7 Common Misconceptions About Shopping for Jeans
By Charles Manning
How to get great jeans for as little as $20.
A lot of people often have the wrong idea about what makes a good pair of jeans, so shopping for them feels like a chore, instead of something fun. It's not about spending a bunch of money on a designer label or getting bogged down by a bunch of stupid rules about dressing for your body. If you want to find the perfect pair of jeans for you, here are seven myths to keep in mind on your next denim shopping trip.
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1. Skinny jeans are only for skinny people.
Skinny jeans are flattering on almost everybody, especially curvy girls. They accentuate the natural shape of a woman's body and make her look taller. There is a common misconception that if you are curvy, you need flared or boot-cut jeans to balance out your hips, but those cuts can actually make you look shorter and heavier. Really, you want to focus on tapering silhouettes. If skinny just isn't your thing, try a slim boyfriend cut instead.
2. If a particular jean worked for you last season, it will work for you this season.
Sometimes designers make subtle changes to a design without renaming it or informing consumers, so it's possible that your favorite jean will not be there the next time you go shopping. So when you find a jean you absolutely love, it's a good idea to buy a few pairs while you still can.
3. Designer jeans have the best fit.
Designers love to say how amazing their fits are in order to justify the high price of their products, but, in reality, good fit is all about what looks good on your body, whether it's a $200 pair of Frame jeans or a $70 pair from Gap.
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Also, little known fact: Jessica Simpson jeans are the exact same fit as J Brand. No joke. The styling and fabrics differ, but the fit is the same.
4. Back pockets should be embellished.
Embellished jeans can be great when the embellishments are on the body of the jeans - a print, patches, beading, etc. - or just running down the side of the jean like a tuxedo pant, but the back pocket is the one place you NEVER want to see any sort of decoration. This means no logos, no flap pockets, and absolutely no rhinestones; they just look cheap.
High-contrast stitching can also cheapen the look of your jeans, so make sure the thread of your seams is either the same color as, or at least similar to the jeans themselves. That or a classic orangish-yellow color and thin - a single thread, no more. Otherwise, the stitching will end up distracting from the overall look.
5. You can't get a great pair of jeans for less that $50.
Lies! Uniqlo, H+M, and American Eagle make great jeans for less than $50 in a wide variety of cuts, colors, and washes that look way more expensive than they really are. Even Old Navy has really been stepping up their denim game recently, and their jeans go up to a size 20, many of them in short, regular, and long lengths.
6. You have to buy "short" jeans if you're short.
A decent tailor can hem any pair of jeans in a day or two. You don't even have to lose that special rolled hem all jeans have. Instead, your tailor can just cut that hem off and move it up wherever you want it. You won't even notice the seam unless you turn them inside out.
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7. You can totally do that distressing yourself.
Good distressing is an art not easily reproduced by amateurs. Sure, you can turn an old pair of jeans into cutoffs and run them through the wash a few times, but you'll never achieve the same kind of fraying you get on a pair of professionally distressed jeans. Ever worn your jeans until the knees ripped naturally? It's not so cute - just a horizontal gash with two sad, greying strings hanging down on either side. Professionally-made holes, on the other hand, are rounder and still have those horizontal threads running across them so they're ripped, but they don't look sloppy.
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