Brand Roundup: Jeans

I am excited to bring you another installment of the Brand round up series; this time for denim jeans. It sounds like a lot of you found the bike short one really helpful!

I'd like to reiterate that these are simply to help you narrow in on your options and choose the best fit for you - I am not here to tell you exactly which brand to purchase from. Everyone will have to make that choice depending on their budget, size, accessibility, country of origin, etc.

This list is composed of suggestions I received via a suggestion box on my Instagram stories as well as my own research. Denim jeans are particularly hard to shop for, so I am also only including fast fashion brands if they carry plus sizes.

For what it's worth - Madewell was by far the most recommended.

Ethical production, sustainable-practices, & offer plus-sizes

• Big Bud Press - up to 67" hip, rigid + elastic, $85

• Warp + Weft - up to 54" hip, rigid and stretch denim, $88-98

• Lucy and Yak* - up to 52" hip, rigid denim, $56-73

• Decade Studio - up to 48" hip right now but next release in Jan/Feb will go up to a 4X, rigid denim, $185

*this brand has recently been called in for not extending their sizes further after consulting (unpaid) with multiple ethical fashion community members/experts 2 years ago, just FYI. They have responded on their IG but I think they need to be more accountable and transparent and demonstrate that they really understand why folks are upset. For more information on this, I highly suggest subscribing to Aja Barber's patreon.

It's unfortunate how little ethical/sustainable brands there are that offer plus sizes.

Sustainable-practices, & offer plus-sizes (no mention of ethical production)

• Universal Standard - up to size 40, stretch denim, $85-120

• Levi's** - up to 57.25", stretch and rigid denim, $98-290

• Madewell** - up to size 37 (US 24), petite/tall lengths offered, rigid and stretch denim available, $60-200

**I go back and forth with Levi's and Madewell in classifying them as strictly fast fashion or not - I think they are but they have moved toward more sustainable denim practices, so for this jean list I will keep them here.

Ethical production without plus sizes

• Beaton Linen - up to 48" hip, rigid denim, $260

• Esby - up to 48" hip, rigid denim, $278-298

• Imogene + Willie - up to 47" hip, rigid and stretch denim, $215-295

• The Indigo Prophet - up to 46.5" hip, rigid denim, $175

• Agolde - up to size 32, rigid denim, $158-228

• Armed Angels - up to size 32, 98%-100% cotton, $86-111

• Father's Daughter - up to size 32, rigid denim, $215-250

• Boyish - up to size 32, rigid denim, $148-168

• Nudie Jeans - up to 44" hip, rigid and stretch denim, $185-210

• Jesse Kamm - up to 43" hip, rigid denim, $395

• Frank and Oak - up to 43" hip, rigid and stretch denim, $90-100

Faster fashion & offer plus-sizes

I won't be going into detail with these brands, but these were also recommended by folks!

• ASOS

• American Eagle

• Collusion

• Hot Topic

• Old Navy

• Torrid

• Weekday

My thoughts & what I ended up buying

Clearly jeans are a difficult clothing item to purchase, especially for those who are not straight sized or who have an under represented body type. This is why I am including fast fashion brands in this round up because often times they have more offerings that fit a wider range of bodies.

I ended up purchasing jeans from two brands. The first being Decade Studio! I purchased because I was intrigued by their branding - they only do 100% cotton jeans but supposedly accommodate folks with a larger difference between their hips and waist. They only go up to a ~48" hip right now but I spoke with the founder and their extended sizes are already underway and scheduled to launch in Jan/Feb 2021 and will go up to a 4X. The founder also offers free "fit sessions" which are easy to schedule on their website and you get to chat with the founder and she gives you sizing advice and which style may work best for you. She also reiterates that they should feel super tight at first and will take about 7 wears to fully break in. Worth mentioning - they will also offer different inseam lengths in the next launch too.

The other pair I bought were from Madewell - they were overwhelmingly the majority for jean recommendations. I ended up getting the Classic Straight jeans in Coldbrook Wash (reg length) and they actually fit pretty great! They are 99% cotton/1% stretch so they do have a little give which makes them comfortable right away. I will say that I do have a slight waist gap with them, but I don't know that I could have comfortably sized down.

I will update more about both of these pairs on my instagram once I get a few more wears with them! And let me know if I missed your fave jean brand below <3