The big question…

Today, I’ll be covering the big question, the one that everyone has to ask themselves once they move overseas.

‘And what question is that?’ I hear you ask. Well, obviously, it’s as follows:

‘Where do you buy your underpants once you move abroad?’

So, now we’re getting down to business, aren’t we?

Anyway, back in the UK, there was no question as to where you went for your underpants – at least, that was the case for me, and I’ve been led to believe, for many others, too. ‘Marks and Spencer’ was the ‘go to’ outlet, the place where you’d find underpants that were comfortable, underpants that offered true quality, underpants that were reasonably priced and would last. What more could you ask for?

This meant that when needing new underpants, I didn’t have to think too hard. For the best part of forty years, I simply nipped into town, headed for ‘Marks and Spencer’ picked the style and colour I wanted, paid my money and went home happy. Life was easy.

Then I came to Fuzeta. For the first few months, I didn’t worry, my pants were holding up. Then I noticed it; a bit of wear and tear. ‘No problem’, I thought, ‘I’m nipping home next week to see my parents,’ and so there really wasn’t an issue. I simply travelled home, made sure that I had time to pay a visit to M&S and bought my undies – £17 for five pairs if memory serves me right.

This went on for a number of years, and then last year, I went home and saw that the price had risen to £25. Bloody hell. Yes, they offer good quality underpants, but there is a limit. I decided to see if I could find a better (cheaper) option. I looked online and found some rather colourful pieces on the site of a rather large retail organisation – five pairs for £18. That was better. And so, I purchased them. They arrived and certainly looked the part. I tried them on and enjoyed the snug fit, although I declined to check them out in the mirror, obviously. I really didn’t want to depress myself. But yes, they seemed to tick all the boxes – price, fit, quality – and I was happy with my purchase.

Then I washed them.

Bloody hell… from a comfortable, snug fit, they now flapped around my nether regions like bunting in a gentle breeze. I was no longer happy with the fit, nor with the quality. But I suppose if you buy cheap, you get cheap.

And so, what was I to do? Well, I went online and checked out the M&S European website. When I found the underpants section, I presume that I visibly branched.

Blimey, €41 for the undies I wanted to buy. €41?!! Bollocks to that, I thought!

I had some thinking to do and as I always think best when I go for a walk, well, that’s what I did. I headed out of the front door and into the sun, the discomfort of my flapping undies reminding me as to what I needed to think about.

I headed towards the front and realise that there were more cars around than normal. There were also more people. Of course! It was the first Thursday of the month. I always forget when the market is on, and today was no different.

I decided to wander around the stalls and to see what was on offer, and it was there that I saw, yes, it was there that I saw some Calvin Klein trunks (underpants to you and me). Blimey, had I struck it lucky?

I inspected them and realised that they weren’t in fact ‘Calvin Klein’. They were actually ‘Ghlain Klain’, whatever that is, but to be honest, the quality seemed satisfactory – and they were only €5 for three pairs! Next came the size issue. There was obviously no way of testing what size I needed – XL, XXL, or even XXL?! – but at that price, what did it matter? I decided that I would buy three pairs as a test. After all, what is €5 these days? I also decided that pride would demand that I purchase XL rather than the other two. So, that’s what I did.

I then went straight home, slipped off my shorts, slipped out of my flapping undies and slipped into one of the new pairs. Blimey, VERY snug! Maybe I should have gone for XXL after all.

Having said that, they felt half decent, and I’m amazed to say, that after several washes, they seem to be holding up nicely, certainly better than the ones that I bought online.

I have to say, I don’t think I’m actually a snob, but I never thought that I would be buying cheap underpants from the local market. And now? And now I’m seriously considering heading back on the first Thursday of next month to buy some more.

Well, you can’t go wrong for a fiver can you? Problem solved!