Jeans

I have a long history dealing with jeans.  Eight years ago, you couldn’t get me to wear anything but a dress or skirt.  That’s changed.

I love jeans.  A look at my denim pile would tell you that.  I don’t wear most of the jeans in that pile.  Many are too small, some are way out of style, and unbelievably, a few are too big.  I wonder why I keep these jeans; I guess I’m a denim hoarder.  You know, I’m saving those size zeros for “one day”, you know, the day when I am deathly ill and tragically lose thirty pounds and can wear some size zeros.  Think of how relieved I will be on my deathbed when I have my cute jeans to comfort me!  It could happen.  And who knows, maybe the hippie look will come back in, and my super-flare bleached jeans will be so cool.  And, sadly, I will probably need those jeans that are too big one day.  Oh, well.  I will survive. 

I have my favorite pairs of jeans.  My very favorite are the Calvin Kleins.  They’re about a size too small by my standards, but I love them so much that I wear them.  Maybe they’d fit perfectly if I’d stop eating like a hobbit.  Anyway, they look good with more formal shirts, and I can wear fancier shoes with them.

I also have my t-shirt jeans.  They’re very casual and very comfortable.  I love these; they’re my “‘round town” jeans.

As it has been hot lately, I’ve been wearing my favorite pair of jean capris.  They fit better than anything I’ve ever owned, and they look good with lots of stuff.  They’re lighter, and cut off just below the knee.
                                       
Then, of course, I have my favorite pair of jean shorts.  At one time, they were my jeans.  I outgrew them and they were given to my younger sister.  My sister has now outgrown them, but I tried them on, and they fit perfectly, except for the fact that they were a little short as long jeans.  So, I took them to my personal seamstress.  Maw-maw.  She made them into some lovely jeans shorts. Yay!  I’ve never heard of hand-me-downs to hand-me-back-ups, but hey, if it works, I’m all for it!  Most jeans shorts are too small and too short for me, so I wind up just buying jeans and hacking them off.  It works.

Living on a small farm, I have my work jeans.  Boy, these jeans have lasted through thick and thicker.  I have four pair of work jeans.  Two of them were bought at Academy, and I believe I was supposed to wear them as my good jeans.  Well, they’re ugly and don’t fit at all.  So, these two pair are my works jeans. 

The other two works jeans are both Levi’s.  I have had these jeans since I was 9.  They were my favorites until about two years ago, when I realized how terribly out of style they were.  They became my work jeans.  They are both faded so much that they look like they were bleached.  They weren’t; in fact, they were the darkest kind of jeans to begin with.  These jeans started out as sixes.  Since I’ve washed them a thousand times, they have probably gone down to a size two.   I can barely get them on anymore.  I used to make fun of the commercial where the lady takes a deep breath to get her jeans on.  I laugh no longer.

Like I said, these are my work jeans, and, yes, they are hideously small, but, yes, they get the job done and have saved me from a lot of cuts.  They’re good, sturdy jeans.  When it gets hard to breathe, I suppose I”ll have to stop wearing them; they’re small already. And no, don’t worry, I don’t wear them anywhere.

A quick funny about some Levi’s jeans I once received.  A lady from church gave my mom and I some of her clothes.  She has a son named Levi.  Anyway, my mom said, “Mrs. L gave you some Levi’s jeans.”    “What?” I said.  Why was she giving me Levi’s jeans?  After a long, confusing conversation, I figured it out.  

I love my denim, and it goes with just about everything.  This very moment, I am wearing jeans.  In my graduation slide show, probably ninety percent of the pictures will have my jeans in them.  I just love them that much.