Who doesn’t just love casual Friday? Who doesn’t relish the chance to toss aside four days of dry-clean-only, iron-requiring ensembles and throw on a pair of no-brainer, comfy jeans?
Well, me, for one, since the endeavor requires the actual purchasing of said jeans.
I’ve been on something of a mission for the past year to find a pair of jeans that are both comfortable and flattering, modern enough to be hip, but formal enough to be appropriate for work.
Mostly, I want jeans whose waistline doesn’t allow for midriff or backside exposure even when I sit down, whose cut downplays the body parts I’m not in the habit of showing off to co-workers and whose price tag is less than $100.
I’m a pretty reliable size 6 (unless we’re talking bridesmaids’ dresses, in which case I wear a 14) and I’m not unusually tall or short, so clothes-shopping is normally a straightforward experience. But my jeans hunt of late has made me feel, in turn, intimidated by all the choices, discouraged by my failure to find a decent pair and embarrassed by my reflection in the dressing room mirror.
I’ve found sizes to be fairly consistent brand to brand (I hovered between a 6 and an 8 at all the stores I visited), but finding the right size doesn’t equal finding the right fit. Many of today’s jeans seem to either ride so low they negate any hope of sitting comfortably or hug so tightly they must be paired with a knee-length sweater.
“Denim makers are marketing themselves younger,” says Marshal Cohen, co-president of NPDFashionworld, which tracks retail trends. “If you go to an adult store, you’re hard pressed to find a pair of jeans –even the Gap, which claims they’re for every generation. I’d love to find a generation in the older segment that can find a pair of jeans to fit them.”
Me, too, Marshal. Me too.
Denise Senter-Loyola, an “almost 40”-year-old executive at Alterian Software, says she has found herself giving in to the low-rise styles that dominate the jeans landscape.
“At first it was kind of weird,” Senter-Loyola says. “But I’m careful not to wear the really low ones to work. I’m a senior-level person. I have to be taken seriously.”
But, she added: “Some brands do a really good job.”
And she’s right. It wasn’t easy, but with dedication, perseverance and a little label language translation, I was able to find at least one pair of fashionable yet office-appropriate jeans in each of four popular stores. Follow along:
The Britney factor
“The Baby Boomers were the jeans generation, but that has changed,” Cohen says. “Now teenagers and young adults are the biggest buyers. Teenagers live, eat, sleep and breathe in jeans, while adults have the ability to wear them once or twice a week.”
Retailers are clamoring to feed the younger generation’s hunger, which explains the wall-to-wall denim that greets shoppers in such stores as Gap, Old Navy and Express.
Levi’s, eager to incorporate its denim in as many locales as possible, just announced last week that it’s launching a new line of jeans, Levi Strauss Signature, priced below $30 and available at Wal-Mart and other discount stores. Even Nordstrom has taken to calling itself the “Denim destination” in advertisements of late. “Fashion denim has hit its peak in the last year and a half,” Cohen says. “It’s really the only trend that has emerged in the last year and a half. Jeans and maybe peasant blouses.”
But, he notes, teenage and young-adult fashion trends are heavily influenced by the music and entertainment industries, causing retailers to fill their shelves with styles that would look great on Britney Spears but may not translate so well to the office. “[Teenagers] are trying to emulate their icons,” Cohen says.
Retailers, particularly Gap, clearly recognize this, casting famous actors, musicians and other stars in their advertisements.
But while Gap ads feature icons of all ages, the store’s recent jeans styles seem more appropriate for the mall set than the corporate-casual set.
Jill Robertson, Gap spokeswoman, denies Gap is skewing younger with its jeans, noting that “as our ad campaign indicates, we’ve got styles `for every generation.'”
“Gap is more about attitude than age,” she says.
Anyway. Regardless of your age (or your attitude), it’s easy to be intimidated by not only the sheer volume of jeans for sale, but also the overwhelming variety of style choices: Boot cut, low rise, super low, relaxed fit, weekend fit, flared leg, etc. (not to mention all the colors, textures and various ornamentation available).
“Every retailer has to jump on the bandwagon,” Cohen says. “So the retailers are all out there saying, `I have to be in the jeans business,’ but they have to find a reason to be a little different than the next guy. They have to establish price points.”
All of which should add up to me being able to find a pair of jeans or two for work.
Let the shopping begin
On a recent trip to the Nordstrom on Grand Avenue, I tried on six pairs of jeans. Four of them fit (relatively speaking), but were eliminated for various reasons: a Red Engine-brand “Low Rise” pair failed to cover the top of my underwear; a Halogen-brand “Drainpipe” pair seemed like a possibility until I sat down and was immediately stricken with cramps from having a tight swath of denim shoved into the lower, fleshy part of my stomach; the Levi’s “Super Low Groover Jean” was as bad as it sounds; and a pair of paperdenim&cloth brand actually made me laugh out loud (and not just because they cost $138).
