Jane’s jeanealogy

not to be confused with grandma Pat’s genealogy…

I love fashion. In another life, I am sure that I lived in Manhattan and had a contemporary office at a company designing clothes amongst dozens of other women with the same interest. I love the ability fashion gives to imagine, create, and transform ourselves everyday. I love fabrics, textures, ruffles, jewelry, accessories, shoes, and seeing what other people have put together. I can flip through magazines or people watch for hours. I love people who have a unique individuality and set themselves apart from the normal crowd. I find myself drawn to them.

Moving on, if you are offended by the amount of cash that can be spent on jeans, please don’t read on…

I am a big fan of designer jeans, there, I have admitted it. I always have been. Since the days of Guess, Lucky Jeans, Girbaud, I have been hooked. I can buy shoes at Payless, shirts at Target, find great deals almost anywhere on everything, but jeans. Don’t mess. I dislike buying cheap jeans. {Of course, excluding the early married years when we were beyond broke. It’s even entertaining to look at photos from then to see what I was wearing…}

Anyway, here is my current jeanealogy – or what I recommend if you are out shopping for a new favorite pair of two-legged denim…

If you can find a size that fits, my all-time favorite jeans are “7 for all mankind,” fashionably a.k.a. “Sevens.” The reason the company is named, “7 for all mankind,” is because there is not just one body type out there in the world. There are at least 7 of all mankind. When trying on these jeans, it is recommended that if you are, for example, a size 26, you don’t just try on one pair of size 26 jeans, you should try on a few because they have cut each pair just slightly different. And, the denim has a stretch to it to stretch in different places for everyone. Love that. Always buy jeans fairly to very fitted so that by mid-day when you get the denim sag, they still look flattering; without giving the stretch-out frumpy perception. The original, most common pair of Sevens are these –
although, you can now find them in dozens of other designs and washes since the company began in 2000. These are still my standby favorites, I could honestly consider sleeping in them.

Higher on the price scale, but oh-so-worth the investment are “True Religion Brand Jeans.” These are by far my favorites on guys and very fashion statement making for the ladies. There’s not much cuter than seeing a little kids bum in a pair of True Religions – take KJ’s here {and big papi’s}, for example… There is a standard jean they design, but for the most part finding a really unique pair of True Religions is much more enjoyable. This is my latest investment…True Religions with a little bling…

Next in line for my favorite denim, would be “Citizens of Humanity” a.k.a. Citizens. There original jean looks like this –although there are many styles to choose from these days.

Rumor is, if you carry a little more junk in your trunk, “Joe’s jeans” are the answer. I have a couple pair of these, but, in my opinion, they don’t make a very big fashion statement, and if they are competing with my “Sevens”…the Sevens win. this is one pair I own, the “rocker.”

“Rock & Republic” jeans are a favorite for many, although, it’s not doing much for me these days…their “RR” logo marks the bum of most of their jeans unless you purchase their exclusive line of “Victoria Beckham’s” which then has a crown on the bum…

“575 jeans” are a killer jean that doesn’t get as much hype as some of the jeans do. 575’s are more common for men, but I love them. This is the pair I own –

Other denim worth mentioning, is:
1921
Tavernitti
Antik
Diesel
Paige Denim
William Rast

If you are currently jean-shopping, I recommend finding these in the links given. Or, check our your local Nordstrom, because getting them hemmed is free of charge. Make sure you always take your new jeans home, wash them inside out to save the color from fading and hang dry them. If you’re not worried about shrinking the waste too much and they are really long, I would even dry them in the dryer ONCE before getting them hemmed to make sure they have done some of the shrinking that could take place in case you ever forget to hang-dry them in the future. Also, another reason you d
o not want to put designer denim in the dryer is because it will ruin the great stretch in the fabric.

Some other online sites that I have used and recommend are –
Revolve Clothing
Shopbop
Love Bubble Clothing

Now, you can disregard all of my jeanealogy and keep cherishing your $15.00 Kirkland jeans or what have you, but I will still swear that the investment made for a really terrific pair of jeans is worth it. I am fully aware of my addiction/interest in consumerism. 🙂