Do these jeans for curvy women fit?

Eleven and a half inches stand between me and the perfect pair of jeans. That’s the difference in the circumference of my hips and waist, which makes me a stellar candidate for PZI according to Claire Jason, vice president and creative director of the Atlanta-based denim brand designed for women with curves.

At 5’10”, I sometimes delude myself into thinking I have a model’s physique, but each time I try on a pair of jeans, the denim tells a different story. The ones that fit through the hip and thigh leave an unsightly gap at the waist. So I’ve settled for buying dozens of jeans with an almost perfect fit and wearing a really great belt to hold them up.

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Kent D. Johnson / kdjohnson@ajc.com

Some of PZI different styles of jeans.

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When Jason tells me PZI is an affordable brand designed to fit hourglass and pear shapes, I want to believe. The first step of the PZI fit test is to take your measurements. “Hips, 42, waist, 30.5, inseam, 36,” Jason says. On the PZI fit chart, I’m a size 8 long (I usually wear a 10). The jeans come in the same contoured cut with different leg openings and washes, so I try the dark wash in boot-cut and skinny silhouettes and proceed to touch my toes, do a deep knee bend, sit in a chair and lean all the way forward before twisting my torso side to side.

The boot-cuts were extremely comfortable. They didn’t gap in the back or wrinkle at the thighs and none of my exaggerated movements revealed anything indecent. The skinnies weren’t as comfortable as the boot-cuts, but were more comfortable than any skinnies I own and I’d feel safe wearing them without a belt.

In terms of fit, I’d say PZI has it figured out, but they’re still working on positioning themselves as a fashion brand. Some stereotypes are hard to shake, such as those held by consumers and retailers who think curvy is plus-size, plus-size is urban, urban is inexpensive, and inexpensive is totally unfashionable.

It takes time to change minds, but it can happen. It took almost two decades for me to consider myself curvy, but only a ten-minute test to decide there just may be a pair of jeans out there that fits.