about the jeans. (a really long, slightly sarcastic ode to my Sevens)

due to popular demand. well, really due to two requests, i'm blogging about my jeans. the designer jeans. the ones that changed my life. saying two pair of jeans are life-changing may seem like a bit much. but it's not. it's true. and here's why.

my life before the designer jeans was fine. i completed every-day tasks with vigor and enthusiasm. i found outfits to wear each day from my closets full of non-designer clothing. and i always had enough to eat, enough warmth and enough love to get me through. but something - something was missing.

my jeans never fit right.

now for a bit of a related tangent:
a few years ago i started to notice women wearing heels with jeans. heels. with jeans. what? and i thought it looked silly and uncomfortable and like something i would never, ever do. so i stuck to my 'jeans shoes' and to flats. i became quite fond of a particular pair of light pink leather flats that i purchased on sale at DSW. i loved them. so much that the light pink soon turned even lighter and ugly black scuff marks began to appear at the toe. it was a sad day when i realized the light pink flats were no longer up to snuff. but, i digress.

we're still talking about jeans:
i've purchased maybe 3 pair of jeans since college. One pair, a straight-legged, good-for-cuffing, dark blue jean, was purchased on sale at banana republic. but soon, the straight-leg style looked out-of-fashion and odd. and i didn't like the way the ankle of the jeans meshed with my shoes. those were quickly designated 'just for summertime cuffing.'

i bought another pair on sale at anthropologie. and when i say 'on sale,' i mean it. $25 for a $100-pair of jeans. i like them. but they are a shade of blue that i'm not obsessed with. and they stretch out easily. they're also long and only look right with boots. so, these jeans were 'for winter only.'

my third pair of jeans since college is a pair i bought from dillards. the brand is see through soul. and i like them only for about the first 30 minutes of wearing them. then, they stretch out to all hell and get baggy in strange places. they end up falling too low beyond my 'crack' and getting too baggy in the thighs. they are the perfect length for flats, though, which is good for my fooot and my recovering stress fracture. so, i still wear them from time to time.

one day, while wearing my dillard's jeans, my mind was preoccupied with how they were stretching and didn't look right and how i just wished i had a perfect pair of jeans. and i went home early that day and turned on Oprah and it was the episode about jeans and how finding the right fit in the right style will make any woman look slimmer, taller, more fun, sexier and like a cover girl. okay. maybe not more fun, sexier and like a model, but i can dream, right?

so, i started investigating the designer jeans idea. my sister had a few pair of sevens. and i knew she loved them. and i saw girls around the office wearing them and they looked great and cute and fun. and so, i started exploring my options. first, i went to a local high-quality thrift store. they had sevens. but not my size. i'm not a 21 or 22 or even a 24 and so i was out of luck at getting them for the cheap thrift-store price of $70.

i looked online. but, i wanted to try them on first as it is, according to Oprah, very important to try them on, get the right fit and pay no attention to what size they are. as long as they look great, who cares if they're a size 8 or 12 or 6, right? right.

so, i broke down and went to nordstrom's. actually, nick surprised me and took me to nordstrom's where i was overwhelmed by the vastness of the designer jeans department. i must have taken 30 pair into the fitting room. i found on pair that i loved. and i mean, LOVED. they're the "7" pocket sevens. and they rock. and then, i tried on a pair of Citizens of Humanity, a somewhat lower-priced brand, and LOVED them, too. and while i was planning all along to pick ONE pair, nick said I could have both. what? yes.

to top it off, according to Oprah, pointy-toed heels beneath jeans make the legs look longer and the jeans look better, which is totally true. thankfully, i already had one pair. and i had a gift certificate to DSW to buy another pair. so now, i'm set. and let me just tell you that i am so happy. these jeans fit. like a glove. and after a day (or two) of wear, they still look perfect. not stretched out. not wrinkled. not baggy. not too short or too long. perfect.

and they're comfortable. and they look good with t-shirts or sweaters or hoodies or blouses or just on the hanger. yes, they look great on the hanger. and i never worry anymore about what jeans will go with what shoes because my deigner jeans look good with my pointy heels. and i'm okay with that.

if you're still reading, thank you. and go get the woman in your life a pair of designer jeans. or two.