We’ve all been there before: stuck in a tiny dressing room with jeans flung everywhere, trying to find the right pair. But according to Brooklyn-based blogger Marie Southard Ospina, being plus-size makes it that much harder. So the 23-year-old writer decided to document the process of testing out 10 different pairs of size 16 jeans and reviewing the fit.
Courtesy of Marie Southard Ospina
“When you’re plus-size, things get even trickier,” she wrote in a piece for Buzzfeed. “Let’s forget, for a moment, that most brands and stores simply stop producing apparel after a size 12. The reality is that a curvier body has, well, more curves. And those curves aren’t something you can easily measure — let alone put into jeans.”
Ospina, who also conducted a plus-size Photoshop experiment in December, says she owns jeans in sizes 14 to 20. She made it her mission to find the right fit, taking photos every step of the way.
“I will admit I’m not a big denim lover,” said Opsina, who is also the associate style and beauty editor at Bustle.com. “Whether this is due to my affinity for vintage dresses or whether it’s a distaste cultivated by the sheer unavailability of comfortable plus-size jeans that fit a 50-inch bum and a 39-inch waist, I do not know.”
So after trying on 10 brands, did she find the right fit for her body?
“My favorite pair was actually the Levi’s,” she told PEOPLE. “I’ll always be partial to high-waisted jeans, but for something more low-rise, the Levi’s were great. The denim was soft without being a jegging. And the fit countered my body well. I didn’t feel like I was about to suffocate — nor did I feel like they’d fall down the second I bent down.”
What do you think of Ospina’s experiment? How do you shop for jeans?
–Michelle Ward
