Last weekend when I was at Target, I only had time to try on one pair of jeans from their new denim line, Universal Thread. But that didn’t satiate my curiosity. So I went back and tried on their $24.99 high-rise skinny jeans, which comes in three washes: dark wash, medium wash, and black.

I didn’t get around to any of the colored jeans or the ones with distressing or other details. To be honest, I’m not sure if they were even stocked at the Target I visited. I find the organization on the floor confusing sometimes. Some jeans were folded and stacked on shelves. Others hung from the racks. It’s easy to miss something, so I suggest taking a look online first so that you have an idea of what the options are and what you might want to keep an eye out for in store.

In my last post, I tried on the dark wash. Let’s review shall we?

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Here’s the stock photo for the dark wash. Colors on the website seem pretty accurate — and fitting room lighting sucks — so I thought it best to include the stock photo so you can see what the color is supposed to look like. The dark wash is very dark, almost black.

I tried on my usual denim size and one size up. Visually, they were pretty much the same, but comfort wise, the bigger size won. The fit was great all around — no gaping and no sagging in the front or the back. I’m wearing the short here and the length was perfect for petite me. I’m 5′ 4″ for reference. These jeans also come in regular and long lengths. The fiber content is 90% cotton, 7% polyester, and 3% Lycra and the jeans were made in Pakistan. The dark wash was a little rough feeling, but not distractingly so.

Next, I tried on the medium wash. (Someone get this model a new pair of shoes! She’s hanging off the back of these.)

These had the same fiber content as the dark wash and were also made in Pakistan. I found the fit similar to the dark wash, so again, I decided to go up a size for comfort. I’m wearing one size up from my usual size in the regular length here, which of course, is too long for a shorty like me. It’s wrinkled in the knees, but maybe that’s because they’re too long. Interestingly, the fabric on this pair felt a little softer in comparison to the dark wash. The whiskering detail on the front is a nice touch.

Next up: the same cut of jeans in black.

These were made in Cambodia and have a different fiber content: 60% cotton, 32% rayon, and 2% Lycra. The fabric is thinner and softer than the other two pairs and I found that I didn’t need to size up in these. They’re so thin and soft you’d be forgiven for mistaking them for jeggings.

Speaking of jeggings, Universal Thread high-rise jeggings exist, so I tried them on too. They’re listed as “short” on the website, which I guess is why they look cropped on the model.

They’re really soft. Super soft. I’ve tried on legging pants from Uniqlo before (which totally do not work for me). Those are more leggings-like whereas these Universal Thread ones retain a denim-ness about them, at least visually. Made in Vietnam, the fiber content for these is 48% cotton, 43% lyocell (a kind of rayon made out of dissolving wood pulp), 1% polyester, and 2% spandex. I tried my usual size and while it was snug to get into, it didn’t feel uncomfortable due to the softness of the fabric.

I also tried a size up and I’m torn! If I were to buy these, I’m not sure which size I’d get. They look the same in the photos, in which case I’d usually go with the larger size for comfort. Yet, I worry they’d stretch out over time and get baggy since the fabric is already so soft to begin with. So go with your regular size? The regular jeans had a tag touting the inclusion of Lycra Xtra Life, which implied they would retain their shape. The jeggings did not. Who really knows, though?

Something different about the jeggings is that they were manufactured via Kitotex (which I went a bit into in my last post) and have a Chitosan finish. That process consumes less energy, water, and chemicals than conventional means. It also involves shrimp. Yes, shrimp. The high-rise jeans I tried on didn’t include any information about how they’re made, so I take this to mean they are made in the conventional, water-hogging way that most jeans are made.

I don’t need any more jeans (especially since I caved several posts ago and bought a pair of Everlane high-rise skinny jeans that were made in a LEED-certified factory). For me, personally, the most environmentally friendly thing I can do about my clothing is to resist the new thing and wear the jeans I already own. I’m trying to consume less in the first place and get more wear out of what I already have.

If you’re in the market for denim, I hope my info about fit has been helpful. If you own some Universal Thread denim, I’d love to hear how they worked for you and whether or not they stretched out.

I didn’t leave completely empty handed, though. I ended up loving the button down shirt (manufactured in Indonesia) that I tried on with the jeans. It’s made out of a gauzy-feeling cotton with just a touch of spandex for warmer weather, something that I lacked in my wardrobe. I’ve worn this outfit three days in a row during a streak of unseasonably warm weather here in the Bay Area and I love it so much that I don’t care!