I REFUSE to go there. You know, give into the frumpiness looming out there in Momsville, but I now know why the "Mom's jean" issue exist. ** Umm, I have birthed three children. I have been pregnant, bigger than imagined possible with my twinnies, and have past 30. I am a stay at home mom meaning- some days I could stay in PJs all day with no make-up on. ** But no, I REFUSE to go there. I feel better about myself when I feel decently confident in my appearance as a normal human being. (My confidence in me leads to a happier, kinder, better mom and wife.) Hmmm... So I decided great jeans was where I needed to start.
Fashion emergency: I don't know any cool stores. I went from professional to maternity to my old clothes from college to maternity and then... we were done popping out kids. My youngest(s) just turned 3; and no more kiddos and the weight is stable. So I went to where the store associates half-kill themselves to assist you. Nordstrom and the Buckle. (I had been checking out girl butts on jeans slyly for a while, looking at brands trying not to stare and be a FREAK. Do I like pockets/flaps, bootcut/skinny, dark/light, or dressy/holey?)
OK, I know that I want:
1. NO FREAKING CRACK!! I don't want to see anyone's crack and I am assuming that they don't want to see mine. And we all know that it is usually GIRL CRACK showing nowadays vs. man crack. I want mine covered ~ like seriously, I am crawling around wrestling with boys. I don't want to even be CONCERNED about crackage.
Solution: A higher rise on the JEANS. 7 and 1/2 inch or more rise. Mid-rise, my solution. Still below the belly button, but guaranteed NO CRACK and room to zip your jeans in the front.
2. A bit of SASS. Oh yeah, you heard me. I want my hubby to stop momentarily when I walk in and notice the attempted cuteness.
Solution: A jean that is truly your size (not a hand-me down that fit decent), your style (so you are happy and confident), pockets you love that make the booty look good.
Here are my FOUR favorite jeans.
Ohhh... I LOVE these. They are MADDIE fit from the Buckle. The rise is 7 and a 1/2 inches, trendy, worn-in look, boot-cut. These are 29 inches long. These are perfect with flats since they are shorter than my other jeans. The pockets are my FAVORITE!$119 new in store, I got for $23 shipped to my door.
These are a pair of MADDIEs from the Buckle as well. I need the higher rise after having twins.
I don't like my belly showing/hanging out. These do the trick BEAUTIFULLY!
These are a darker denim, 31 inches so I wear them with boots. I almost always wear a heel because I am short. Easy dressed up or down. LOVE them!The 3rd Pair
Now these jeans are called JOE's Jeans from Nordies. I love the style - MUSE! They have a NINE-9!!! inch rise and are amazing. So comfy. The pockets go from almost plain (the stitching is in navy) to BLING, BLING! Just go and try yourself a pair on. Know your size and style then, get on E-bay and bid. These jeans were $120-160 in Nordies, mine off E-bay were $16.78 shipped to my door. ( I am a stay at home mom~ like I can afford that price for jeans. I just need to find the size and style I want. I am sure some shopaholic overbought jeans and is just waiting to sell them, to ME! So I am an E-bay girl, I only bought one full price pair of capris from the Buckle.)
I cannot say enough good things about Joe's Jeans. There are lots of styles, but I love MUSE.Ahh... these pretty jeans I am wearing as we speak. These are a dressier, slimmer, darker, non-distressed pair. They are Adriano Goldschmied - THE ANGEL.
A little longer, slimmer and dress-up easily. Another E-bay purchase!
All 4 of the jeans above were from e-bay, immaculate condition and shipped to my door. All were $30 and under!
Now these, ... these are skinny jeans. They are from a boutique in CA. I like them enough, but truly only wear them with Uggs and my super-cute rainboots.
The brand is C Pink if interested. Hello, I already did skinny jeans in Middle School. Zippered Jordache jeans were my favorites back in the day. I just have a hard time doing skinny jeans again, so I am kickin' the bootcut. What about you?
So hopefully these musings over cool MOM JEANS vs. the dreaded frumpy MOM JEANS was fun and maybe even helpful. Just reminder MID-RISE jeans fight off CRACK and taking the time to find a type and style you love is worth it. The cost? Relax, if you can adjust to lightly used then E-bay is a JACK-POT and you can afford more than ONE pair.
