There is this secret that I don’t think anyone was talking about until recently (at least, they weren’t talking about it with me) and it is that Madewell has the best jeans ever. There I told you, and you don’t even have to keep your lips sealed on this one.
I’ve always felt super intimidated going into nice denim stores (for us in Philadelphia, it’s Charlie’s Jeans). The saleswoman insistently wants to work directly with you which is nice, but seeing as though there is likely no one else shopping for $200 jeans at the same time as you, it’s also kind of burdensome. I don’t want to be her one shot at selling a pair of jeans in the five o’clock hour – jeans are like bras for me where you have to try on about seven different sizes and styles (if I do the boyfriend I need them a little small, but the skinny I should go up a size, and even the crop need to be “short fit”…) and most likely you’ll still come out disappointing the fitting room women who now has to refold/hang all of your rejected goodies. This leaves me with immense guilt.
How many times have you walked into a store that’s just straddling your budget line and had the salesperson ask, “Looking for anything in particular?”
“Just browsing,” is clearly my go-to response, which is always followed by the sales associate saying, “Okay, my name is Anna, let me know if I can help with anything!”
“Sounds good, thank you!” I reply with as much false hope as I can muster in four fake words.
You and I both know this does not sound good. Five minutes later Anna will be cheerfully approaching me with both arms full of the latest fall trends (all of which are out of my budget) and I’ll feel entirely obligated to give in to her excitement and try them on, full well knowing I’m not going to purchase anything.
For as forward a person as I can be I also just have a hard time telling the salesgirl that the $200 distressed denim is just not in my price range. I want the freedom to look at price tags before I subject myself to 360 degree mirror views of my buttocks. I need to know exactly what I’m getting into prior to going through the trauma of sitting, squatting and stretching to fasten that buckle on the size 27 skinnies.
Most importantly, I want my mirror in the fitting room (I’m looking at you too, BCBG). I don’t want to see my jeans for the first time in public along with the rest of the casual shoppers making their acquaintance with your store. I didn’t have a mom that was all, “Come out and show me what it looks like now” behind the fitting room curtain, and so, I’ve made it a little bit of my own custom to continue my retail life that way. I don’t need the reassurance from a saleswoman who certainly wants me to invest big bucks in denim just for the sake of it; I’ll make the call on my own thank you very much.
Enter Madewell. Not only is the atmosphere particularly comfortable for my denim exploration process, but it’s also relaxed enough where I can get as many price tags and hemlines as I want without feeling intrusive and bothersome. They have tons of styles, the majority of which fall at a good price range for nice jeans (there are a few crazy $400 options), and in the true test, their denim comes out of the washer looking just as good as it did when it went in.
As an added bonus they offer free hemming. For me, that’s like an extra $20 fresh in my pocket to start off this little relationship with my jeans.
And I couldn’t help but to look in the sale section… everything here is 30% off. Click on image for accurate pricing.
