I have been doing end-of-year shopping/wardrobe review, and ruminating over the pathetic state of my jeans collection. I know there is plenty of this malaise going around from recent forum postings. 

My preference in jeans is for mid-rise straight-leg styles and the occasional boyfriend/girlfriend which I usually wear the with cuff unrolled. Not distressed. Mid rise for me is between 9 ½ - 10”; anything longer is uncomfortable and looks awful. Classic, not trendy. I'm not philosophically against trendy jeans, I simply find most trends do not flatter me. It's been SO hard to find jeans like this. B&M stores near me are useless and I'm exhausted from the order/return cycle. 

When I leave out the ones in non-blue colors, the skinnies that I just don’t want to wear, the ones in this style that don't fit right, and a few misc. others I have exactly 4 pairs in my wearable collection. Two are KUT with fabric that seems thin and worn (even thought not super old), Tommy H ones that are a little too big (and the next size down is a little too small), and one Wit & Wisdom that is good. Not a good state of affairs, since jeans are an essential for me and I wear them almost daily. 

I headed again down the rabbit hole of looking at what new brands might work, finding very little, bemoaning my fate, and then remembered the NYDJ ones I have in olive. For some reason I wasn't considering them because they are not blue, but they fit really well and the quality is good. 

I found the same style in a dark wash and ordered them in the same size as the olive ones. They are JUST RIGHT!  Nice thick fabric that is 90% cotton an just the right amount of stretch for me. The rise length at 9 ¾” is perfect. I will have to do the same small alterations I did on the olive ones, but that's easy peasy. (Couple of darts at the back waist and shorten the hems). 

I just put an exact dup in my Macy's shopping cart, and will look for another pair in a lighter and/or darker wash,  and that should solve my jeans dilemma for a while.  YAY!!   The regular and petite full-length versions are BOTH too long, and there is some slight variation in rise length for NYDJ jeans in this "Marilyn" style, but there are a lot of choices, and this is far more workable than that ugly rabbit hole full of skinnies, high rises, flares, barrel leg, wide leg, crops, and all the other styles I don't want to wear, at least not right now.  

The Jen7 jeans in Angie's roundup today look like they might have a similar fit but I've never tried that brand so NYDJ it is for the win! 

**HAPPY DANCE**

will post some photos eventually.