Buying 13 Pairs of Jeans Part II - Zara & Levi's
Review of Zara and Levi’s Jeans
This is the followup to the previous Jean’s post. I wanted to split it up into two posts since I thought one would be way too lengthy. To recap, I looked through current trends, added my own and also included my stats. I wanted to try Zara and Levi’s jeans here. You can read the Everlane and Mango review here.
You can also watch my Youtube video here.
Current trend:
Wide leg or straight leg
Vintage inspired
Criteria:
100% cotton
Under $100
Straight, cigarette or wide leg
Good quality, can last for 2 - 3 years
Stats:
Weight: 121lb / 55kg (128lb/58kg on a bad day)
Height: 5’2 in / 158cm
Waist: 26 - 27in
Zara: Hi-Rise Straight Leg Jeans
Blue / 26 / $39.90
Initial Thoughts:
These are another raw hem pair; however, the cut is super cute. If I keep these, I’ll probably fix the raw hem since they’d be worth it!
Pros:
Super comfortable to wear
Material is quite good
Feels like I’m cinched in in all the right places
Butt looked amazing
Cons:
Rivets on the side were kind of bad quality
Raw hem
Super tight on the waist / hips
Rating: 9/10
Zara: ZW Premium Ankle Straight Jeans
True Blue / 26 / $49.90
Initial Thoughts:
These might not be the best fit for me since they don’t really look like high rise even though they're described as such. They are also a raw hem which isn’t ideal but there are solutions mentioned above and they’re preferable but not necessary.
Pros:
Cute color
Bum looks 10/10
Cons:
Not high waisted enough
Raw hem
WAYY too tight
Rating: 6/10
Zara: Extra Hi Rise Tapered Jeans
Blue / 26 / $49.90
Initial Thoughts:
I’m pretty excited about this pair. They don’t have a raw hem and they’re high rise. The color is also really great! I’m not sure how they’ll look since the images don’t include someone as the model. I think I might be pleasantly surprised by these.
Pros:
Finished hem but a bit frayed on the pocket and on the bottom showing character
Super, super high waist
Cons:
Too tight
Butt also wasn’t cute enough
Rating: 8/10
Zara: Tapered Hi Rise Jeans
Light Blue / 26 / $39.90
Initial Thoughts:
These pairs of jeans actually make me super excited. They look super comfortable and they’re pretty much everything I’ve been asking for.
Pros:
Fits all the criteria
High, high waist
Cons:
Butt was just meh
Rating: 8/10
Levi’s: Ribcage Straight Ankle Women’s Jeans
Life’s Work / 26 / $98
Initial Thoughts:
I’ve heard about these from some of my friends (mostly one that works at Levi’s) and she has been collecting vintage Levi’s for a while now. These are so high waisted that they go to your ribcage so they’ll make your legs look like they last for miles and miles. This and the next ones are the most expensive on the list. These were bought during a 40% sale so I got these for a pretty good price. The composition, however, does concern me since they’re not 100% denim.
Pros:
Super high waist
Slims thighs
Amazing color
Cons:
Small butt
Not 100% cotton, so could feel the difference (not super thick but thicker than wedgie)
Rating: 8/10
Levi’s: Wedgie Fit Women’s Jeans
Charleston Moves / 26 / $98
Initial Thoughts:
Since I was getting Levi’s, I thought it would make sense to try the Wedgies as well since they’re both super classic cuts. I heard that these make your butt look amazing so I’m super excited to test this myth. These were also purchased during the 40% sale so I got them at a steal! For these classic pairs, they’re also not 100% denim.
Pros:
Very fun to wear
Cute butt
Cons:
Not 100% cotton, so could feel the difference
Too much sagging by the knees
Not super high waisted
Rating: 8/10
I really liked the first pair of Zara, they fit me really well and their light wash was a bit more unique in that they had a gray like color.
In the previous blog post about jeans, I looked at Mango and Everlane. The three dark shade options that felt comfortable on me were the Everlane 90’s Cheeky, the Levi’s Wedgie and the Levi’s Ribcage. Out of these three, I loved different things about each of them and like I mentioned before, I had the problem of overchoice. Even with just the Levi’s, I really wanted to love the Ribcage but since I got the Wedgies, I didn’t like the Ribcage as much.
As a young adult that just started working, I think it’s important that I start building my own style and investing in pieces that I love. I don’t want to be spending money on things that I know I don’t love. I also tend to like dark wash more so my expectations for dark wash were much higher. Since the dark wash can be more of a winter color, I decided to just wait on getting it until sometime in the fall. During this time, I can do more research on brands that have great quality denim or wait for fall colors to come out.
* All ratings are based on how well they fit my criteria and how I perceived they looked on me.
