseam on a pair of your favorite pants and convert from there.

[emily_in_nc]

20 years ago REI was *the* place to get women's pants, the good tough kind that you can wear hiking and camping. Anywhere else, you pretty much had to go to the men's dept. REI had their own brand, and they had great cargo shorts and camping shorts, too

Knotted, have you tried LL Bean? I can't wear their pants (their petites are too short and their regulars too long for me), but they do seem to have a wide selection of real pants (for hiking and such).

You are lucky to be able to wear mens pants! I am way too short...

Emily

[KnottedYet]

Yup, I wear a lot of LL Bean for work.

[Jolt]

Knotted, have you tried LL Bean? I can't wear their pants (their petites are too short and their regulars too long for me), but they do seem to have a wide selection of real pants (for hiking and such).

+1 for L. L. Bean--quality, functional clothing that fits nicely. One of my favorite brands. Emily, what about getting the regular pants and hemming them, if they fit other than the length? Bummer to be between sizes!

[emily_in_nc]

+1 for L. L. Bean--quality, functional clothing that fits nicely. One of my favorite brands. Emily, what about getting the regular pants and hemming them, if they fit other than the length? Bummer to be between sizes!

Hemming is just too much trouble and never looks exactly right when I do it. And the smallest "regular" size LL Bean pants is probably too large for me in the hips (Petite sizes are cut slimmer through the waist/hips and have less rise). So I just make sure to buy my pants at places where I can be sure the inseam is long enough (29") or try them on in person.

What LL Bean hasn't yet "gotten" is that most of us prefer a longer inseam for boot-cut or flared pants (esp. if you wear a shoe with any heel at all) than for straight legs with flats. All their petites pants have a 28.5" inseam no matter what the cut of the leg. That inseam works for me in straight legs, but I like boot-cut pants, and they're just too short for that if there is any shrinkage at all (and there often is as they sell a lot of cotton). I've emailed them to mention this, but they haven't made any changes.

Fortunately, a couple of weeks ago, I was able to find long-enough jeans at both Talbot's Petite and Gap (their "Long and Lean" Ankle length, all their other "A" sizes are too short for me also). Isn't it strange that I'm only 5'1-1/2" and have such a time buying pants that are long enough? I guess pants are kinda like bikes sometime....

Emily

[Jolt]

Hemming is just too much trouble and never looks exactly right when I do it. And the smallest "regular" size LL Bean pants is probably too large for me in the hips (Petite sizes are cut slimmer through the waist/hips and have less rise). So I just make sure to buy my pants at places where I can be sure the inseam is long enough (29") or try them on in person.

What LL Bean hasn't yet "gotten" is that most of us prefer a longer inseam for boot-cut or flared pants (esp. if you wear a shoe with any heel at all) than for straight legs with flats. All their petites pants have a 28.5" inseam no matter what the cut of the leg. That inseam works for me in straight legs, but I like boot-cut pants, and they're just too short for that if there is any shrinkage at all (and there often is as they sell a lot of cotton). I've emailed them to mention this, but they haven't made any changes.

I hear you about hemming being a bit of a pain. I didn't know about petite sizes being cut differently--interesting. I usually wear regular length (even though I'm only an inch taller than you are, petites are usually a little short on me), so I haven't had the opportunity to notice that I guess. The x-small regular pants from L. L. Bean might actually be OK for you in the hips--they fit me really well and I'm pretty skinny too (108 lbs). It's hard when you can't try things on though--I'm always a little hesitant about buying clothes online unless I know the brand.

[KnottedYet]

Beware the incredible shrinking inseam!

After several weeks of washing and drying and wearing, the inseams on these pants have quite clearly SHRUNK.

The waist/hips/thighs are still amazingly wonderful, but the legs are waaaaay too short now.

I'd recommend buying the next inseam up. They may be too long at first, but after a couple months of steady shrinking, you'll be glad you did.

(my next pair will be 34 inseam... cuz I already have enough too-short pants.)