Yesterday I tried on jeans at Old Navy, because they were on sale, and you can never have too many jeans.
As I recall, stretch jeans used to have a little bit of “give”/stretch to help them fit and hold their shape. These, however, were really stretchy. I tried on my customary size, x, and they buttoned quite easily, but I found that I could pull them off without unbuttoning them. So I tried the next lower size, x-1, and I could also easily pull them down past my hips without unbuttoning them. Wow- going down two sizes? Okay, I can do that. I got a pair of size x-2 and again could pull them off without unbuttoning them. That’s just TOO much stretch. By the end of the day stretchy jeans have stretched way out and you have to keep pulling them up. Didn’t buy any jeans.
My conclusion: jeans are morphing into sweatpants.
These days, I tend to have good luck with Lee’s. They have several styles with different cuts and rises so you can usually find one or two that fit. Kohl’s or JCP should have a large selection.
My loyalty still lies with Levi’s. I kept my button fly 501’s from college for several years past my being able to wear them. I still have a few pairs of 550 non-lycra Mom-style jeans I will break out and wear for quick runs to the store. I do have a recent pair of their skinny jeans that fit pretty well and don’t sag or stretch out too much.
Plus, one of my biggest turn-ons is a man in a nice fitting pair of Levi’s. Think Springsteen’s Born to Run album cover.
Levi’s Misses 525 are the closest thing to jeans that work for me. I am convinced I will never find a pair of jeans anywhere that match my waist-to-hip ratio AND my inseam, primarily because it’s never happened, but these are the best so far. Now, we’re different people (I know – what?) so I’ll tell you why I like them and you can make of this what you will. The hips are actually wider than the waist, and don’t pull any of that waist-is-only-a-centimeter-narrower-than-the hips horse crap that some brands of jeans that shall go unnamed (DKNY, Ralph Lauren) pull, plus when they make pants in long, they mean it. When I go to Old Navy or whatever Jeans Store du Jour, I always have to order the size in long, but when I tried Levi’s 525 long, they were actually too long. Say what? So those are my jeans.
They have stores at two of the malls in my area. I’ve also tried buying them on their website but I ended up having to exchange them at the store because my size changed a little.
I have found that I can handle about 2% spandex or whatever is used for stretch but any more than that and by the end of the day they are loose and baggy. Eddie Bauer seems to work for me.
Were these jeans, or jeggings? Jeggings being, of course, those jeans/leggings hybrid that are designed to mimic supertight jeans, while being made of stretchier/comfier fabric that won’t kill you to wear all day like super-tight jeans actually would be.
Another vote for Lucky Brand. Good stuff, and good sales as well.
