Fight the Frump -Affordable Slimming Jeans

I found some affordable jeans last weekend that help me hide my extra 30 5 left over pregnancy pounds. They are Levi's slimming jeans and I found some for 30 last weekend at Academy Sports. Why at a sports store, you ask? We were buying more football stuff and little boy *coughsCUPScoughs* for protection. TMI? Sorry.

Anyhoo, back to the jeans, they really do hide the bumpies and make a cute silhouette. Y'all know I detest buying clothes new, and much prefer finding designer treasures at thrift stores, but these are worth it.

What is your favorite item of clothing that makes you look awesome? I'd love to collect a ton of great ideas in the comments from the Friends of Fussy!

Sorry, no Fight the Frump over the last two weeks. Blame my crazy life! If you still are posting your Fight the Frump {oh, I hope so!} Please link in the comment section!

Hey, you look great! You been losing weight?

Love ya bunches, Alli

Comments

[water works]

My latest favorite items are skirts. I challenged myself to kick it up and stop wearing crop pants (since I'm short there's very little crop there for me anyway). I have been trolling our thrift and consignment shops all summer and have a great little collection of just below the knee length skirts. Any longer than that and I look disproportionate.

And they have the advantage of not squeezing my thighs...which may have a pound or two of baby weight left in 'em. But just one or two, ha!

[water works]

I don't know why my name doesn't show. I do put it on the comment form...

[Rhi]

I'm wearing my favorite outfit today! http://flickr.com/photos/rhirhi/2870677460/

I'm a jacket girl - so that would have to be my favorite clothing item. This one in particular.

[Marcy Massura-The Glamorous Life]

I have a green cashmere zip up hoodie. It makes me look FABULOUS. I swear. Wanna see it? it is in my photo on my about page. The photo that was taken by a big time newspaper photographer who did a story on me...NATURALLY I reached for my lucky hoodie. Guess where it is from? THE GAP. I am not kidding. But it was like $95 bucks. Do you know I am a little panicked about it wearing out? I ration when to wear it. I save it for IMPORTANT have to look fabulous events (read first PTA meeting, lunch with husband and boss, coffee with a new client)I have started looking on e-bay for a duplicate. Size large people. Do you have one? SEND IT MY WAY. I need to maintain easy glamour people!

[Kathy Friend]

Ya know, I think I would pay any amount of money for a pair of jeans that looks great! Today, I am wearing these

Some other tips:
Look for jeans with a contoured waist - higher in the back...then you won't get plumber crack (because as you know, crack kills)

Big hips - get a flared leg, the flare will balance hips

Junk in your trunk - be careful about embellishment or pockets on the backside

Rise - be sure that the rise (low rise/med rise etc.) matches your shape. If you have a little situation in your mid-section, be sure the waistband of the jeans meets the situation. If it is below (biggest mistake), you look like a figure 8 rather than an hourglass...likewise, too high and you're in mom-jean territory

Length - PLEASE have your jeans hemmed. Error on the side of longer...shorter will cut the line of your leg, and make you look awkward and stocky.

[Kathy Friend]

Oops, forgot to change my URL to my biz one, and to add the link to my fav jeans http://fashionanswers.blogspot.com/2008/09/best-jeans.html

[Cathy]

Oh My Goodness... did you see these on the Levi's website?

http://us.levi.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3152309&cp=3146849.3146871.2765293

Are they serious?

[Anjie]

I took some Fight The Frump advice from one of your readers earlier this year and bought a denim pencil skirt that goes right above my knee....I got so many compliments from wearing it, I bought a light brown twill one just like it! With a cute pair of wedges, I look long and lean and my legs look fab!

http://abehunin.blogspot.com/2008/09/im-mom-wanting-to-stay-stylish-in-fall.html

[Caitlin]

Oh, those Levi's jeans (in the comments link) are gross! They even make the model look fat. Major mom jeans. Bleck.

[Bitsy Pieces]

I need help from the Fashionistas here! It's time for a new hairstyle... but I can't decide which one looks best:

http://bitsofpieces.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/help-me-pick-my-hair/

[TX Poppet]

I am shaped like an apple. With long, skinny stick arm and legs. I do not have a waist. Therefore! The only thing that looks good on me is A-line Dresses. I do not particularly like A-Line dresses.

I prefer wrap dresses that need a waist to wrap around.

I prefer fluttery empire tops that invite people to pat my tummy and ask when I am due.

I prefer twinsets and skirts that make a big line around to largest part of my body immediately drawing the eye to my perpetual pot belly.

So it is A-line dresses for me. That are not in style. That are impossible to find. Sigh.

[Bitsy Pieces]

I forgot to mention: My favorite figure-flattering garment is, without a doubt, a great pair of stretch jeans. Although a pencil skirt works for me, too.

[Colleen - Mommy Always Wins]

My fave wardrobe item? Black dress pants. I'm a tall drink of water, so its always a test for me to find pants that are long enough. I got my faves at NY & Co. (had a coupon AND a gift card - double BOO YAH!) and they fit me juuuuuust right.

We recently joined the Y to help both hubs AND I lose that extra baby weight (him more so than I - ha ha!) and I looked in the mirror this morning on my way out of the locker room and WOW. I was like, "When did I get so, uh, CURVY?!?" Spandex = BAAAAD.

[Eternal Sunshine]

These are my favorite jeans - VERY affordable, AND they have a tummy slimming panel. I'm wearing them out, so I need more!!

