A Winter Denim Combo That Works
Wearing jeans in the winter is hard. Here's how I'm making them feel great.
Happy new year and welcome back! God I’ve missed you all.
It’s officially the season of pant-idenity-crisis! I’ve spent the past few weeks trying to make jeans feel dressed and cute pants wintery. And the kicker, figuring out how to make boots work with both. So in order to get us back on our schedules with ease, we will tackle jeans this week and the right shoe/pant formulas for winter next week.
I’m coming off of two weeks of family time as I’m sure a lot of you are. There were a lot of outings where I wanted to look decent but I might have to kneel on the floor of public transportation to recover a dropped Octonaut or shoe. Dressing for these types of days, I inevitably I reach for jeans as nothing can take the beating quite as elegantly as denim. But each time I landed on a denim-driven outfit I just felt BLAH! It was like my sense of style had gone completely out the window. This of course, made me want to crawl into my coat and run home every time I ventured out, even if just for an errand. You know what I mean!?!?! That squirmy feeling of not being in sync with your clothes after you left the house! Nothing better than walking down the street in an outfit you FEEL amazing in - even the most basic jeans and sweater variety.
This doesn’t mean I want fuss in my outfits. I still want to wear “jeans and a sweater.” But I want it to feel more intentional. Even when I’m just taking my toddler to the top of One World Trade Center because it’s the only thing left I can think of to do in NYC between Christmas and New Years :) (BTW we had zero visibility and were the only ones there - I wore green pants and a little cashmere jacket which we will discuss next week.) But back to denim. Determined, I’ve overthought every jean and sweater I threw on the past dozen days and settled on a combo that feels supremely stylish while remaining easy.
The findings: It all comes down to your jean’s “wash” or color base. Every time I try a typical winter wash lately - something with an undertone of dirty fading or yellowishness, I’m feeling boring! What has been working? A light wash with undertones of white - a squarely summer classic. And to make my “jeans and sweater” look more aggressively fashionable, juxtaposing it all with sharp, black footwear.
It seems so simple. Almost too simple to share here. But because it was SO revelatory to me for some reason, I thought it might be for you too. Light blue jeans in a straight-ish shape. Black shoes. Why was it so hard to get here!? I don’t know. But now that I’m here it feels oh so right. I don’t feel mumsy. Or too trendy. But still feel like I’m giving off style instead of….yes, jeans and a sweater.
And in the spirit of 5 Things, the best five pair around
Pick your poison.
See you back here next Sunday. Big hug.
Yours TRULY,
Becky
Thank you for this. Was at Roosevelt field mall in my jeans yesterday and I looked very tired and non-descript. I find my jeans are that length that always seem uncool. Not long enough but not short enough. Kills the entire look.
All these outfits are great! Ugh do I feel this. I took my (almost) 2 and 5 year old to the Liberty Science Center yesterday and it was amazing- highly recommend for a cold weekend activity! The moms were SERVING as well! I think more than a few of them must subscribe here lol. I have been really trying to create outfits that are more in sync with how I feel and I have to say, it really truly makes a difference. I felt pretty “cool mom” at the science center, instead of my normal “envy of the moms who can get it together somehow.” Not super proud to admit that envy takes up so much real estate in my brain, but here we are!