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Help! I give up on jeans. What can I wear instead?

Roxanna

Veteran

So I am officially giving up on jeans for now. I find jeans the most versatile and useful piece in my wardrobe - by far the items I wear most - but the dearth of well-fitting, NON sausage-casing, reasonably priced jeans for my pear shape means that I just have to do without them (I know I could go on a long and involved and probably expensive search for the perfect jeans, but the idea just fills me with dread.) My high-stretch jeans feel uncomfortable, unflattering and too young for me.

So! My question: what do you Fabbers who don't wear jeans wear instead? I have a fairly refined style (my style motto is 'urban luxe.' I am looking for bottoms that are chic, versatile, flattering and comfortable, and can be dressed up or down. Any options for me?

Dressing

27 replies

Latest reply was from

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

It depends on you dress codes I think. Skirts and jogging style pants (some can look quite dressy) come first to mind. I am thinking well cut ankle length pants in nice material and elastic waists. I have a pair of baggy, long shorts by L.G.B. that are my go to in the summer, but have seen some much more refined versions.

Bijou

Veteran

Roxanna I went through a ‘phase’ of not wearing jeans, in my university years, I was rebelling against the unofficial Student Uniform. I wore my leather skirt regularly with a great denim jacket and other skirts and casual dresses.

Joy

Veteran

Besides skirts, you might try silk or rayon joggers for summer. I depend on Eileen Fisher knit pants for summer. I can wear them full length or roll them up for crops. I wash them by hand and hang to dry but they could be washed on delicate and line dried. All of these look lux enough for Team Dressy but silk is the best.

Elizabeth P

Veteran

What about the MPG joggers that Lisa raves about?

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Hi Roxanna I love ponte pants because they are stretchy for the pear shape. I'm quite a lot older than you but still feel a coolness factor in my 2 pairs of black ponte pants with leather or leatherette trim. The waist is elastic and stretches. Also my slim straight cut pants in navy and pewter can replace jeans. I wear them to work because they are business-like but also for smart casual in the weekend. They also have elasticised waists.

anne

Veteran

I like Jenni's idea of leatherette trim!
Bijou, my memories of my outfits as a uni student also involve skirts and dresses. Though I may not have completely shunned jeans, they were part of my high school dress code so not very exciting. Also I refused to wear jeans as a kid, until I was nine.
Anyway hope you can use ideas from this thread Rosanna. As a fellow pear you have my empathy.

Style Fan

Veteran

Roxanna, I can empathize with you about the scarcity of well fitting jeans. I am also a pear and have spent many hours searching for jeans. Fortunately, I found some last month.

When I am not wearing jeans I wear silky joggers from Lululemon. Mine are black but they come in lots of colours. I also have a pair of olive green silky joggers from Joe Fresh.

I also wear cropped linen wide-legged pants. Mine are black and are from a small independent company (Canadian) called Louije Bean. I think they also come in white. They make them every year.

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Essential Casual Pant

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kkards

Veteran

for summer i wear....what Angie calls utility style pants (i call them modified cargos) and chino's...most of these look WAY skinnier on the models than how they actually fit me...

Pilcro Hyphen Chinos

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Broken-in straight khakis

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Twill stripe girlfriend chino

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Paper bag high rise chinos

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White House Black Market

Curvy Utility Slim Pants

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Vince Zip Ankle Utility Pants

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Suz

(website)

Veteran

My first question is: For what season? Now? Or winter?

My second question is: For what purpose? Work or weekend wear?

It seems as if your workwear is quite sorted with midis and culottes for summer -- and you look extremely elegant!

Since this formula is working so well for you on work days, my suggestions for casual summer wear would include:

Dresses!! We are having a brilliant dress year with tons of casual DAY dresses available. You wore a few on your winter vacation from ON, right? They were brilliant on you. Check Boden for more. Some of the styles would be super fab on you.

Casual midi skirts: These are not quite as easy to find but are also out there, far more than in previous seasons.

Linen or cotton-linen cropped pants/ culottes (for hot weather).

