Black Eyes and Broken Hearts

I currently have a lingering black eye from two weekends ago, so I haven’t been taking many pictures of myself. Ergo, I am going to post some backlogs of old pictures from this summer that I never got around to posting.

I thought these would be apt because I dressed up as Lady Gaga for Halloween (my friend’s camera died, so I’m not sure if there are any pictures) and these were the shoes I wore. This isn’t really a summery outfit, but I was test driving my then-new jacket for fall. I do not regret buying a leather jacket AT ALL. I wear it pretty much daily when it isn’t rainy, which hasn’t been very often lately, even in London!

Wearing: H&M Headband, Nordstrom White Button-Down, Nordstrom Leather Jacket, H&M Acid Wash Legging Jeans, Michael by Michael Kors Heels, H&M Necklaces, Essie Nail Polish.

The Hangover

I’m supposed to be packing for London, but all I want to do is take a nap.

Legging Jeans: H&M, Top: Nordstrom BP, Necklaces: H&M, Dragon Sheets: Garnet Hill Kids

The Ugly Truth: Jeans

I am supposed to be packing and getting ready for London. That headache + work + excessive heat are, in part, to blame for my lack of updates. I have been super stressed about moving. Also, kinda hot and lazy. I promise to do better in the future though, and my current goal, starting possibly next week is to update 3-4 times a week with 2-3 outfits and 1-2 Stuff I Like posts talking about trends or random clothes or collections or bloggers/blogs I like.

Today’s entry is sort of a combination of Stuff I Wore and Stuff I Like. Since I’m jetting off halfway around the world, my very generous mother told me to buy another pair of jeans. I don’t know if it is because I am Californian, American, or just a personal quirk, but I love jeans and I wear them pretty much daily, especially when I feel lazy, which is ironic because jeans are harder to make chic/nice-looking than a cute dress, but old habits die hard. My problem, however, is that I am VERY PICKY about my jeans. I don’t like some cuts. Okay I don’t like MOST cuts. You will rarely see me in anything besides skinny-cut jeans on this blog. I do own one pair of really cute trouser-cut jeans and a pair of bootleg jeans and oh god I am suddenly realizing they may not fit any more as I recently have lost weight. Whoops!

Image: The New York Times

But on to my dilemma. I hate buying jeans. When you have a super-long waist, relatively small-ish hips, and large, musclar thighs it sucks to buy pants. Add short calves into the mix and it’s a reciepe for disaster. The knock I have to make against skinnies is that they have a tendency to give me thunder thighs, which is truly unfortunate and I am wont to look like Tweedledee or Tweedledum in a particularly ill-fitting pair.  However i love the look of them and the bonus fact that you can’t stomp all over the back of the hems and ruin them like boot-cut jeans.

Until recently, I owned a variety of brands of jeans, mostly culled from Nordstrom’s BP Juniors’ department or from Gap. In 2006 Gap had some LOVELY skinny jeans, but they seem to have only stocked them for a short time, and I was, as I will soon be, studying in England so I only had the two pairs I bought at home during Christmas break. Needless to say I quickly wore through them. Last Thanksgiving, however, I girded my loins and begged my mother to buy me some jeans that weren’t full of gaping holes in the thighs and/or from the juniors’ department, whose jeans are cut for twiggy toothpick legs, not, shall we say, a more womanly thigh. I still feel somewhat weird about buying jeans that go upwards into the $200 range, but after several exasperating trips to the mall/Target/wherever, I bit the bullet and ordered some designer jeans.

Best. Plan. Ever. Coincidentally, there were a pair of Marc by Marc Jacobs Chrissie Skinny Jeans on sale only in my size the day I was shopping on Nordstrom’s website in vain hope of getting a pair of un-predistressed, un-bedazzled jeans for less than $150.  I snatched them up, dubious they’d even fit, but oh how they fit! I have expanded my collection now to four pairs (though I must admit the original pair are on their last legs having been worn pretty much daily for 6 months before I bought a second pair).  I have them in three washes, including a light wash that I just received in the mail last week. They are delightful.

I must add a word of warning, though, if you buy these pants, which is to CHECK THEM VERY CAREFULLY FOR FLAWS. One pair I received had flawed threads in the leg and another a flawed button for the fly!

Jeans: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Monocle Necklace: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Chain Necklace: H&M
Tee-Shirt: Hanes Men, Shoes: Nordstrom BP, Sunglasses: Marc Jacobs

Jeans: Marc by Marc Jacobs, Plaid Shirt: Kmart Men’s

As always, click the image to enlarge.

P.S. I bought a remote for $20 for my Digital SLR and OMG WHY DID I WAIT SO LONG TO BUY IT?

P.P.S. Please feel free to share your woes about jeans in the comments. Misery loves company.