After reading about how many of you love these jeans, and after having some success myself with BR cropped wide legs , I ordered the BR wide leg full-length jeans. They fit, and were the right length, miraculously, but I felt decidedly UNFAB in them during their 2-hour test drive running errands today. I kept the tags on and wore them out (this is another subject I want to get thoughts on ) to do a few things this afternoon.

First issue was the footwear . Didn't want a heel, as it's a little snowy and wet out today, so chose the mustard Converse. They look cute enough here, I think, but I felt decidedly too casual once I got out of the house. Didn't want to wear fashion sneakers - although maybe I should have. Leather chelsea boots seemed the wrong choice today.

I tried on 3 different tops/sweaters/tshirts , none which made me happy, then pulled out a sweater I ordered from a customer last winter and then never wore , thinking it was just too kooky and too much what with stars and metallic threads etc. Somehow I'm a little less anxious about that this year. Not completely rid of it, but more able to push my own limits.

The last issue was the outerwear. It's not cold enough for a full-on winter coat, and I didn't have the right topper for this look. The wide legs of the jeans made my coats feel even more bulky looking. UGH. I finally left the house with a caramel-ish coloured teddy aviator style jacket to toss in the back seat for emergencies (whatever I though *that* would be - ha). I felt like the side of a barn - seriously. Very unflattering look.

Got to the mall, walked around feeling hot, bulky, casual, and generally taking up too much room. Hated every single minute . I'm fearing these full-length jeans are going to require too many new pieces to make them work, and I'm not feeling good enough in them to want to persevere. I like the cropped wide legs I do have, and somehow that bit of skin adds the structure I need. Full length feels like a ton of denim flopping around - and brought me back to every badly-dressed moment I experienced as a teenager. The jeans are going back.

jeans - BR
sweater - White Birch
boots - Converse
bag - Coach

On a somewhat related note: how do you all feel about test-wearing something for a couple of hours , complete with tags on? And I mean out of the house? I used to feel very strongly against such practice, but now feel I can't risk spending money on things that don't feel good after a test run. I'm over my former outrage at doing this - but have I crossed an ethical/moral shopping line now? Of course there is no sign of wear, I didn't do anything questionable in them, and only had them on for less than 2 hours. But still .....;(