My Measurements:
Waist: 28″
Full Hip: 43″
Height: 5’5″
What Does ‘Curvy’ Mean?
Curvy can refer to a few different things. Firstly, it can refer to plus-size, but generally in recent years I’ve noticed that ‘curve’ or ‘curvy’ clothing tends to refer to people with curves in the hip, seat, and bust regions. And “curvy” pants, jeans, trousers, etc. are made to fit people with a hip to waist difference of greater than 10″.
A 10″ difference between your waist and hips is “industry standard”, and most people with that difference can wear “straight” sizes. Most companies create clothing around these measurements. Some companies may use 9″, and some companies may use 12″, but generally, 10″ is the difference and if you have a greater difference than that you’re ‘curvy’. I of course am not the law with this, so please let me know if i’m grossly misrepresenting something or if you have something to add.
Style Purchased: The Curvy ’90s Straight Jean
Wash(es): Rondell Wash, Vintage Canvas, Belmere Wash
Fabric Content: 99% cotton/1% elastane
Size Purchased: 28
Price in CAD: $187.00
Madewell is a brand that not only has had a curvy collection for many years, but that also brings out new styles and washes several times a year. They’re the most expensive curvy denim I’ve tried, so I had high expectations and even higher hopes. And were they met? Yes…and no.
The Madewell jeans were so close in so many areas to being perfect for me, but ultimately didn’t quite tick all of the boxes. For starters, they did fit well in a 28. I had room to move, sit, and pirouette on my shag rug, but there were a handful of things about them that weren’t quite right which resulted in me returning them.
When I first put them on, I thought that were quite literally perfect. The straight leg had the exact width I look for, and the length was great on my frame. And as you can see, they fit really well on my backside! That is, until I fully turned around in the mirror…
Do you see it? You see it. I think that the back seam/rise is too short, so it situated itself in the most unflattering place. Had it been an inch or two longer, I think these would have been a lot more flattering.
They’re also not quite high enough a rise for me, I would prefer if the waistline on the jean sat at my actual waist. Instead, the top edge of the waistband just touches it, and I have a fairly average-length torso. This is more of a preference thing though instead of something being objectively a problem. I’m a fan of the Everlane Curvy Way High jeans, for instance, which have a higher rise but fit similarly otherwise.
Lastly, there’s quite a bit of excess fabric around the crotch area. It sits horizontally, and feels almost like I’m wearing a baggy jean where everywhere else is quite fitted.
All that aside, the fabric is very luxe feeling. Soft, fairly stretchy even though it says that they’re only 1% Spandex. I could tell that they would be comfortable for long periods as I wore them, but I can’t speak to how much they’ll bag/stretch out. I would imagine that with 1% Spandex it would be a moderate amount, but the jeans were so soft that they almost felt like a knit so I’d be interested in hearing how they fare.
Verdict
While the three jeans I bought are all going back, I can acknowledge that these jeans feel high-quality and it seems that an honest attempt to fit curvy bodies was made. Moreover, I think that these jeans will work for a lot of people, and that a lot of the issues I mentioned were likely “me” issues. I had really hoped that these jeans would have worked out for me, but it wasn’t meant to be this time.
But I want to hear from you — have you tried the Madewell curvy line? What did you think?
This is a link to my Everlane curvy jean review.
As always, thanks for reading!
-Megan x
