I've nattered more than once on here about being a bit tired of my skinnies and tube skirts narrow on the bottom fallback silhouette. Yes, I need to wear skinnies in winter when the weather is truly awful. Yes, tube skirts have been a literal godsend to me at times. But a person does get tired of the same old, same old. And while I managed to get one great A-line summer skirt last year and 2 nice lightweight culottes this year, I just retired my two wide leg jeans for reasons of fit/ wear and only own one pair of winter culottes. I was really in the market for new trousers and also very open to updated denim.

A side note: In the past three very stressful years I've gained about 13 pounds. The good part: I can wear some V-necks! I fill out my tops and bras! I could even consider a wrap if it were the right one!

The bad news...I do need to wear a new size on the bottom. I used to wear a 26 and now I wear a 27 in most jeans.

Anyway. Here is what I tried, what I bought, and what I'm stalking.

I tried the Madewell Emmett windowpane pant. I'd say these TTS. They are a super fun pant and I'm tempted to go back for them. You can see them on Angie in one of her posts. Unfortunately we forgot to photograph them on me. They were really comfy. They'd be good for someone whose winter is fairly mild, I think, because they are mainly cotton. I wasn't sure I'd reach for them beyond September in my climate and you have to commit to the pattern on the bottom.

The VB Gemini crop pants were sold out in any size that would remotely fit me but I tried on a really large size just to get the sense of them. GORGEOUSLY made pant, wool, and lined. Super comfortable. A slim but not tight tapered fit like a classic cigarette pant. Very flattering. I am strongly considering these if I can find my size. The pattern is very adaptable -- you could pair it with many different colours.

The EF boyfriend jean was a surprising hit. I bought a 2, which means they run large, as is typical for EF. They are high waisted but not overly high. If you bought them in your regular size you'd get a baggy BF fit. They are not too tight on my calves but fall nicely. They have some stretch but still feel substantial. And they have white stitching! That's what made them for me. Combined with the grey cuffs, this detailing works well with my hair.

The Madewell high waist slim wide leg button fly is terrific. I had to go up to a 28 in these -- so if you have curvy thighs, size up! They are a more substantial feeling denim, not very stretchy, with a certain amount of heft to them. They'll be a great winter jean. And I don't even have to hem them! They are a bit longer than the length Angie typically recommends but we experimented with them and actually agreed that they looked best as is. So that was easy!

Wild card for me -- something I would not even have tried without Angie -- the Paige bootcuts. These are amazing! Super stretchy (which I usually hate, but didn't, in this case), very streamlined and extremely comfortable. These are the only jeans we got a photo of -- you can see them hemmed for flats here. They are TTS,

I really wanted to try the Perfect Vintage Madewell side slit jean. Alas, not available in my size. I will be stalking.

I also wanted to try a fun pair of Halogen tie waist pants but there were none in anything like my size and on consideration, I'd probably find the belt annoying. So that is that for now.

Happy to answer any questions if I can. Sorry for the paucity of photos -- we really tried but there is a lot of thinking and talking going on in the fitting room so we got a bit distracted. I will show you styled pics as soon as I can.