Friday, March 6, 2009

The Old Lady section

I have been on the search for new jeans for a while now...seems I could not find anything that was right for my body shape.

My first look was in the junior/younger women's sections, where I buy some of my clothes. At 5'3" and right at the ideal weight for a woman my size, most clothing in that section fits and I like to stay trendy and somewhat hip, but not like I'm trying to look 16. So of course, there are a lot of racks in those sections that I completely skip over. But on the racks of jeans, nearly every pair is so low cut that unless you have zero body fat and/or have never had a child, you cannot possibly wear them without getting that "muffin" affect. I see so many young girls wearing these ultra low rise jeans and they just DO NOT look good!!!! Even the really skinny girls! These jeans take a nice looking body and make them look fat!!! Stacy and Clinton have pointed this out to numerous women with major fashion faux pas. I love them, they are my style consultants, so everything they say is law!

I searched for jeans at my favorite stores...places like Old Navy, GAP and NY&Co. Nothin' there either. Old Navy's jeans have gotten so cheaply made and are just too darn low in the waist....plus every pair seems to be made for a woman with junk in trunk...and that is just not me. There's nothing in my trunk. NY&Co...averages are a mile too long, while petites are floods on me..go figure. GAP....I just cannot sanely pay $60-70 for ill-fitting jeans.

And so my quest for the perfect jeans continued with a trip to one of the larger department stores- JCPenny. I had hope....they have a wide selection of denim. I skipped right over the juniors section and headed toward women's clothing. Grabbed a dozen pairs in different cuts and sizes. Found a few that semi fit. One pair was good but a smidge too big but when I went down a size, it seemed the waist dropped like 2 inches....way too low rise for me. Others were just too big in the hips and thighs and butt, even though they fit fine in the waist. I sighed and put them all back. Hubby was so great....offering words of encouragement...we'd keep looking until I found the right ones!

I checked Kohl's today......and walked to the Old Lady section. I browsed a couple tables with folded jeans on them....miscellaneous brands of taper leg jeans...I shuddered at the mental picture of me wearing them, recalling my freshman year of high school. I looked some more and to my surprise, it seems the high-waisted Old Lady jeans are long gone. A sigh of relief. Most of the jeans have a mid rise waist....exactly what I want...still well below my belly button, but my underwear, ass crack....or worse...doesn't show. Speaking of.......there was a youngish girl in the grocery store last night...probably around 20...wearing a pair of polyester type workout pants...ultra low rise..... with her crack totally in plain view for all Wegmans shoppers to see. It's like a train wreck...how do you walk by and not look???? But unlike a train wreck, I laughed...and wondered how on earth someone could walk around and not know their butt was hanging out!! I prayed my almost 6 year old didn't say "Mommy, look at that girl's bum crack!" So anyway...my point is...CRACK KILLS!! No one wants to see it.

So back to Kohl's. I spied a table of Levi's...not my first choice because of price. Now I am no where near being a cheap person...but I am a huge bargain hunter. I almost never ever buy anything unless it's on sale or I have a coupon and usually the coupon is used on things that are on sale. I hate buying anything unless I can get at least 30% off it's full retail price. No matter what it is...even a $10 tee shirt. I hate paying full price. So, even though $34.99 is not an insane price for jeans, it wasn't really what I wanted to pay. The last jeans I bought were at Old Navy on a crazy sale day for only $12.....but I need to keep reminding myself of the above reasons for why I no longer buy jeans at Old Navy. So anyway, I try on a bunch of jeans, including some Levis and some Old Lady brands- Gloria Vanderbilt and Lee. And they all were pretty decent...except the Levis....they were perfectly amazing. I went back to the table....I had the one and only pair in my size.

And speaking of size...shopping in the Old Lady section has it's advantages.....I was in a size smaller than I normally wear everywhere else!

I leftKohl's with my one amazing pair of jeans. Now that I found what I like, I can start the bargain hunt to find them elsewhere for less money!!!!

4 comments:

  1. Oh yes, the perfect jeans! So hard to find. And I admire your open-mindedness and bargin-hunters heart. I too was open-minded and thrifty enough to recently find a different kind of amazing find in jeans...the COMFORTABLE jeans. I normally abhor the things due to the CF (comfort factor), but the other day Walmart saved me! I finally found a nice looking, non-momjeans, comfy pair! They have a good amount of stretch, but look like reg. jeans and I even found them in a dark wash which is what Stacy and Clinton recommend for my body type (Yes, I try to follow them too). So, we are both lucky gals! Cool!

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  2. Hey Steph! MaryLiz here...
    Did you know Levi's come with a guarantee? My ex-husband wore that brand....if a button or zipper messes up or a seam comes undone, they will replace them for free.
    http://www.levistrauss.com/company/faq/levis.aspx

    I have heard of some people even returning worn out jeans for free new ones...I never tried that though, didn't want to abuse the privilege...kwim?

    If I see any deals on Levi's on the net I will let ya know!

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  3. LOL! Thanks!!! I did not know that!!!

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  4. cracking up....you have always had trouble with jeans. I remember the treks through the malls to find a pair you liked. Also glad to hear mom jeans have vanished off the shelves...the only trouble is that people must have saved them and handed them down. I keep seeing those at the grocery store....so high up you don't need a bra :)

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