A runner on the hunt for jeans

I think that Red hit the nail on the head today during our search for my newest pair of jeans.  America is getting fat and the jean design choices are proving it left right and center.  I should say that it's the lack of jean choices that are making this painfully obvious.  I realize that I am much smaller than the average bear, but the proportions on these jeans just do not make sense!  I used to swear by American Eagle jeans because I could find the perfect size every time.  Their size 2 short hit the right length, fit my legs, and my waist, and they were reasonably priced!  My most expensive pair was about $49 but I usually had a coupon or went when there was a sale, so they weren't that bad.  Then America Eagle decided to go with that stretch denim nonsense which made the fabric feel weird, not last as long, and didn't fit the same.  Red then turned me to Express jeans for 3 years.  I didn't have a huge problem with Express before trying them out, it was just that they were too expensive.  I mean, upwards of $90 per pair of jeans was just ridiculous to me.  Well he bought me a pair of jeans from there for Christmas what will be 4 Christmases ago now and they still look brand new.  They fit really well, fitting short people without having to hem them, and just felt good.  He also knew about their coupons of $25 off a purchase of $75 or more plus their Black Friday deal of about 50% off of everything.  So he was on top of the deals and could usually buy each of us two pairs of jeans for the price of one pair of jeans when it was all said and done.  Well this Black Friday was no different, and Red headed out to grab our jeans from Express, but they were made differently this year.  I tried on the jeans he grabbed and they were WEIRD.  They were a "slim boot", so virtually no flare at the end and they were the strangest cut up top  that I have ever encountered.  The legs were kind of tight, not too much, and were made out of a weird stretchy material that I wasn't much of a fan of. The kicker was the waist.  Good grief, who designed these things?!  The legs were fine, even in a zero, but the waist was so wide and ridiculous that I am positive I could have snuck a small child in the top part of my pants.  I felt like a freaking marsupial!  I know that I do squats, lunges, run, and bike which makes my legs muscular, but let's think about this shape.  The legs are tight but the waist is abnormally large.  You would have to have a beer gut to fill these jeans out.  Not even remotely attractive to think about that proportion.  Yeesh!  After the debacle in Express we ventured to the Buckle.

First off, I have found a less expensive pair of jeans in there.  They're the "Leo" or whatever, but they're about half the price of the BKE and Rock jeans and a third the price of the "vintage" jeans.  I like the fact that the majority of the jeans are sized not by 0, 1, 2, 3, etc, but more by actual measurements of 25x29 or 26x31, makes my life infinitely easier.  So about 50 pairs of jeans later I finally found a pair that I'm happy in, but the problem is that they are too long.  Not all of their cuts in the Buckle come in their short cut, which is disappointing.  The big bonus to this store though is that they offer free alterations.  We're talking hemming, not full blown dress fixing.  But still, it's quite nice!  My issue with altering the jeans is that they are so long that the amount I have to have hemmed completely ruins the cut of the jeans. So my BKE Stella Bootcuts turn more into a skinny or straight leg.  If I liked the straight leg jeans or skinny jeans then I would be in heaven.  They fit me, but I'm not a huge straight leg fan.  I've been looking on their website though and I've found a few more designs and styles that I would like to try out.  I don't necessarily need jeans, I just like to get a new pair of jeans every year.  The upside to me not growing is the fact that I don't have to buy jeans until they actually wear out, which takes a really really long time.  The downside to me never growing is that I have the same jeans today as I did when I graduated high school.  I do still have one pair of jeans that are still hanging on by a thread since my senior year in high school.  Meh, I'll find another pair of jeans eventually.  I'll just stay the same size and in a couple of years my style of jeans will come back into style.  I would say that my training and lifting is why I can't find a new pair of jeans, but jeans that I've had for years fit almost the exact same as they have since I got them.  So I'm thinking that's not the issue.  I think Red was right and America is fat and designers are taking that into consideration so now they are more concerned with people having spare tires around their middles than trying to fit short skinny people. Meh.