Welcome to Jeans Month on the Strategist, where we’re obsessively vetting denim — from trying on every pair at the Gap to asking dozens of stylish people about their favorite fits. For more, head to our Jeans Month hub.
Shopping for jeans is tough. Shopping for plus-size jeans, while once nearly impossible, has gotten easier over the years as more brands have started to offer extended sizing. However, most brands still only offer 100 percent cotton denim up to a size 32.
Stretch denim — which adds elastane, spandex, or Lycra to cotton — is more forgiving when it comes to fit. But in my experience, it never holds its shape and never lasts for more than a year because the elastane weakens the cotton. One hundred percent cotton denim, on the other hand, is quite rigid on first wear and requires a breaking-in period, but over time, the jeans mold to your body, creating a much nicer shape, and they last much longer.
I hunted for a dream pair of non-stretch denim for years. And one day, I found them at a Mara Hoffman sample sale. Not too long, not too cropped. One hundred percent cotton, high-rise with a straight leg, and a button-fly closure. The Georgina Pant was perfect. “They look like they were made specifically for you,” my best friend had said. The following year, I bought a second pair, confident in the knowledge I had finally found a place to buy jeans. Then the brand shut down.
While I take excellent care of my precious pants, one day soon I will wear holes into the inner thighs of my beloved Georginas. I can’t fight friction forever. So it’s time to go back to the drawing board and find their replacement. For context: I’m five-foot-six with a 32-inch inseam, and usually wear a size 18 in pants. But with a 39.5-inch waist and 53-inch hips, I have a pretty large hip-to-waist ratio, which makes it hard to find jeans without a waist gap that will still fit over my hips and thighs.
I tried on 17 pairs of jeans in a variety of styles. Overall, it was disappointing to see how the plus-size selections have shrunk this past year and how few options there were. But I found a few pairs that came close to fulfilling the brief and one pair that actually blew me away.
The Cropped Jeans
Wray NYC has an adorable storefront on the Lower East Side that is definitely worth a visit, as they keep a robust stock of all their plus sizes in addition to their straight-size clothes, which is not something you can say for a lot of brands. Their salespeople are also wonderful, and the service is top notch. It’s actually a joy to try on clothes here. I tried on the Hester Jean and was very taken by the contrast orange stitching and the brand’s nifty, adjustable elastic waistline. It offers the option of wearing the jeans looser or tighter but, unlike Big Bug Press, it’s been sewn into the waistline so you can’t see it. The jeans are definitely cropped on my frame, but if you’re petite, these are a great option.
It’s probably no surprise that the Drew Cropped Jean from British-based brand Lucy and Yak is, well, cropped. Though it is slightly less cropped than the Hester Jean, I prefer a pair that doesn’t show my ankles. These jeans are made from 100 percent GOTS Certified Organic cotton denim and have a non-elastic waist.
The Carpenter Pair
The Big Bud Press trouser jeans looked like a diaper on me, but the carpenter jeans fit much better. At 14.5 ounces, they had the thickest, most rugged denim of all the jeans I tried on. The only flaw is that the back of the waistband is elastic, which takes the jeans from workwear to kindergarten very fast. We can do better!
The Barrel Jeans
If my high-school self could see me trying on Abercrombie jeans, she would laugh. But the brand’s more size-inclusive image has been going strong for a few years now, the crown jewel of which is the Curve Love line, which is designed to accommodate curvier hips and thighs without any waist-gapping. However, almost all of Abercrombie’s Curve Love offerings feature stretch denim. The one pair I was able to find in non-stretch made it over my hips and fit through my leg but, once buttoned, left a pretty significant waist gap, so I would have to get them taken in.
Good American’s take on a barrel fit much better, though I did need to size down to a 16. They did, however, run about two inches too long, so I would have to get them hemmed or only wear them with heeled shoes.
The Runner-up
Because Eloquii only makes clothes for sizes 12 to 34, they had a large selection of denim to choose from. I liked both the Tall Cuff Jean and theYvette Rigid Wide Leg Jean (though the former was unsurprisingly too long), but I was very happy with the brand’s Loose Fit Jean. While the denim wasn’t as thick as I would’ve liked and there was no button fly, I did like the loose fit through the leg. And the $100 price point is hard to beat.
The Winner
Decade Studio is based out of Vancouver, but it was in New York for a trade show, so I trekked out to Chelsea to try on a few pairs. The brand designs its pants with different hip-to-waist ratios in mind, which seemed super-promising.
The second I buttoned up the Andy Jean, I knew I had found my perfect match. They have a high-rise waist with a straight leg. They are made with 100 percent cotton sourced from an Italian mill and have a sturdy 13.5 ounce weight. They also have the nonnegotiable five-button fly I was after. After the first few wears, they started to break in beautifully, and I look forward to seeing how they continue to shape to my body over time. They do run a bit long, but I actually love the way they looked cuffed, which surprised me. And while the price tag is a bit steep, they feel like jeans I’ll have for the rest of my life.
I never thought I’d love again after Georgina, but Andy has proven me wrong.
The Strategist is designed to surface useful, expert recommendations for things to buy across the vast e-commerce landscape. Every product is independently selected by our team of editors, whom you can read about here. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change.
