Content note: This post is not sponsored, I just really bloody love these jeans. (Really, really.)
As a woman who goes through life feeling (and looking) like a very awkward, very uncoordinated tree, jeans shopping has always been tricky.
Nearing 180cm in height, every pair of jeans I yank onto my legs end up looking like 3/4 length cut-offs. Both of my sisters, Evelyn and Claire, experience the same problem… it’s kinda like trying to fit a giraffe into a sock.
You see, tall women are outcasts, existing on the fringes of Jeans Society, longing for the warm embrace of fabric on our calve/ankle area.
So at 23, I had all but admitted jeans defeat, and resigned myself to a life with chilly cankles.
Until Claire, bless her lanky soul, told me a piece of information that would change my life forevermore.
“The $30 jeans at H&M,” she whispered into my ear during an episode of Masterchef one night. “You will never look back.”
“You idiot,” I hissed while Matt Preston pondered the complexities of grilled halloumi. “$30 jeans would be so flimsy they’d disintegrate into my skin.”
Oh, how wrong past Michelle was.
LISTEN: “No skinny jeans after 47” a completely unhelpful fashion study says. (Post continues…)
The next day I found myself walking past H&M, and marched straight towards the jeans section to eye off the ‘DIVIDED Super Skinny High Waist’ jeans.
“$30,” I mouthed, slowly. “Thiiiiirtyyyyyy Dollaaaaaaars.” I squinted, looked behind my shoulder, then back to the jeans again. “Thirty. Dollars.”
I’ve spent more on shitty burgers at suburban restaurants. $30 seemed too good. And considering H&M was recently listed as one of the world’s most ethical companies, I was CONVINCED that I was being short-changed on quality. I mean, I’m not daft (unless we’re talking about geography… then I am very daft, but that’s a whole other issue).
I squinted at the price tag some more, and inspected the fabric. The stitching. The… smell.
I can confirm: they felt, looked, and… smelt … like ordinary jeans; and no, not like the $400 jeans you would find in Sass & Bide, but a lot like the ones I’d paid $109.95 for online 10 months prior. (Currently at the bottom of my floordrobe… too short.)
Okay, so real talk, the material was thin and stretchy, but in a good I-could-eat-a-heap-of-dumplings-in-one-sitting-without-unbuttoning kinda way.
Hmmmm.
I hauled them into the change room and slid them on.
They weren’t only LONG ENOUGH… they might have even been a touch TOO LONG. I could CUFF THEM IF I WANTED, YOU GUYS.
They were a great fit. Tight, but not too tight. High enough to conceal my belly button. Stretchy enough to put my shoes on without plummeting into the mirror and suffering a concussion.
I had tapped into a wizardly underbelly of the jeans world, you guys, one that made my cankles feel warm and loved and special! I basically moonwalked to the register and flashed my Westpac debit card with the confidence of a white male real estate agent.
That was over two weeks ago.
Not only have my $30 black skinny jeans braved the frosty temperatures of Bendigo for Groovin' The Moo music festival, they've survived me wearing them day in, day out for the last fortnight with no sign of stretching around the waist or vanishing into thin air.
Basically, they're bloody brilliant.
I'm under no illusion these bad boys will last a full year, but for such a low price point, and great fit? I don't really care.
I'll just buy another when they die. Hell, I might even buy two.
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Top Comments
I know the struggle with my 35 inch inseam. When I was in school my mum had to add a strip of fabric at the bottom of my pants and it never matched properly- sooo embarrassing!!
However I now buy all pants from GAP (US only, not the cr@p Aussie version) and Banana Republic. They are amazing and always have sales online and ship to Australia. Ann Taylor is also great but pricier.
GAP have 'regular' size that come in short, regular and long lengths - with the long being 35 inches. They then have a 'tall' range which come in 37 inch inseam!! (See http://www.gap.com/browse/p....
Because I need suits etc for work, it is worth it for me to travel there every 3 years and restock my wardrobe plus I get a vacation. The 'tall' are often only available online so I buy lots in advance in multiple sizes and styles and ship to my hotel, try them on and then return what I don't want (you can return instore at the local mall). I fly over with virtually empty bags and buy an extra baggage allowance for coming home ($123 on Qantas for 1 extra on top of the 2 already allowed).
I'm currently in Hawaii and have just done this. I've got 3 full suits (wool!) with 2 pants for each and skirts that don't look like mini skirts!, plus 6 pairs of jeans, plus 4 casual pants, plus 'tall' blouses so they actually cover my long arms and stay tucked in. Shoes are also a bargain at the outlet malls - $20 for leather flats with memory foam for comfort! All up, I spent maybe US $3k on clothes and I have a whole new wardrobe full of clothes that actually fit well!!! Plus I had a holiday (and there are always cheap flight and accommodation options).
I got really excited about this article! And then remembered I'm not 180cm tall but 190cm! The leg length still sounds promising but the real question I have is are they fanny crunchers? As many tall women know the 'longer length' option often only offers extra length in the legs, not anywhere else. Which means you're fine until you sit down. At which point the lack of extra length above your crotch causes an extreme camel toe (or as my sister calls it, a fanny crunch). Not a pleasant experience. So are these fanny crunchers (or do they have that potential if you're 10cm longer???)