Jeans after 40!

I am on the search for a decent fitting pair of jeans for the first time in probably seven years.  I have pretty much avoided jeans since my early 30’s with the exception of one or two pairs.  For the longest time I wore Gap low riders for men. These fit perfectly – room in the butt and thighs and rested comfortably on the hip. Then, low riders became fashionable for women, Gap changed the cut of my favorite standby jeans, and I switched to khakis because the trendy women low riders did not have extra room in the rear or thighs!

Jeans have always been a challenge for me as  I have a butt! As kids, my brother fondly, or not so fondly, called me bubble butt.  In my college years and a few years after, I wore painted on jeans as those seemed to fit my butt and waist. However, back in those days there wasn’t an excess of extra flesh. Well, age changes the body and while I may not have gone above the weight range for my height, I have most definitely added pounds and flesh. In other words, I am a lot more squishy.  Now putting on a pair of tight jeans displaces flesh in a not so flattering look. Jeans that fit in the butt & thighs have at least three inches of extra material in the waist.

The last jean shopping expedition, I remember it well,  was sometime right after grad school when I  wanted one pair of jeans that fit. I was on business  trip in San Diego so I went shopping at Nordstroms. There was a sales woman there committed to finding me a pair of jeans that fit! Thanks to her and spandex, I purchased a nicely fitted pair of jeans by Jag. I have since bought two pair of jeans without the help of a sales person. One is acceptable, the other would be at my knees with one firm tug. Hopefully, I am wearing my pretty panties. Seriously, it is a look that I don’t find flattering on the kids that wear them much less a 40 something woman. As I attempt reentry into the dating scene, I thought a few pairs of flattering fit jeans might be a good idea. There is nothing sexy about saggy butt jeans not to mention hiking them up from time to time.  Not exactly the image I want to portray. Help was in order so off to Nordstroms I went for another try.  The pleasant and very young sales woman brought in several high-priced jeans, which brought back flashbacks from childhood arguing with my dad why Wranglers were NOT acceptable to wear to high school! Out of the handful, one made it over my butt. The sales woman raved about how good they looked. I am thinking, are you kidding me!?  I know the economy has taken a turn since my last quest for jeans, but c’mon commission or not the $180 soft as butter jeans redistributed my lacking in muscle tone butt by flattening it like a pancake and creating a ledge right above my hamstrings. There was nothing flattering about that look that I could see. I thanked her for her time and headed back to my car resisting the urge to drown my disappointment in a milkshake!

I have since received a few recommendations so my journey for a flattering pair of jeans continues!