Mom Jeans

Let's talk about mom jeans for a minute...

A few months ago I was at the Nordstrom Rack attempting to shop while pushing the stroller with a screaming Theo inside. It was futile at best and as I frantically scanned the store at light speed for black pants I needed for work, I just happened to be walking past a table of very reasonably priced 7 for All Mankind black jeans. I grabbed a pair, bought them and told myself I would try them on later at home. For a couple of weeks, they sat in the cargo space of the back of the car because buying jeans has become something I really dread ever since pushing out 9 pound 10 ounce Theo. Eeeks! Whatever happened during that birth, I just can't seem to find a pair of jeans that makes me feel good anymore.

Finally, I tried the jeans on, mostly because I was running late for work and my other pair of work pants needed to be washed. It was a fluke, really, that they happened to be high-rise and ankle-length. I pulled them on, buttoned and zipped them up in front of our full-length mirror and gasped out loud! They're honestly the best pair of jeans I've ever had. They fit well, look good and feel amazing. No bunching, cutting, pinching or riding up ever.

Naturally, from that day forward I made it my quest in life to find the exact same jeans, but in regular dark-wash denim. However as with all things wonderful, they've proven to be quite elusive. So, I went ahead and ordered the same style of jean in regular-rise. Can't make that much of a difference, right? Wrong.

I tried them on and wore them on a couple of errands for an hour and they were all wrong. Saggy in the calves, cutting into my hip bones, and pinching in the rear. Ugh. Let me just say that I will never wear a pair of non-high-rise jeans again. I've officially gone mom jeans and I'm never going back! What is it that's so great about the mom jean? Well, it's like having a built-in girdle in your jeans! You pull them up, button them right across your belly button, and zzzzzzzip! Everything is all tucked in and supported. On the other hand, as you can see in the photo above, normal-rise jeans just leave you hanging. And when I say "you," I of course really mean my mom gut. They leave my mom gut hanging out for all to see - and it is not pretty.

So I'm returning the regular-rise jeans and ordering up a pair of the Madewells in the top photo ASAP. I'm done with the years I spent hanging onto pre-Coco jeans, cords and other pants. I have clung for so long to the delusion that they will someday fit again. And guess what?! They will not. Even if I were to get back to my pre-Coco weight as a number, I can feel that my body has changed structurally since Theo was born. Things shifted and settled back into different places and I am ready to accept my new body. So that's just what I'm going to do.

But can we just take a moment and recognize how fortunate we are to live at the precise moment in the ever-changing cycle of fashion when high-rise jeans are actually in style? Wowza. That is truly a beautiful gift, indeed. I'm curious, how has your body changed as a mom, or just as you've aged and become more womanly? Do you wear mom jeans, too?