Making Your Denim Dreams Come True

If you know me, you know that I love denim, in fact, most of the time my pant of choice is a pair of jeans from my vast collection! It was no secret amongst my friends that I was the odd one out during the pandemic, still wearing jeans when most people were hanging in sweats. When I worked at Holt Renfrew, my job used to revolve around denim each day, finding women the perfect pair of jeans, so it’s safe to say I’ve picked up a trick or two that helps navigate the often frustrating, tiring task of shopping for new jeans. But, have no fear! I am here to share the wisdom, so you too can shop for denim like a pro!

Fuel yourself

This is key for any shopping trip, but especially for denim because for many it can be a frustrating and tiring process, taking different jeans on and off, on and off and sometimes not seeing any sort of payoff. Imagine doing that with no fuel in your body! Ten times worse! So let’s agree to skip all that, and start with optimism and a body with energy for the task at hand. That being said, I wouldn’t recommend hitting a buffet or anything like that. Keep it simple! A smoothie, or a coffee, maybe a protein bar. Light, but energizing is key!

Proper Undergarments

This probably isn’t one that people think will matter when it comes to denim shopping, but it can definitely make a difference in how you view the denim on your body. In a lot of cases shopping for denim and choosing a style that works for you, hinges on how your backside looks in the jeans. This isn’t always the case, but with denim in particular we tend to turn around first and see what the back looks like. With this in mind, I recommend wearing undergarments that don’t offer any major panty lines, we want a clear view without getting distracted by what undergarments may be doing underneath.

White Tee

Similarly to proper undergarments, wearing a white tee is key because it is neutral and won’t take away from the denim you’re looking at. It will also likely go with any style of jeans you put on, not to mention helps avoid any confusion in the fitting room.  Wearing something heavily printed for example, you might lose focus on the jean itself, and not like the denim because of how it pairs and ultimately stand in the fitting room wondering what they would look like if you were wearing a different top. If you don’t have a white tee, no stress, wear a basic neutral tee you have in your closet, but my inner wardrobe consultant does recommend you get a basic white tee because it’s definitely a wardrobe staple!

Try different styles

You might go into a store looking for your perfect pair of jeans and think, this is the style for me, this is what I need to find, but I encourage you to keep your options open! Try different styles, different brands, different colours. I’m not telling you to toss what you know you like out the window, but the key here is to try to keep an open mind. You never know, you might surprise yourself and put on a pair of jeans you would have never tried before only to find that they fit you perfectly, complimenting all your curves.

Pocket Placement and Details

Pockets are pretty important when it comes to jeans and are ever present on most denim, whether subtle or very detailed and eye-catching. Pocket placement is a key element when narrowing down the best fit for you. You want to make sure that the back pockets sit on your backside and are not drifting down. A higher pocket is going to be more flattering and more complimentary to this area, giving the illusion of a high hiney. If the pockets are low and not really on your butt, they will give a flatter illusion. Additionally, if you’re someone who say, wants to draw attention to your backside, look for pockets with embroidered details, as they will help to emphasize that area.

Rise

This can be a tricky one because rise is different for everyone and different rises can often be on or off trend. Try your best to stay true to yourself and what works best for you and your shape. I’ll use myself as an example, I’m quite short-waisted, so my best rise tends to be more of a mid-rise because it comes up just below my belly button and is high enough to keep everything I want in, while still complimenting and not further minimizing my already short torso. With that in mind, some high rises then become too high on me, shrinking my torso more. A lot of finding your right rise is trying on a lot of different denim and understanding your body and proportions.

Fabric and Sizing

Jeans come in so many different fabrics, some with stretch, some without, which unfortunately can make it even more difficult to find the right size, not to mention the right style for you. In a lot of cases, jeans with a high stretch content will allow you to go down a size because there’s a lot of give. If you try on your normal size and you can pull the waistband to reveal a large amount of space, try the size down. If that’s not the case, you should be good in your standard size. With denim that doesn’t offer stretch, you might find your standard size feels too snug and uncomfortable, in this case, you might consider sizing up for your comfort.

Take a seat

Denim is such a key wardrobe staple and we have to be able to do a lot in our jeans, sit, stand, not to mention breathe. It is so important that when you’re trying on different jeans, in addition to seeing how they look on, you’re also sitting to see if you’ll be comfortable doing this simple activity. If you’re not, it’s a no for me. We don’t want standing-only jeans, that’s not realistic to life. You want to be able to stand, sit, walk, play and dance!

Don't settle

In my experience, the right pair of jeans should make you feel confident and like you want to strut down a street. If on your first denim hunt, you don’t find a pair of jeans that sparks this kind of joy, keep looking, my friend! Finding this kind of denim can take time, but is so worth it. While it might feel inconvenient to have to continue the search, there’s nothing worse than a pile of mediocre denim that you don’t love, so set your standards high, find joy in the search, and do not settle for anything less than your perfect pair of jeans!

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