I have been quite reticent on my opinion of barrel jeans. At first I was like no — especially when they first came into trend. They looked more like a horseshoe in very exaggerated shape, a bit too much for me. But then I kept seeing them and saw a few options that actually looked good. THEN Madewell came through with a pair and I actually really like them! It’s this pair here, if that wasn’t clear. As you can see it’s defiantly a barrel shape, but not too exaggerated. And they’re that comfortable Madewell denim we all know and love.
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When really trendy pieces come out, I like to give them a year to see if they’ll stick around but also I like to let the initial trend of it all to get ironed out by different brands. Madewell tends to do trend really well — and I mean this in a nice way — but they tend to have blandest take on a trend. Again, in a nice way! I like this kind of ‘watered down’ take on the barrel jean trend because it’s actually wearable and I don’t feel a-fool. It can be a hard style to be confident in but I really like Madewell’s take. They’ve darted the leg, so where it typically would go wide leg, it comes in at the inside dart and tapers towards the inside hem. So they’re not quite wide leg, but a similar vibe if that makes sense.
I am in the 30, regular length, of the jeans. I find they run TTS, the fabric has a hint of stretch which is really nice and it’s a thicker denim. I’m relieved they aren’t 100% cotton because I find Madewell’s 100% cotton jeans are the hardest to find my right size. The bit of stretch keeps the structure of the ‘barrel’ as well. I would suggest a true to size fit with room to stretch with wear.
One Response
While I may have initially been resistant to the barrel jean trend, I appreciate how this article has opened my mind to exploring it further.