Almost all my jeans are NYDJs. It's such a great brand and it fits me SO well. Sadly, all their grays are either too clean-looking (like a dyed twill rather than a faded denim) or darker than I want. :/ Other brands I wear that fit me well: Levis (I used to wear the Bold Curve when they had it, now I forget the name of the cut but it's a curvy cut), Gap (some cuts, sometimes. Most of my cords are Gap), City Chic (a size 10+ brand), Eddie Bauer (was my go-to for years but I feel like they have gotten inconsistent), Duluth Trading (mostly for work clothes but their stuff fits really well).
Lee, Land's End, and Kut are all cut too straight for me, the times I have tried them. It makes me SO SAD because they often have stuff that's awesome. I think the problem isn't so much my waist/hip with a lot of stuff as the distribution: I have a big round bubble butt and a flat front, so I end up with loose-in-front, tight-in-back jeans with a heck of a waist gape if I'm not careful. It's a much harder fix than just taking in the waist.
I have a little stash of places to check on, though! And maybe I'll try a pair of the darker gray ones and see how I feel about them.
Re: shoes to wear with grey jeans. I have a lot of different shoe colors. I think they look very tough/tomboyish with black of any kind (esp. when I wore them with my black Frye boots), but I also wore them with light blue nubuck ("Ocean Fish" Atheist Shoes), with purple sneakers, and with my soft distressed taupe monkstrap oxfords. I thought that would NOT work at all but it did -- much softer vibe, good with a striped shirt.
Gosh, I miss those darn jeans.