For fall/ winter, I echo suggestions for ponte-like fabrics, and slim trousers dressed down with more casual shirts/ jackets/ knitwear. Also, warmer culottes and a denim skirt or two, perhaps, worn with tights.

Elianna Knit Dress

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Elisa Jersey Dress

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Leila Shirt Dress

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Emmie Jersey Dress

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Side-Button Skirt

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Wide-leg cropped pant in stripe

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Anonymous

Roxanna - I go through periods of giving up on jeans too. I simply refuse to engage in a time-consuming, expensive ordering binge just to find the perfect pair.....and really don't want to $pend a lot of $$ on a single pair , despite them being wardrobe workhorses. Whatever. When I'm in a jeans funk, I resort to a few pair of modified cargos (as kkards mentioned) that have served me well. I have a pair from Joie, one from that Bay/L&T house brand INC, a pair from GAP and some silkier ones from Aritzia. They are perfect worn both casually and dressed up and I have both stretchier/fitted ones and silkier/woven/loose fit ones. I also have the silky Lulu joggers Style Fan mentions .

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

EASY.

Pants, dresses and skirts. Here are my SUMMER jeans subs:

Elianna Knit Dress

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Floral Print Mesh Skater Dress by YAS

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Banana Republic

Eyelet Maxi Dress

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25

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Julieta Lace Dress

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Striped Drape Midi Dress

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Topshop Polka Dot Asymmetrical Midi Dress

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Frilled Dress With Floral Patch

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11

White House Black Market

Embroidered Utility Slim Cargo Jeans

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Vince Zip Ankle Utility Pants

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Cropped Flare Trousers, Midnight

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High Waist Checked Trousers Details

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20

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Topshop Floral Scuba Cigarette Trousers

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Diane von Furstenberg 'Dezi' Jumpsuit

$428.00 $169.97

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Maeve | Anthropologie Tallulah Lace Skirt

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Sale

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Collection A-line midi skirt in Italian wool blend

$298.00 $159.99

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Scarlet

Veteran

The only thing worse than shopping for jeans is shopping for dress pants. I think Dresses and Skirts are the answer. Although keep your ears open for jeans that get raves from people with different body types on the forum. Those have worked for me in the past.

Roxanna

Veteran

Thanks everyone for all the creative and thoughtful answers!

I think what I *should* have asked, what is a suitable jeans replacement that are like jeans, that I can dress up or down?

@Suz, you nailed it - I think I have my summer office style sorted with tops, midi skirts and dresses, and on the weekend, I am wearing casual midi dresses (see finds). What I am really looking for is a jeans replacement that I can dress up for the office and dress down for the weekend.

@Shevia and many of you suggested , silky track pants or woven track pants may work in many situations. As @ElizabethP suggested, @Lisa P's MPG pants are winging their way to me right now.

I noticed, though, that black substitutes to Jeans don't work that well for me (though I do wear pants with leatherette trim in winter as @Jenni suggested.) So I need olive or taupe or another summery neutral. I don't know why I didn't think of @kkards and @Lisa P's suggestions of cargos are intriguing - I don't know why I had never thought of those! I will investigate.

THANK YOU for all the suggestions!

@Suz and @Angie - really appreciated your thoughtful finds and suggestions

jussie

Veteran

Hmm I think silk pants would work well with your style. Either a palazzo or jogger style, or even a silk cargo type pant. More of a summer option though.
Personally I like to wear black fancy joggers as my jeans alternative. They can be dressed up a bit because they’re black.
Personally I find chinos even more difficult than jeans but you may have better luck!!

Vix

Veteran

Hey Roxanna --

This is in line with the suggestions re silk or silk-y joggers, cropped pants etc -- Athleta makes multiple styles of "featherlight" SPF crops, joggers etc in different neutrals.

I wear mine mostly for travel/exercise, and convinced a friend to try them for as a jeans-alt for a dress up/down capsule wardrobe. She ended up buying several different ones and says she can't stop wearing them, ha.

