It is time to face the sad truth: my beloved Gap left weave long and lean jeans have finally had it. There is a hole on the inside of the right leg and although it is patched, it still looks unsightly for anything other than hanging around the house. This left me with a problem – I didn’t have any other flared jeans the right length for wearing with flats. And so began the great jean quest of December 2008.
Time was tight – I wanted to wear my new blue flats last night and needed jeans to go with them. Fortunately the local retail park has a few choices of womenswear shops. I went to Dorothy Perkins first – their jeans are fairly cheap and I had such great success with the last Tall pair I bought there. I figured I’d just get some in the longer length from the normal range and they would be fine. No. I don’t know what has happened to the sizing in DP lately, but I’m finding everything is coming up small. I tried 5 pairs of jeans and not one fit right.
So I went next door to Gap. I’ll just replace my Long & Lean jeans with another pair I thought. No. The cut has completely changed in there too, and I couldn’t get my usual size of Long and Lean on. I know it’s not me as the pairs I have, marked in the same size as those I tried on, fit me fine. The only style I could get on in my regular size was the Curvy ones, but even they were a bit low cut for my liking. There ended my love of Gap Long & Lean jeans.
The only option left was River Island. Now for some reason I had it in my head that River Island’s sizing was tiny and there was no way I would get anything in there, but I gave it a go anyway. I tried on every style of flared and bootcut jean they had in blue and in the longer length and two styles were great. I ended up with both. One style is the skinny flared (pictured above) and the other is the relaxed bootcut (which does not appear to be on the website). Yes the sizes differ from most high street stores (most places a UK 14 is a EUR 42 but in RI it is a EUR 40), but I bought a 40 and a 42 so the cut can’t be that skimpy. I’ve just checked the website and it says that the longer length is 33” but the pairs I’ve got are definitely more like 35”, which is perfect for me.
Anyway, I was really pleased because this will encourage me to go in RI again. The store near me only opened in the summer so it’s all shiny and new still which always makes shopping more pleasureable.
The only option left was River Island. Now for some reason I had it in my head that River Island’s sizing was tiny and there was no way I would get anything in there, but I gave it a go anyway. I tried on every style of flared and bootcut jean they had in blue and in the longer length and two styles were great. I ended up with both. One style is the skinny flared (pictured above) and the other is the relaxed bootcut (which does not appear to be on the website). Yes the sizes differ from most high street stores (most places a UK 14 is a EUR 42 but in RI it is a EUR 40), but I bought a 40 and a 42 so the cut can’t be that skimpy. I’ve just checked the website and it says that the longer length is 33” but the pairs I’ve got are definitely more like 35”, which is perfect for me.
Anyway, I was really pleased because this will encourage me to go in RI again. The store near me only opened in the summer so it’s all shiny and new still which always makes shopping more pleasureable.
I'm a huge fan of River Island's jeans - they're one of the few places on the high street where I can get a perfect fit and I find the denim is normally good quality and lasts for ages. I often hear people slag RI off for using loads of "bling" on their denim, but there are lots of plain pairs too, which are the ones I buy!
ReplyDeleteThe leg length has definitely gotten longer, though! I used to wear a "regular" leg from RI, but in the past year I've had to start buying "short". I'm pretty sure my legs aren't getting shorter, so can only assume the leg lengths are getting longer - which I guess can only be a good thing if you're tall!
I have just become a convert to RI denim. These are my new favourite pair of jeans and I can see myself wearing them to death over the next few months.
ReplyDelete