Two trends in jeans – distressed and high-waisted – have circled back in the last year or two, and I’ve been shying away from each of them. I feared that wearing the former would make me look like I was trying too hard to look young, and wearing the latter would make me look like I wasn’t trying hard enough to not look old. That seems like a poorly written sentence but trust me, it’s the best way to make the point. Does the SNL “Mom Jeans” skit come to mind for anyone else? A couple of weeks ago I made the decision to take a chance on some distressed denim and I ended up with this pair, which checked the box on both trends. It may be that both of them are fading from the fashion landscape in the near future (I don’t know that to be true, but that generally happens to a trend at the point at which I decide to hop on the bandwagon), but for the moment I feel relatively relevant. More on the purchase, and on the post title, below.

Peyton Jensen shirt | Citizens of Humanity jeans (now 20% off) | Banana Republic booties (extra 35% off today with code BRSHOP35) and sunglasses | Anthropologie earrings and bracelet | J Crew Necklace | Michael Kors watch | vintage Ferragamo purse

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For my search, I visited Evereve, known for a large selection of jeans and a sales team that makes you feel like a million bucks. I need someone to have a positive attitude during the denim selection process, as I certainly won’t. Evidenced by the “of course not” stink eye response I gave the lovely sales associate when she asked me if I was interested in trying on some high-waisted styles. But she snuck these into the dressing room, and they ended up being my favorite. Super comfortable (largely due to the high waist, I suppose) and the distressing was fairly modest. When I tried on jeans with more pronounced rips at the knees, something unfortunate happened.  When did I get that extra skin? Sure, presumably it’s needed to be able to bend at the knee joint, but I’m certain that was not there in my 20s.

Even with the subtle distressing, the very first thing my son said to me when I saw him in the morning was “Mommy, you need new pants!” I took it as a cute quote, rather than a testament to how I shouldn’t have made the purchase. Note also that I was wearing these at the time I told him he had to change his pants, as we needed to throw away the ones he had chosen since they had a rip at the knee. 

A quick note about this necklace. I ordered it online from J Crew and it arrived in a heap of knots. I really wanted to wear it that same night, and got so frustrated trying to detangle it that I broke it into about five pieces. I returned it to the store and told the story, and the darling associates (for some reason it was one of those lunch hours when you had four associates to help you) just laughed and replaced it without giving it a second thought. Awesome customer service, J Crew.
I note above that this is a vintage Ferragamo bag. Is it? I don’t really know. My mom and I purchased it in a boutique in New Orleans about a decade ago. The tag, sales associate and price indicated yes, but I’m not really sure how to know for certain. If you do, please comment!

Reality Check. The “mom jeans” moniker for high-waisted denim is totally appropriate, in my opinion, and here is why: moms spend an inordinate amount of time picking up stuff. Crumbs, toys, shoes, underwear, and the kids themselves – and those are just the things that immediately come to mind. Low rise jeans were not made for such activity. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been on pick up duty at daycare, crouched down to get at eye level with my kiddos to chit chat, move them along, and gather up whatever needs to be schlepped home that day and have realized, upon feeling the draft, that I was giving a little show. And why is it that those are ALWAYS the times that the person behind you is a dude in a suit, not another mommy in low rise jeans?