[Eternal Sunshine]

AGH - I forgot the link!!

http://www.ridersjeans.com/Catalog/MISSES/jeans/jeans/130404M

[baloney]

I was just shopping for jeans today - what a nightmare! I'm a pear, so my new thing is to look for fuller, blousy tops that are LONG. I'm really tall so long shirts aren't always necessarily long on me.
I miss having my sister nearby. I seem to have a hard time dressing myself. :)
Thanks for the tips everyone. Fashion slouchers like me need all the help we can get!

[Jamie]

My favorite favorite article of clothing right now is a pair of darn denim "trouser" type pants (dressy jeans essentially) that I bought recently at TJ Maxx for just $19.99. They are really slimming. I need to lose about 8 pounds to get back to my pre-birthin' babies weight but my mother (who gives me no mercy about weight) even told me I looked thin in mah new pants! :)

[Mrs.D]

I have a "trapeze" shirt that I love. It's almost like a maternity shirt, with its blousey cut and it is SSSSOOOO comfy. You can wear it and not worry about your gut hanging over your waistband. MAJOR plus. I love it and would wear a shirt cut like that every day, but then people really WOULD think I was preggo. I throw a snug shirt every couple days to demote that notion. lol.

[Christine]

Levis 512 Perfectly Slimming are my absolute favorites! Love them. :)

I have been trying to track down some 512 or 548 Perfectly Slimming capris, but those puppies are hard to find. Sigh...

Oh well, fall is coming.

Love ya, and may I say your tushie and tummy look mahvelous! Phooshop, pshaw. Mwah!!!

[Christine]

That was supposed to be Photoshop, pshaw. Phooshop *snort!*

[Kathy Friend]

Hello again all - my job is as a wardrobe coach. Have you seen the show 'what not to wear'? Well, that is what I do..

Anyway, I couldn't help myself..had to offer some thoughts:
TX Poppet – you are not confined to a-line only styles! Actually, I bet you look great in a pencil skirt, and a swing coat. Look for wrap tops – you CAN wear wrap styles, because the very nature of the style gives you a waist. Look for anything with princess seaming. When you buy tops / jackets, hold them up and look at the shape. If the shape looks like an hourglass, YOU CAN WEAR IT. V-neck is going to be best for you; boot cut jeans are best too. Keep any embellishment on your tops / jackets toward the top (away from your midsection). Hope this helps!

baloney – look for a trouser jean in a lightweight fabric. David Kahn and/or Joe’s jeans (booty cut) might be a good place for you to start. These are pricey premium denim…but try them on – it will give you a benchmark for fit.

[The Farmers Wife]

I love my A line skirts!! I also am a huge fan of the proper undergarments! Ladies please becareful if to wear Nude underclothing when wearing thin clothing. Don't wear polka dots, zebra stripes, teal, red, black.....And for heavens sake please check to make sure your bra straps are hidden and you don't have panty lines. OH, I love Spanx too.

[bermudabluez]

My MOST favorite item of clothing EVAH has to be a custom made jacket made of denim with an artist's paintings etched in different places on the front and the back and little teeny tiny rhinestones strategically placed. The thing fit PERFECTLY. It was expensive. But I LOVED that jacket. Wore it EVERYWHERE. I still have it. It's more than a decade old by now, but I still keep it. Hoping that someday, I will be thin again....if only in my dreams! That thing was one of a kind. And it was special. We got it in the city where we got engaged.

[Alli {Mrs. Fussypants}]

dude, those Levi's in the link are ugly!

LOL.

Now, if I could just lose some weight! ;)

[Beck]

I had a purple empire waist shirt that was SO pretty but it made everyone think I was pregnant. So now my favorite peice of clothing is my gorgeous teal v-neck sweater that is very sadly wearing out.
(For Canadian readers, it's worth checking out Mark's Work Warehouse and seeing if their line of slimming jeans works - they're inexpensive, too!)

[That Girl]

well, Fuss, I am so glad you asked, because I have two pairs of jeans from Ann Taylor and EVERY time I wear either pair, someone will ask if I've lost weight! Both purchased on sale of course. No idea what it is about them that works, but I go with it!

[Lisa@BlessedwithGrace]

!!!!!!Levis 529 Curvy Jeans!!!!!
I found a great pair of jeans, a few months ago. Let me say that I am a plus sized girl and I have curves. I LOVE Levis 529 Curvy Jean. I have NEVER had more compliments on a pair of jeans than I have had with these. That says A LOT for this plus sized girl. Here is a link for them at Macy's.

http://www.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=289461&PartnerID=FROOGLE&BannerID=PD433

They are awesome.
Also, my Fight the Frump post - Grace's Style Tip Friday -"Dressin' Trashy".

http://blessedwithgrace.blogspot.com/2008/09/graces-style-tip-friday-dressin-trashy.html

[anna]

Great jeans for [cough] larger thighs: Robertson by Paige Premium denim. Expensive but worth it.

[Jenny from Mommin' It Up!]

I am in LOVE with tunics. SO in love, in fact, that I wrote an article about it for a little rag called Blissfully Domestic. :) Here's the link!
http://blissfullydomestic.com/blissful-style/style-trends/how-to-wear-the-trendy-tunic/

[Suburban Oblivion]

Another vote for NY & Co.'s dress pants! The cut is perfect, and they are so comfortable you feel like you are wearing lounge pants rather than dress pants. :)

[Fuzzy]

Do Spanx count?? That is THIS post partum mommy's favorite!