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COPYRIGHT 2002 Consumers Union of the United States, Inc.
Jeans may well be the most carefully sewn clothing in your closet. Why, then, is it so hard to find jeans that fit? You can start with the way they're constructed and even the nature of denim itself. Manufacturers have to allow for small differences here and there in cutting and sewing, but the variations sometimes amount to much more than a fraction of an inch. In our tests of men's and women's jeans, we found individual brands in the same style and size that differed as much as 2 1/2 inches in the waist and hip, 1 1/4 inches in length.
The distinctive properties of denim make those inconsistencies more noticeable than in, say, a pair of khakis. Denim stretches and molds to the body; other woven fabrics don't. Sewing is more complicated with jeans than with other trousers.
Finally, there's what might be called the demographics of denim--the liberties that manufacturers take with style and cut (as they do with other types of clothing) to appeal to particular groups. One maker may decide to cut jeans on the generous side, so that a woman who normally wears a size 12 can exult by finding a size 10 that fits. The Lands' End Natural Fit is a case in point.
While a man may boast that his waist is the same size 36 it was on his wedding day, his hips and thighs may have become more, well, more. A Wrangler Rustler, with its narrow thigh, may feel like a sausage casing to a man in his mid-40s. But the Calvin Klein Easy Fit could fit just fine.
Perhaps as a nod to aging baby boomers, some makers are increasing their offerings of larger sizes. Gap, for example, now offers sizes 18 and 20 for women. Lands' End has added women's sizes up to 26W and men's to 46.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD FIT?
To answer that question, we asked three men and three women to model jeans. Each group matched in clothing size but not in physique. The men wear pants with a 36-inch waist; the women wear a size 10. But not every pair of jeans flattered every figure, nor did they feel comfortable.
We chose jeans in conservative, comfortable designs marketed as classic/regular fit or relaxed fit. We enlisted an expert to tell us how well each pair conformed to the different body types--the better to help you decide which brands to consider and which to leave behind. The comments on the last two pages describe the figures best-suited for each brand and style of jeans and which details contribute to the good look.
Our own textile wizards looked at practical matters: shrinkage, pair-to-pair variation in size, plus softness...
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