It's all in the jeans

Hello pickles,

I'm a convert to jeans now I've found the Evans super stretch skinnies (I'd like them in allll the colours) and I've been asked to post this infographic about jeans by House of Fraser. It's NOT a sponsored post, I'm doing it out of the goodness of my ickle heart. If there's something in here that helps navigate the minefield that is buying jeans (and then how to style them) then brilliant.

I always used to wear wide legged jeans but I discovered recently that anything with a wide leg doesn't look good on me and makes me look shorter. I've put on weight over the years with chronic illness and I was wearing the same styles from years ago without realising they no longer suited me. Blogging and taking photos of myself has helped me so much. Now because my legs are short and quite wide I look square in wide legged things. I prefer tapered jeans and trousers as they make my legs look longer.

At the end of the post I'll talk my jeans history and all the styles I've worn through the years.

Now these are suggestions not orders so if any advice strikes you as useful then take it on board, otherwise carry on. For instance the only time I'm going to wear heels is if I have a doctor fetish, because within half an hour I would've broken my ankle, so I'm totally ignoring the advice about heels. Take what advice suits you, and leave the rest. There are some trends I want to try out of this infographic though - white jeans and ripped jeans, although I'm so clumsy white jeans won't stay white for long....I know this from prior experience. ;)

So, the first pair of jeans I remember having was when I was little and they had little heart shaped pockets on the bum. I remember growing out of them really quickly and being sad. I really loved those pockets! Then I don't really remember wearing jeans again until I was about 14 and bought a pair of loose jean dungarees off Hometown Rach's brother. Man, I lived in those things! (I  distinguish between my two good Rachel friends by calling them Hometown Rach and Canada Rach. HT Rach is my oldest friend - I've known her since I was about 5!)

Then I had a pair of jeans so frigging tight I had to wear my mum's panty girdle to get them on. Breathing was difficult! After that I got some wider legged jeans which I wore big turn ups on. I wore those when I was obsessed with Bros, hahaha. Around that time I DIY-ed some other jeans with scissors and a cheese grater. I even cut the clothes labels out of everything I owned and sewed them onto some other jeans. I thought I was the bees knees!

The last craze for white jeans was in the early 90s when I was 17 or 18 and my jeans stayed white for all of 3 weeks. Then I dyed them to cover up the stains. ;) In my 20s I had a bright red pair and a normal denim pair from C&A....now that's going back a few years as we haven't had C&A in the UK for a long time. Then I remember an obsession with Etam Plus jeans in my late 20s until Etam stopped selling in the UK. I got through several pairs as I wore them until the thighs fell to pieces. I was a jeans and t shirt girl for my late 20s/early 30s as I had no idea what suited me at all back then.

Here's me in a pair of my beloved Etam jeans. I have no idea what happened to that t-shirt except it's no longer in my possession, I'm sad to say. :/ I'm guessing this photo is between 10 and 15 years old. Ironically it was taken in my now home town. At that time I never thought I might live here in the future. It's a funny ol' life. :) I was on a day trip with my mum, step dad and my friend Michelle. Hello Mich, if you're reading!

Fibromyalgia struck when I was about 33, and for years I didn't really wear jeans as rough denim fabrics really make my sensitive skin sore. This was exacerbated as I had to pull jeans up constantly - my hips are so big to get jeans over my bum they had to be massive in the waist. Of course now we have pear fit jeans and thank God for it, no more uncomfortable tight belts to stop my arse popping out of my jeans when I bend over. Hah.

How do you feel about jeans?

Thanks for reading,
Leah xoxo

Genius jeans and two way boots OOTD

Hiya lovelies!

Recently Fashion World contacted me to see if I wanted to try out their inventive two way boots and some jeans to go with them. I was able to chose any jeans I wanted, so when I saw they do jeans for the fuller bum I went for them: BESPOKEfit bootcut full bum jeans.

If you've been reading the blog a while you might know my feelings about jeans. Because of my unproportionally large bum jeans have ALWAYS been too big for me in the waist, so I've had to belt them tightly to keep them up, or hoist them up constantly when they fall down. Both make me sore and uncomfortable, so I have avoided jeans. These jeans, my big bummed beauties, are a revelation. They hug my thighs, bum AND waist and I don't need a belt to wear them. Can I get a hallelujah?

Onto the boots. As soon as I was told about the two way boots I looked them up online and said 'They're genius!' I'd never heard of a pair of boots which can be worn as ankle boots or knee high boots depending on your mood. I have very large calves and haven't had much luck with wide-fitting knee boots in the past so I knew from the start that these ones might not fit me. I'm an eternal optimist so I thought I'd try them out & hope for the best. Unfortunately I couldn't do these boots up in their knee boot incarnation, but they will work for those of you with smaller calves. To give you an idea, my calves are about 55 cm, so they are on the very large side.

**See towards the end of this post for knee high boots to fit very large calves like mine from Fashion World**

I wore the boots on the walk down to our local park and back (which is all up hill and down dale) and they're really comfortable. They didn't rub my feet at all, which is almost unheard of for me in new shoes and boots. I got the 7E fitting and was expecting them to be a little tight in the foot but I found them plenty roomy enough, with space for when I need thicker winter socks.

I didn't use any accessories for this look other than my usual hair flower and a pair of earrings because I wanted the jeans and boots to speak for themselves. I didn't feel they needed anything else.

Now, photos of the boots!

The longer length of the boot is attached by a buckle and has its own zipper

Here you can see the overlap

The zips are on the inner side of the boot

There is generous elastic at the back

I have my eye on these beauties in 7EEE:

Even better, they're only £59. If I'm a good girl Santa might bring me them for Christmas!

I hope this post gives you an idea of the jeans for big bums available for us bountiful bottomed folk (they're also available in a flat bum fit if you have a weeny little bum) and the boot options available for all calf sizes. Although the two way boots didn't work for me as a knee boot, they're a fab ankle boot and I know I'll get a lot of wear out of them through Autumn and Winter.

Denim shirt, Burtons (about 20 years ago.)
Black asymmetric vest, Simply Be
**Boots & jeans c/o Fashion World** (links at top of post.)

Let's talk boots - do you love knee high boots? Do you have trouble finding them to fit you? (Small calves and large calves alike.)

Thanks for reading and thanks to Fashion World for the opportunity for me to find these jeans and boots. I'll be coming back for those black boots soon!

P.S. Would you like to see more outfit photos 'on location'? I loved having these photos taken outside and would like to do that more often if it's something you'd like to see.