#21 Jeans that fit like a glove (in progress)

 12/5/2021

Alright, this is tricky.  My one pair of jeans (Lucky Ava Super Skinny) falls at least 1" below my navel and creates some really unflattering muffin top with its 9" in front 13.75" in back rise.  I had been loyal to Lucky since college when a guy-friend commented on the Easter egg of a fly with the label "Lucky You."  But with the skinny jean craze, Lucky stopped making my go-to bootcut Lil Maggies and I had trouble finding them for $20 on ebay.  It also seemed like the vanity sizing was in play so I could no longer precisely set my size.  I might be a 4, I might be a 2 depending on how vintage the jeans were.  Now the trend was moving out of skinny and into higher-wasted more relaxed fits, so why not explore more broadly?    

I hit youtube for some advice on finding good-fitting Jeans.  Some of my favorites:

*Alexandra's Girly Talk

*Audrey Coyne

*Dearly Bethany

I think Alexandra mentioned a Mother style as being her absolute favorite, so then I became fixated on figuring out where I could try Mothers on since $200 is *steep* for just buying something sight-unseen and hoping that the return policy is pretty generous.  It looks like Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's carry these, but I couldn't find a guarantee on their site they would have my size(s) in stock in a style that didn't work at cross purposes.  I wanted something in a dark wash, high rise, without a lot of whiskering, without a lot of fraying or unnecessary holes, straight or bootcut.  

Ultimately, I wussed out on designer labels from department stores, dreading the pressure to buy something even if it isn't perfect.  That's what got me into this fix with the Ava's.  I did end up online splurging on retro hanky panky thongs Alex and a few others mentioned as being helpful for instant shapewear.  Bonus that these one sizers fit sizes 0-12 so no guesswork about whether I have a wedgie because I botched the size or they don't work for my shape.  These were surprisingly comfortable and such a hit with hubby, he bought me several more on his own initiative.  I haven't had these long enough to comment on the onerousness of handwashing (first wear, I threw them in a cloth produce bag and ran through wash on delicate).  I do love the idea of hanging out lacy lengerie as if I'm a MILF.  

In searching Reddit for BIFL jeans, several people begged us not to buy over-priced denim from department stores and many mentioned that elastic in most jeans blends is what starts to bag out and undermine the fit.  That if you are willing to go through the break in hassle, 100% cotton was the way to go.  To check out rawdenim subreddit -- which I found to be too dude-focused and way more specific info than I wanted.  Fortunately, a couple people suggested the tldr was to look at something super traditional like a Levi's 501.  This came with its own set of caveats-- some washes have elastic in the blend, others don't.  The 501's also come in a bunch of fits from skinny, stretch, shorts, cropped.  That jeans in the outlets aren't BIFL quality and to check out the "premium" Levi's line.  I couldn't discern much different between the two lines beyond price point for the cropped version.  There was no non-premium version in original length.  Premium crops listed the leg opening size and listed "imported" vs. "Cambodia."  The cropped 26" inseam might be a good idea for a shortie with a long torso like me.  My everyday skinnies measure 24."  Pause here to question whether I'm off track on the original objective as I'm watching Emily Mariko's struggles of non-stretch denim video.  I'm signing up for something classic that checks the beausage box, but it is going to be *really* uncomfortable to break in and possibly routinely after washing.  Button flies for someone with an urgency problem?  I dunno, but at more like $100/pair let's give it a shot.  Especially after my mostly-positive experience with Amazon try before you buy for bra fit (kept 1, returned 5, have a new favorite front closure racerback and much more confidence in what my size is).    

So I found myself filling an Amazon try-before you buy cart with 501's and similar.  I'll leave notes to myself for what I'm trying to learn here:   

Levi's Women's Premium 501 Crop Jeans, Luxor Ra, 26

This wash is too light, but how do you feel about crop inseam length?

12/9/21-- yes.  way too light.  crop inseam length looks silly.  

Levi's Women's Premium 501 Crop Jeans, Athens Slide, 27

Couldn't fit in the 26 and feel devastated?  Try 27.  By the way, these have way too much distressing to keep.

12/9/21-- tried these first, didn't realize they were 27's, but 26's in everything else felt fine, no drama.  Yes, why pay $100 for a pair of pants that has its knee torn out and you don't even have a good story for how it went down?  

Levi's Women's Premium 501 Original Fit Jeans, Market Sixth Street - Dark Indigo, 26 (US 2)

How about a longer inseam?  

12/9/21-- front runner.  Inseam just kisses the ground barefoot vs. pooling at my insteps which is what I remember all regular cut jeans doing on my 5'2" frame-- when did inseams get shortened?!  Save me the project of finding a tailor, great.  Comfortable fresh out of the bag at the end of day in peak PMS.  Not sure if that means I'll be swimming in them during svelt part of cycle but a 7 day trial isn't going to be enough time to determine that.  Let's get them super broken in and see if they shrink in first careful wash.    

Levi's Women's Premium 501 Original fit Jeans, Across A Plain, 26 (US 2)

How about a darker wash?

12/9/21-- Try before you buy didn't send me these!  They sent me 311 skinny sculpting jeans which I couldn't even contact support to report because my trial won't start until tomorrowish.  I do think these might be just a pinch formal enough to wear stylishly in more places, but it isn't like I am frequenting these edge case places.  If I need a second every day driver, I'll look at these again.  

Levi's Women's Premium Ribcage Straight Ankle Jeans, Feelin' Cagey , 26

Maybe you're one of those freaks that needs a really high rise to fit?  Note these have 1% elastane.. still less than the 2% elastic in the Ava's (I know the outlinked ones are only listed at 1%).  

12/9/21-- I could pull this off, but it was beyond the Mom jean fupa pale for me.  

Levi's Women's Ribcage Straight Ankle Jeans, Cosmic Chatter, 26

Can you tell the difference in construction between normal and premium?  

12/9/21-- no, couldn't really tell the difference.  

12/14/21-- Have been everyday driving the Original fit 501's (Market 6th) but have not washed them yet. I found the Across A Plain on sale and just received them yesterday.  They fit the same (perhaps a bit tighter without a couple days of yoga stretches on them) but I haven't cut the tags off.  They do look a bit dressier in their darker wash without whiskering.  I'm not totally sure on whether to hem the inseams.  The crops were definitely too short, but there is some buckling with the originals unless I decide to start wearing a low heel regularly.  My default is to roll them about 2", but that undermines the objective of lengthening my legs.  Fun finding on button vs. zipper flies-- I think the mid-rise Luckies with zippers were actually compressing my bladder.  I haven't found it annoying or problematic to have to unbutton vs quick-zip and have found the urgency issues less dire in the button fly.  

2/22/22-- Tried a size 25 one very bloated afternoon and think those will generally fit more comfortably than the 26's, but felt like there was too much distressing on these to be a good value.  Should I try 24's?  

8/7/22-- favorites are still original fit 501's (Market 6th) 26, have worn these into always-comfortable status.  After a couple wears on skinnier days they can sack out in the butt.  I eventually sprang for darker wash (deep breath indigo) size 25's which are constricted waist uncomfortable for a day or two, but don't sack out in the butt.  So maybe my real size is a 25.5?

9/11/22-- original fit 501's Market 6th are my favorite "roomy" jean.  Left knee is starting to go threadbare, so I got about 9 months of heavy use out of them before starting to think about retiring them.  Deep breath 25's are my "dark, dressy, skinnier day" jean but usually start out muffin top tight for the first day of wear.