Denim Dilemma
/
I’ve been extremely frustrated this year looking for the perfect pair of jeans. Bootcut denim is back (as I posted on The Small Town Stylist and talked about in my Spring Trends segment on Bridge Street in 2015). They are featured in fashion spreads and on the most stylish Instagrammers. Bootcut, flares and wide leg styles are much more flattering than the skinny jeans we’ve been seeing everywhere the past few years. Much to my dismay, finding these styes has been an impossible task in my small town. Sometimes it takes several seasons for the trends to make it here.
I live in denim. I know what I want and what works best for me. I like to wear a dark wash, so my jeans wear out pretty quickly and I need to replace them every few years. Finding the perfect denim is difficult, and since trends come and go it’s usually not possible to find the exact same style I’ve come to love. I embraced the skinny jean trend but I NEVER gave up on my bootcut jeans and have been wearing the same pair by J.Crew until they are now frayed at the bottom and worn thin at the knees. So the search has been on for a year to find a replacement. The key with denim is to TRY IT ON, which also can be hard to do in a small town because boutiques have limited sizes and styles. Here is a good denim style guide by goop.com. I often have to try the larger department stores or order from online shops that have a good return policy and offer free shipping and returns.
I’ve been super frustrated about this, but I didn’t give up. After almost a year of looking for my perfect flare jean, I finally found two pairs I really like at Lord & Taylor. There were like 5 pairs of flare jeans among about 500 pairs of skinnies. The stars must have aligned for me to find two pairs in a dark wash with a mid-rise and in my size! Of course they need to be hemmed- they are about a foot too long- but my search is over. Actually, is the search ever over? In a year they will get faded and I’ll be looking for a replacement. But in the meantime I am feeling some relief.
What is your favorite style of denim and why? Where do you like to shop for jeans and why? I’d love to hear from you at thesmalltownstylist@gmail.com or comment on my Facebook page.