Ever since I reviewed Everlane’s denim last year, I was hoping they’d come out with something stretchier. While I get a lot of wear out of my High-Rise Skinny Jeans, they’re made out of a stiffer denim that doesn’t stretch much. Well, Everlane read my mind (and probably many other people’s) and released their Authentic Stretch jeans this September. I visited the San Francisco store to try on a few pairs. I only tried on the high-rise options since that’s what works for me.

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The Authentic Stretch High-Rise Cigarette Jean

First up: the Authentic Stretch High-Rise Cigarette Jean, shown above in regular and ankle lengths on models who are 5′ 7″ and 5″ 10″. It comes in three colors right now: black, mid blue, and washed black (which reads kind of dark gray to me). The color above is the washed black. The fabrics between the washes felt similar. They were thick and similar to denim, though the washed black felt softer than the black. The fiber content is 87% cotton, 12% elasterell-p, and 1% elastane. I hadn’t heard of elasterell-p before.

According to Wikipedia, it’s “an alternative to the generic term “polyester” for a specific subgroup of inherently elastic, multicomponent textile fibers.” In other words: a stretchy synthetic. I’m trying to avoid synthetics, but I guess it’s hard to make stretchy jeans without any.

Here is 5′ 4″ me wearing the ankle version of the jeans in my regular denim size.

Compared to the High-Rise Skinny Jeans I bought last year, the rise on the cigarette jeans is a little higher (11″ versus 10.5″). Because these jeans feature a button fly instead of a zipper, they seemed to add a bit of bulk from the side. I didn’t love the way these hung on me, particularly on the legs. They’re a little baggy, especially around the knees. Not for me, but your mileage may vary. If you don’t want a super skinny leg, this is a good option to check out.

Authentic Stretch High-Rise Skinny

Next up: the skinny leg version of these jeans. Above: the jeans on a 5′ 10″ model, again in the washed black. These are available in four colors, including a dark blue wash. Like the cigarette jeans, these also feature an 11″ rise, which falls just above my navel. Again, I tried on my regular denim size. Upon getting them on, I thought, “Wow, these look great!”

However, they also felt tight. Yes, I could get them on, but it was a bit of a struggle with my thighs. I kept wondering how the next size up would fit. They were out of that size in the store, so I ordered them.

Here’s a comparison between my regular denim size, a 27, to the left, and one size up to the right. The larger size wrinkles more at the knees, and also doesn’t fit as tightly against the legs (which you can really see when comparing the bottom hem). Neither size looks like they did on the model. On her, they looked like jeggings.

From the back, they’re similar. I went back and forth trying to decide which size to get. I read reviews on the Everlane site where it seems the majority of people bought their regular denim size. But I felt a bit constricted in my regular size. In the end, I decided to go with the bigger size — the 28 — for the sake of comfort. (My hips are 37″ for reference.)

I wore the jeans around for a few weeks. The fabric loosens up a bit as you wear them, but it also holds its shape. They don’t sag in the waist or butt.

Here are the jeans on me after I spent an afternoon walking around. (I didn’t fix anything or look in a mirror before this photo was snapped, by the way. This is how they look out in the real world on a real person.) There’s some serious wrinkling going on around the knees. I don’t know what that’s about.

The High-Rise Skinny Jeans I reviewed last year, which are 98% cotton and 2% elastane, also wrinkled at the knees. At the time, I attributed the wrinkles to the stiffness of the denim. The Authentic Stretch High-Rise Skinny is 77% cotton, 17% modal, 2% elastane, and 4% polyester. It has plenty of stretch, debunking my original theory.

I don’t know if it’s possible to make a pair of stretch denim jeans without some wrinkles in the knees, though. My favorite high-rise skinny jeans up to this point (though not ethically-made in a LEED-certified factory) are Uniqlo’s High-Rise Ultra Stretch Jeans. Those also get baggier in the knees as I wear them.

Other than the knees, I think they fit well. There’s no gaping at the waist. I also really love the washed black color.

However, a few days after these photos were taken, I noticed a defect in my jeans. The stitching was coming undone near the top of the zipper. It had unraveled almost half an inch, leaving a gaping hole. In fact, you can see it in the very first photo at the top of this post if you look closely. (I didn’t notice it at the time I was taking the photo.)

I contacted Everlane’s customer service and they refunded my money within a day and sent a shipping label so that I could send the jeans back to their production team. Shout out to Everlane’s customer service! They’ve always been prompt and done right by me when I’ve contacted them about an issue.

This isn’t the first time I’ve had a problem with the durability of stitching with Everlane jeans, though. The first pair of High-Rise Skinny Jeans I tried last year in this review also had stitching come undone near the zipper, though in a different spot. Everlane replaced those jeans for me. The second pair has held up fine, though. I’ve been wearing them on the regular for a year.

Overall, I’m a fan of these jeans and plan to replace the pair I sent back. Part of me is still wondering if I should go with the smaller size even though they felt too tight initially when I put them on. I’m a few pounds more than I usually am at the moment. But it’s not like my hips are going to change.

UPDATE 12/18/18 – I went back to try on the Authentic Stretch High-Rise Skinny jeans in the dark blue wash, and in those I fit my usual size. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ The black washes seem run tighter than the blue washes.

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