Buy Yourself Some Bootcut Jeans

And get to work.

I ran out of seamless paper - the big white backdrop I typically hang for my photos – and because I didn’t have time this week to replace it, the vibe of my letter is a little bit different today. The truth is: This is what my studio looks like most of the time. And this – jeans with boots and a sweater over my favorite tee – is what I love wearing to work right now.

Ayr’s Legend comes in two lengths. I’m 5’4” and wearing size 24S (short). Jeans, &Daughter sweater, Jamie Haller boots (the same boot also comes in camel suede and black leather). I’m typically a size 38 in JH shoes, but I wear a size 37 in these so maybe size down.

Given my renewed interest in wearing boots – not just for going out, but for everything – it comes as no surprise that my attention has recently turned to bootcut jeans. Now, women my age will likely remember the hip-slinging Sevens of the early aughts. The bootcuts of today are a bit different. Ayr’s Legend and Levi’s Wedgie Bootcut, for example, have rises so high and waists so well-fitted, we can do all the bending we want in them without compromising decency. (Anyone here remember the exposure we risked just sitting down in those early low-rise styles? I certainly do.)

Jeans, &Daughter sweater – maybe the best heather grey sweater I’ve ever owned.

What’s more, the leg openings on these modern bootcuts are a bit less exaggerated. At some angles, they even look straight. What I like about the Ayr style (the wash I’m wearing is called Skyscraper), is that it barely reads “boot.” Meanwhile, the Wedgie – famous for living up to its name – goes wide at the bottom from front to back, and not from side to side. See? In profile (below) the leg-opening is distinctly flared. Head-on, however, it’s not.

From the side, they’re a solid bootcut. Jeans, sweater, Chloé boots (long gone, but here’s a good comp). My readers are these from Caddis.

Of course, the thing about a bootcut is that it covers your boots. A bootcut that’s too short is called a kick flare (which is not the right fit right now). Having tested these jeans all week, I’ve loved how they make me feel. Agile. Tough. Turns out, baggy jeans kinda slow me down. They’re sooooo relaaaaaaaxed. And chill. And easy to make myself at home in (read: stay at home in).

A bootcut jean, on the other hand, is grit. It’s what cowboys wear. My stride gets longer when I’m in these jeans. For whatever reason they get me to sit in a figure four position, with one ankle on the opposite knee (v properly cross-legged). More aware of my legs, I find myself wanting to use them.

From the front, they look like a straight leg. Jeans, the greatest grey sweater, comparable boots.

The new Buck Mason Roper is a little too long for us shorties (I’m 5’4”), but, maybe you’ve noticed, long is how cowboys wear their Wranglers so that their boots stay covered when their knees are bent around a horse. I thought about this when I tried the Roper, which comes with a whopping 33” inseam on all sizes.

Buck Mason Roper jean, Rohe sweater. My boots are ancient Costume National, but the Herbert Levine ones everyone’s loving look awfully similar.

I like the Roper’s length, and its buckling bottoms and big back pockets and zipper fly, full stop. But I’m going to exchange the size 24 (my go-to) for a size 23 because the 24s are just a tad too long in the rise (and unlike the inseam, the rise grades 1/4” per size, which sounds like nothing, but it’s a lot.) The brand’s site instructs us to size down, and I’m here to tell you the brand’s site is right!

Jeans, sweater, the most perfect t-shirt. The t-shirt sold out at Shop Denim Revival after last week’s post, but I’ve since learned +COOP in LA has them in stock in all sizes here.

Speaking of sizing down. When Madewell offered me a pair of these (below), I requested a size too small. With a teensy bit of stretch, they’re tight (like, cool-tight), and I dig it. See how nice the leg line looks framed by this SPRWMN sweater, especially? Of all the sweaters I’ve tried in the last few weeks – and there have been many – it’s the softest, by far. How soft? Try I’ll-let-you-borrow-it-but-you-have-to-promise-to-give-it-back soft.

I’m wearing a size 23 in these. Jeans, sweater, boots.

Bootcuts aren’t new or trendy; nor are they directional or even that emotional, although I was able to access my own creativity while wearing them, and that is emotional, so.... I guess the thing about these jeans is that never not once while I was doing a myriad of things – from brainstorming to caring for my ailing cat – did they get in my way. I’d put them on and get to work and five or six hours later, there I was feeling comfortable and accomplished and cute. Nothing wrong with that.

That Alex Mill coat I said I’d ordered? It’s here, and it’s luscious. Jeans, soft-as-hell sweater, coat.

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OK, that’s it for this week. Is everyone excited for Halloween? My kids are going to be a Ghostbuster and a Pop Star (but not a ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ pop star, she says). Thank you for reading and trusting me with your jeans. If you can’t become a paid subscriber, you can like this post to show your support (it helps!). See you next week, as always, Denim Forever.

Jane

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More good links…

The short version of that Alex Mill coat is tempting. Especially in red.

More really, really, really great sweaters.

Here’s that other Ayr style that everyone loves.