A little longer, slimmer and dress-up easily. Another E-bay purchase!
All 4 of the jeans above were from e-bay, immaculate condition and shipped to my door. All were $30 and under! Now these, ... these are skinny jeans. They are from a boutique in CA. I like them enough, but truly only wear them with Uggs and my super-cute rainboots.
The brand is C Pink if interested. Hello, I already did skinny jeans in Middle School. Zippered Jordache jeans were my favorites back in the day. I just have a hard time doing skinny jeans again, so I am kickin' the bootcut. What about you?
So hopefully these musings over cool MOM JEANS vs. the dreaded frumpy MOM JEANS was fun and maybe even helpful. Just reminder MID-RISE jeans fight off CRACK and taking the time to find a type and style you love is worth it. The cost? Relax, if you can adjust to lightly used then E-bay is a JACK-POT and you can afford more than ONE pair. Now lay it on me. What jeans do you love? Own? Want? Any styles that I should try? I need and love fashion help, because I usually have 3 junior shoppers with me ~ in the dressing room possibly ~ blocking the mirror ~ throwing snacks around and causing me to break into a sweat by the time that ordeal is over.
Cheers ~ Karen
5 comments:
I LOVE this post! I just had conversations with Maren & Erika about this exact topic! ;-)
I'll have to try out the Buckle jeans. I'm not brave enough to try eBay - how do you know they'll fit? Do you try them on in the store and get the exact style numbers and search online?
I just forked out $155 for a new pair of New York Dark Dojo's from Seven for All Mankind. They were in the petite section, so they didn't need tailoring.
But honestly, I'm feeling guilty about the amount of $$$. It just seems ludicrous. Even though I had a good photography week, I don't feel good about spending THAT much on jeans. So, they're in the bag ready to be returned.
My FAVE jeans are Banana Republic Bootcuts - LOVE them! No crackage, but very trendy. Not too narrow of a bootcut (like Old Navy), but not too wide. I usually find them at the BR outlet for around $40!
Heidi, Thank you for the new jean tip. I love jeans, they are perfect for this stage of my life. I will be hitting up BR outlet to hunt down my size!!! Thank you, thank you! (and yes, I find the size and EXACT style of jean I want and then find it on E-BAY because I can't be spending crazy $$$ on jeans!)
Karen,
I LOVE citizens of humanity jeans! Nordstrom carries them. Like you I don't pay full price for them. I buy them on ebay or at our local 2nd hand store. My favorite pair are "dita" bootcut, and I also have a pair of "kelly". These jeans are super flexible, not stiff! I hope this helps.
Amber
Yes I agree with Amber I LOVE my "dita" Citizen of Humanity jeans, they are so comfy and you can get them in petite so you don't have to get them altered. Also I like Hudson, Seven for all Mankind and William Rast, but Citizens are truly the most comfy I own, and NO CRACKAGE!! You can also use your Nordstrom gift cards at Nordstrom rack and get the jeans for a lower price. I have bought off e-bay before just beware of knock-offs, you will know they are fake when they don't fit like the ones in the store. If they are coming from a different counrty usually somewhere in Asia they are likey not the real deal.
I really hate going shopping for jeans, even though I wear them EVERY day. I can only do it on the very rare occasions when my bestie is in town and we can leave all of the kids with the daddies! lol. I really hate walking into those trendy places and feeling like the SA's are thinking, whoa! Isn't she, like, way too old to be in here? Anyway, I shop for jeans at my goodwill. They price all of their jeans at the same price ($5.85) and I often find Silver, BKE, Banana Republic, etc. Finding the right size is the trick. We don't have Nordies around here so I've never tried COH before. I'm really hard on my jeans, wear holes in the knees before I finally have to toss them out. A few weeks ago I realized I was down to 2 pairs and they were quickly getting ragged. Went to the goodwill and found a pair of authentic Seven for all Mankind DOJOs IN THE RIGHT SIZE and I was skeptical at first but they fit wonderfully and really move well for all the movement with kids around that I do in a day. My other favorites are Silver Tuesdays but they have a much lower rise and I wear them with a belt and a longer shirt EVERY time!!
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