Style Fan

Veteran

Roxanna, my utility pants are a workhorse for summer. They are by Sanctuary. I have the camo ones but they come in all kinds of colours. I saw them in a store today in pink, tan camo and plain olive.
I almost bought the olive utility pants by Velvet but my size was sold out.

'Peace Trooper' Camo Print Utility Pants

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Jenni NZ

Veteran

Love those ones Style Fan just posted! I find olive so useful in both winter and summer, they dress up and down well. Attached examples.

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Sal

Veteran

I had a couple of years being off jeans for various reasons.

I wore
- denim skirt (knee length)
- lightweight cords
- suedette trousers/moleskins (I don't think these are really around much now)
- cargo/utility pants and crops
- cropped pants of various colours

I went back on jeans in 2005 when son #2 was born and have worn them ever since. But I had been off them from about 1998 to 2004 - the fit, the colours etc and possibly after an overload of wearing denim previously.

Roxanna

Veteran

Thanks all. These are great suggestions that I will return to again and again. @Style Fan, I like those olive ones and see how they could work well with what I have already.

So far I have bought 3 pair of Lisa's MPG Britt pants and I must admit, I am in love. Light, tailored, flattering, versatile and comfortable. They are my weekend staples and I don't miss my sucked on jeggings!

Jenni NZ

Veteran

Hi Roxanna I'm happy for you they are so good. May I ask another question? It seems to me you were one who had a large wardrobe that you thought was too large? Buying 3?? #90 wears??

The Cat

Veteran

In summer:
● cotton crops (solid white or black is easy to dress up)
● wrap-around skirts in comfortable materials (classic patterns like black&white checks are easy to dress up or down)

In winter:
● quality corduroy or velvet pants in deep/dark colours
● sweater dresses with opaque hosiery, booties or tall boots

cindysmith

Veteran

I am team jogger too. They're much more comfortable in this brutal heat than jeans are. I've seen some really dressy versions that could be appropriate for some work environments (depending on dress code).

3style

Veteran

This is not a criticism intended to single out Jenni, just a knee jerk reaction to her comment as one of several similar ones from in recent weeks ... I am getting pretty tired of people questioning (second guessing) other people’s wardrobe management, in terms of number of wears and total number of items and that sort of thing, when that isn’t the subject about which the OP had asked for help.

In particular, I am guessing that Roxanna might rotate through those three pairs of MPG pants every summer for the next seven years. If she wears each pair once per week even 12 weeks of summer for the next 7 years that’s 84 wears per pair. Some of us are on very slow long cycles like this and I’m getting a bit weary of defending it.

Jenni NZ

Veteran

The question was quite genuine, out of interest and because Roxanna had herself complained about her own wardrobe size. I was therefore intrigued and a bit puzzled.
I was and still am happy that the pants are so appreciated. All good!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I decided to take my own suggestion and give the MPG pants a try as well. Awful on me Calf way too tight, so I couldn't even pull them up properly. And when I did, they hung up so much on my calves that they were like stretched boards from calf to waist. Not a good look!

So disappointed... but at least now I know, instead of wondering every time anyone posted about them.

I'm glad they are working for you!

Anonymous

I was in the same place you are, Roxanna. I'm a pear, and no jeans were working for me. I had pretty much given up the whole idea of wearing them, when I randomly tried on a pair of Banana Republic girlfriend jeans. They seemed to miraculously fit perfectly, but, fearing that I was delusional, I wanted to see if they'd pass the steely gaze of my toughest fashion critic, Mr. Xtaby. I stepped out of the dressing room to show him, and he was greatly impressed as well. I bought three pairs (white, blue denim, and sage green), and they are now workhorses in my wardrobe. I practically live in them, in fact. If you can stand to try on juuuuuust one more pair, check them out. I have my fingers crossed that they keep making them.

Anonymous

Roxanna - glad you are loving them - I think I said that already ? Ha. 3 pairs? I need to catch up ! I honestly wear my two pair at least once a week. I want a solid navy. What's your third colour? The olive? Did you find sizes consistent? Mine are Mediums but don't fit the same .