A fashion editor has made the perfect vintage-inspired style.
Finally—Plus-Size Jeans That Aren't Stretchy Skinnies!
At a recent dinner party, my fiancé caught me undoing the top button of my jeans at the table. Maybe not my finest moment, but it was that or turn down a second helping of gnocchi. (Which was not going to happen.) Truth is, that fashion adjustment is common for me; I’ve never found a pair of jeans made to fit my round-through-the-middle shape. Instead I’ve had to settle for ones that fit my legs but cut—sometimes painfully—into my belly.
After that I asked my friends who wear above a size 12 whether they have similar denim woes—and received a resounding yes. A few comments I heard: "I can’t find jeans for my proportions; my waist is a size 22, but my legs are an 18, "Can someone make a waistband that smooths my stomach? I’m over covering it up with long shirts,” “I need an ankle length that doesn’t ride up because it’s too small through the calf.”
As for style, women told me they crave the vintage-looking straight-leg cut popping up all over Instagram, not the skinny jeans that have reigned supreme in the plus-size market for years: “I want straight legs that aren’t skintight—and don’t look like I spent half an hour squeezing into them, please," “It’s time for stiffer denim that doesn’t rip in the thighs. I’ll pay any price,” "Where do I find looser, nonfrumpy, boyfriend-esque jeans?”
While many brands do make plus-size denim, most don’t fulfill the above requests because they focus only on über-stretchy skinnies that feel, IMO, like leggings. I get it: Bigger bodies carry weight differently, and stretch fabric best accommodates those differences. But they often sacrifice quality. “From a garment-construction standpoint, stretch denim doesn’t have to fit perfectly because the material is so forgiving,” says Scott Morrison, founder of luxury denim brand 3x1. According to Morrison, 100-percent-cotton denims, found in most vintage jeans, are much more rigid than today’s blends. That can create an on-trend look but poses fit problems for curvier frames. Still, this is 2017—we have driverless cars, for God’s sake!—there must be a way to improve options, and I wanted to make it.
So with my friends’ requests in mind, Morrison and I set out to create a better mousetrap. Why him? Through its bespoke program at the store in New York City, 3x1 is able to make personalized jeans in any size. “We open the door for anyone to come in and play designer,” he says. “We once made a pair with a 60-inch waist.” I went through that program’s steps to create a perfect pair for you—well, us.
We started with three prototypes. Each was the cropped straight-leg everyone told me they coveted, designed to fit women who are widest through the waist and made with 98 percent cotton and 2 percent spandex. (I’d suggested we make a jean with 100 percent cotton legs and a stretch-denim waist but was quickly shot down. “You can’t create a Franken-jean made out of different fabrics, because they each shrink at different rates,” Morrison explained. “Wherever those two pieces of fabric joined, there would be some gathering.”)
Each of the samples had different fit solutions. The first had a fully elastic waistband, but once I tried it on (above), I saw that the gathering Morrison warned against created an odd pouf. The second had elastic panels inserted where the pockets would be, like maternity pants; though they felt amazing, they slid down after a few laps around the store (and we decided anything inspired by pregnancy silhouettes could be insulting). Third was the sample we crowned the winner. It had a contoured waistband that pulled in at the high hip with an interior compression panel over the lower abdomen, to smooth and ensure the jeans stay upright.
Glamour and 3x1 jeans, $255, 3x1.us
The best part: You can now buy our superjeans at 3x1.us! And if you’re not into them? My feelings won’t be hurt. But I do insist you learn these denim tips:
- Buy for your biggest part (generally your waist or hips) and have a tailor take in the rest. You can also add a button extender (from amazon.com) for more room in the waist.
- Cut too-long hems with scissors, then pull out some of the weft yarns (the white fringe) for effect.
- Keep your favorite pair from stretching out by washing and machine-drying jeans every two wears, or spray the insides with starch, then iron for a stiffer look.
I’m down with however you get your hands on (butt in?) your perfect jeans. Just be prepared for compliments!
Related:
The 5 Jeans to Cut From Your Closet—And the Ones to Shop Instead
It's Finally Here: Tanya Taylor Is Launching Plus Sizes!
This story originally appeared on: Glamour - Author:Condé Nast