No. 5, a “Low Rise Bootcut” pair from a brand called 7 (with the hilariously misguided motto “for all mankind” etched on a tag on the back pocket) never actually buttoned. I pulled them up as far as they would go, but the “waist” was located at the widest part of my hip, placing the back pockets roughly at the back of my knees and dashing any hopes I had of actually closing the deal. It was for the better. They were $123.
Pair No. 6, however, was a score! Halogen brand again, but this time the style was described on the tag as “boot cut, straight leg, button fly.” The waist was high enough to be respectable, but low enough to be fashionable. The butt and thighs were located at my actual butt and thighs. I sat down . . . no cramps! Best of all, they were $48. What a find!
Subsequent trips to Gap, Express and the Levi’s stores yielded similar results.
Gap: Of five pairs, I rejected three outright: The “Modern Bootcut” looked like a pair of denim-colored tights, but without the feet; the “Low Rise Boot Cut” was looser, but cut too low to sit down without causing what fashion experts refer to as “plumber’s butt”; and the “Long And Lean” was made for those far leaner than I.
But the “Boot Cut Stretch” and the “Flare” were both good options. They sat just slightly below the waist, were loose in the right places and had fun “leg openings,” as the tag calls them, that keep them looking hip.
Express: Tried on four, rejected three: The “Stretch Fit & Flare” claimed “sexy comfort” and then proved why such a statement is an oxymoron; the “Hipster Flare” was just too low; and the “Low Rise Flare,” while actually higher-waisted than the “Hipster,” was too tight for comfort everywhere but my ankles (not really my problem area).
The “Boyfriend” cut was the big winner, bolstering my friend’s theory that we should all just buy men’s jeans. The tag sums up the style best: “Medium Rise, Bootleg, Relaxed Style.” Amen, girlfriends!
Levi’s Store: Tried on four, rejected three whose names should have scared me away in the first place: The “TwoLow Jean” and the “Too Superlow” ride so low that there is no room for an actual zipper — just two buttons separate the legs from the waist. The third pair, a “Superlow Jean,” failed to button (see Nordstrom pair No. 5).
But the “Boot Cut Stretch Misses 515” was maybe the best pair I tried on at any store. They had a slightly lower rise and a slim, but flattering cut, plus the material was light enough to allow for ample movement. Priced at $54, they’re a positive godsend.
Lessons learned
It turns out fashion and function aren’t mutually exclusive. With the following things in mind, jeans shopping can be a fruitful experience: Words such as “super” and “too,” when preceding the word “low,” indicate the jeans will not cover your underwear (if you can even button them); the terms “hipster,” “modern” and “groover” often mean the jeans will be extremely tight in the butt and thighs, with plenty of room in the ankles; and “slim” and “lean” fits are clearly cut for people whose legs are the same width at the thigh as they are at the knee and calf.
Meanwhile, “bootcut,” “stretch” and even “low rise” (when not preceded by a superlative) shouldn’t scare shoppers away.
They are important features in the search for hip, modern jeans that won’t get you sent to Human Resources.
Eisa Colton, 25, says she wears low-rise jeans to her job at Grp Media on Wacker Drive, but admits, “I’ve had some trouble finding underwear.”
“And you have to make sure you have the right shirt to wear,” she says. “It can be pretty uncomfortable to sit down in them if you don’t have the right shirt.”
Still, she prefers the lower-cut jeans to higher-wasted styles.
“I like them,” she says. “I think they’re flattering.”
Translating the label
Jeans shopping doesn’t have to be an ego-bruising experience. Once you learn the lingo, you can avoid a large portion of the wince-inducing styles (see photo 1 at right) and zero in on a pair you can comfortably wear out of the house, maybe even for lunch with your boss. (see photo 2).
RISE: Where the waistband sits. When the tag describes the rise as “lower” or “medium,” it usually means the jeans will rest near the top of your hipbones — an up-to-date and often flattering look — rather than at your waist. Don’t automatically rule out “low rise” jeans, provided low is not preceded by “too,” “super” or “way.”
FIT: How the jeans hug your seat and thighs. Words like “slim,” “lean” and “contoured” often mean, simply, tight. Words like “relaxed,” “weekend” and “stretch” usually indicate a looser fit and a better choice for wearing to work.
LEG OPENING: How wide the pant legs are at the ankles. Bootcut jeans bell out slightly more than straight-legged jeans, but not as much as flare. Drainpipe means the legs are the same width top to bottom.
TRENDY TERMS: Words or expressions used to describe the jeans. “Hipster,” “groover,” “rockout” and the like anywhere on the label are probably not going to translate to an appropriate workplace look. Usually these kinds of descriptions translate into very low-slung, tight fashion jeans.
