A PAIR OF JEANS SAVED MY LIFE by Pennie Hunt

My best friend’s mom bought me my first pair of jeans and they saved my life. Well, it seemed like it at the time.

As a military family, we were living in California when the Air Force gave my dad orders to go to Thailand. While my dad was in Thailand, my mom, brother, sister, and I moved from California back to South Dakota where we would live after my dad’s time overseas.

I was in 7th grade and I wasn’t unhappy about the move. California wasn’t my favorite place to live. Even though I had adapted to the California way of dressing- the wide-legged high-waisted pants with bold colors of stripes or plaids that cascaded over my white socks and platform shoes, I never really fit into the California lifestyle. I was anxious to move back to South Dakota.​ A place I remembered happily living years before.

We bought a new house in my old neighborhood. I was excited to go to school and I hoped that I would find old friends. I didn’t. Everything was different. Or maybe it was all the same, but I was different. Wearing my flashy pants and platform shoes was far from the style of this place I had returned to. The style was jeans. Only jeans. And not white socks. I was called a sosh.

I struggled for a few weeks until my best friend convinced her mom to take me shopping. She bought me my first pair of Levi’s. Tight Levi’s. Lay-down-on-your-back-to-zip-them-up tight. I was thrilled! I wore them every day. Day after day. They were long enough that they covered my platform shoes and I​ convinced my mom to buy me new socks that weren’t white.

My new look must have worked. The jeans saved my life. I made it through the rest of junior high and high school without being laughed at or called a sosh ever again.
I became an expert on keeping up with the kind of jean brands that were in style. Back then it was Levi, Lee, or Wrangler. Now, all these years later I am feeling lost in the world of denim. I don’t have a clue what kind and style of jeans I am supposed to be wearing.

I made it through the bell-bottom era and reluctantly adapted to skinny jeans. That took a while, but I did learn to love, love, love skinny jeans.

Now I don’t know where I fit or what is right for me to wear. There are more brands than I can list. There are skinny jeans, straight-leg, bootcut, wide-legged, bell bottom, flare, and boyfriend jeans.

Once you pick one of those, then you must decide if you want high-rise, mid-rise, or low-rise. And what color do you like? Dark denim, navy, mid-wash, light wash, stone wash, acid wash, faded, indigo, … And they aren’t just blue jeans anymore. They are black, white, teal, pink, and any color you can imagine.

Do you want them normal length, ankle, petite, cuffed, stacked, capri?
Then don’t forget the choice of vintage jeans, patchwork jeans, embellished jeans, distressed jeans, and various tummy control and stretch jeans.

And the price can range from $10 at discount stores to close to the price of a weekend away at an Airbnb. 

I could go on with this game, but you see where I am going. How do I know what is right for my life, my style, my age and shape? It is overwhelming! Shopping for just the right pair of jeans is an adventure of fear and determination. I will admit that I have given up the search more than once.

Last week I walked out of my closet wearing (what I thought was) a pair of cute teal jeans. My husband chuckled and told me they looked like pajama bottoms. They are currently in the donation bag. I am beginning to feel the insecurity of being a 7th grader again and wondering if people are whispering about me and if I did a social media “fit check’ I would be a bit off.
Is there anyone out there that has the answer to this dilemma?
It just might save my life!
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                                                      Pennie’s Life Lesson:
                                                  Sometimes less is better.
                                   More choices can create more confusion. 
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​YOUR TURN...        
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