Wednesday, March 24, 2010

The Epic Battle of: Fatgirl VS Skinny Jeans

I have recently encountered one of the biggest shopping challenges ever...trying to find a pair of skinny jeans. Sounds easy enough right? Skinny jeans have been around for years now and are being sold by the millions in every shop imaginable. However let us not forget that I am in fact a fat girl, and that fact made the search for jeans 100 times more challenging than anything I had previously encountered (including the hunt for knee high boots that fit my calves).
So if it's such a challenge why bother? Why not wear regular fit jeans? Well I love shoes, boots, even sneakers and the best way to show off nice footwear is with skinny jeans or a skirt. So I started my search for a pair.

First there was a delay because it took the manufactures of plus size clothes quite a while to jump on the skinny jean bandwagon and once they did they managed to do it all wrong. Case in point below is a pic of me wearing my first pair of "skinny jeans"(HAH!). I purchased them online from an unnamed department store last spring...the manufacturer is calling these jeans "skinny" and I'm calling BULLSHIT!! A skinny jean should fit right on your ankle there should be little to no empty space between the jean and your skin around the calf and ankle. This jean is practically boot cut.

After that debacle I decided it was time to go shopping in person. I will admit that I had a bit of an issue strolling into stores as an obviously non skinny person and saying "oh I'm looking for skinny jeans", I always felt like I was being judged even though I never received so much as a raised eyebrow. Anyhoo six months and many stores later I have figured out a few things:

#1 Florescent lights are a bitch and a half. I know myself and I know clothes really well so I can go into any store pick up an article of clothing and know how it's going to fit without ever having to try it on. For this skinny jean hunt I ventured into fitting rooms for the first time in years, and found myself bouncing around tiny little rooms as I tried on jeans. I was sweating like a pig and fighting the urge to strip naked because of the heat from the ever present fluorescent track lighting. May I say that looking a hot mess never encourages me to shop so fitting room fail.


#2 As your jean size goes up so does the circumference of the ankle on the jeans so while you may find a true skinny jean in say a size 14 by the time you get to the top of the size chart which I believe is a 28 the ankle has increased significantly however not every big girl has thick ankles or calves. Case in point my nameless friend (who is a woman of size) was very excited a few weeks back when she ordered a pair of skinny jeans online and was very disappointed when they arrived and found that because of her slim calves and ankles her skinny jean turned into a straight leg. I warned her that would happen.

#3 Expensive is not always better. I detest buying work pants...you know beyond plain, un-fun, blah black slacks....because of my intense hatred I refuse to spend good money on them. I found that Ashley Stewart has line of "professional pants" that sells for $20-29. Now I do not like Ashley Stewart AT ALL, the clothes are usually tacky, poorly made and for some reason they are under the impression that plus size women like to wear massive amounts of leopard prints and pleather, but they make a good cheap "work pant". On a random trip to buy work pants I happened upon their stretch skinny jeans, and was shocked to see how well they actually worked. Unlike my $80 online purchase their 29.99 skinny jean was almost perfect and they come in petite which is great because I'm almost hobbit sized.
And they come on colors! Hot pink pants woohoo!! I think I want to get a shirt that says "Hot Pants" to wear with my pink jeans...kidding.


#4 Denim leggings are not skinny jeans but a close alternative. Both Target and Torrid offer denim leggings and they sell from from $20-$60. The Target version is very much a stretch jersey cotton legging stitched and dyed to look like jeans. Torrid offers a alternative by Z.Cavaricci that is a verrrrrrry verrrrrry light weight soft denim, and unlike the Target alternative these have pockets and button/zipper closures. I used the Torrid leggings for the 6 months it took me to find the Holy Grail of fat girl denim.


#5 Classics are classics for a reason....after months of searching I finally found a absolutely perfect pair of true skinny jeans in plus size made by non other than Levis. Perfect inside a boot or with pumps and cute sneakers. I had put off my search once I found the Ashley Stewart jeans but was surfing on Macys.com a couple of weeks ago looking for cropped "Boyfriend" jeans and peep toe booties when I my eyes caught sight of the "You might like" bar on the side of page and there they were, what looked like the perfect jeans reduced to $40 so I took a chance and placed them in my online shopping cart. They arrived this Monday and I literally screamed in excitement as I pulled the motherfuckers on (sorry, my jubilation has led to a potty mouth). I was shocked they are the perfect length and color, close fit from waist right down to ankles and they still managed to allow for a comfortable range of motion. I love them so....the Levi's Plus Ultraskinny jeans are currently available in indigo or black(I bought black).


So the fat girl emerged victorious in her quest to find plus size skinny jeans....my next challenge has yet to present it self but I'm game.

3 comments:

  1. hi tania! i did not know you had a blog! it's so cool! i love the name!

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  2. Ok........(as I turn from looking at Rina) now on to this article - I loved it -read the whole thing with suspense! I
    'm probably going to comment out of order but I so need a pair of Ashley Stewart's (for work of course) and I shopped around 3months ago for a pair of jean leggings at Macys and didn't get them - now I
    will look into torrid! am now so newly informed - empathetic with the hate for the small and badly lit fitting rooms and the false skinny jean mail order! So wonderful to have you out here championing us not-size-2-4-6-8 girls!!!! I'll tell you who I appreciate!!

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  3. Rina- Thank you! Coming up with the name was the hard part of this blogging adventure.
    Amarettogirl-Im glad that you liked it and found it useful, I'm hoping that it will make the search for skinny jeans for the non super skinny girls easier. I think sizing at Ashley Stewart size 12 and Torrid starts at a size 10.

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