My legs feel amazing
On trying to quit skinny jeans
It turns out millennials have A LOT of feelings about skinny jeans. After sharing a link on Instagram to my newsletter last week (about trying — and failing — to buy wide-leg jeans) I got a wave of impassioned responses from my fellow millennials:
“DONT LET THEM CHANGE U”
“I wish I knew how to quit you (skinny jeans)”
“I CANT QUIt them”
Y’all — these fucking pants have us in a chokehold.
I still remember getting my first pair: It was 2005 and I was in my second year of university.
I was not a jeans person in high school. I couldn’t stand the flared pant trend and low-rise jeans were a no-go zone for a girl with raging body dysmorphia. But when skinny jeans came calling, baby, I answered.
I was in a major indie-rock phase, so swingy side bangs, skinny jeans, and my beloved boxing boots were gold to me — perfect for dancing in sweaty clubs till sunrise then stumbling to the nearest diner for breakfast. I wore that same mid-rise pair until I physically could not squeeze my body into them anymore.
And, basically, I’ve never looked back.
Oh sure, I’ve had some “straight-leg” styles over the years (AKA skinny jeans with more breathing room in the ankles) but really, I have never worn another cut of jean. And I was absolutely fine with that until this summer/fall when I started to notice wide-leg jeans on other women. They just looked so comfortable. But, as you’ll know if you read my last letter, my first attempt at buying wide-leg jeans left me cold. They gave me tree-trunk legs and that did not make me feel cute!
BUT I have an update: I BOUGHT SOME WIDE-LEG JEANS AND THEY RULE!!!
I decided to return my failure jeans IRL to Old Navy instead of sending them back in the mail, and while I was there I picked out a few pairs to try on (because the cardinal rule of shopping for denim is: TRY THAT SHIT ON).
And after a couple more failures, I slipped my body into these. These glorious, glorious beauties.
These pants are pure sartorial delight. They’re mid-rise, they’ve got a rip in the knee (which I like — I think it adds a little visual interest), and they’re intentionally cropped so I don’t have to deal with an awkward length (a very real problem as a tall woman).
I never — repeat never — would have picked these out online. They are styled in the ugliest way possible on Old Navy’s website (with a tucked-in blouse and flat Mary Janes, for god’s sake!) but IRL they spoke to me. Nay, friends, they sang to me. And they taught me something important about my taste in pants: I love a mid rise! And it loves me back!
Since giving birth I’ve felt I could only wear high-waisted jeans (fucking body dysmorphia!) but high-waisted jeans are not always that comfortable??? They’re kind of hard to sit down in, and they sometimes upset my stomach because they’re so tight, and yet I wear them anyway! Why! Anyway, it turns out a mid-rise jean (like my beloved first pair of skinny jeans) is where it’s at for me. They sit just at my belly button, rather than way up at my natural waist, and they’re fairly loose all the way down without being tree-trunk-y. It’s great.
I have worn these jeans every single day this week (is that gross? I don’t care) with sweaters, sweatshirts, a tee and a long knitted duster — I can’t stop. They are the sweatpants of denim and I am smitten.
Long story short: Skinny jeans and I have decided to open up our relationship. I'm already seeing other people, and I love it. It’s (probably) not goodbye forever — I am a millennial after all — but I’m willing to consider it. My legs feel amazing.