Jeans shouldn't be this difficult

All I wanted was new jeans. Both the pairs I was wearing pre-pregnancy and returned to after N's birth have worn through at the thighs, and even though I'm planning on patching them, I still wanted new jeans, for those occasions when wearing patchy jeans didn't seem quite the thing. I have one brand and style of jeans that I've been buying since I was 19, so although it isn't the most ethical choice, at least I know that I will wear them all the time. Normally I'd just trot out and buy a new pair, unhappily aware that it won't count towards my ethical fashion quota for the year. But times, my friends, they are not normal, and so obtaining new jeans has turned into a bit of a saga.

To start with, they stopped making my jeans sometime when I was wearing maternity jeans. Now they have some other style options in bootcut jeans that are not the same, and don't fit well. Rats. I decided that if I was going to start from scratch finding a new style of jeans that I liked, I should investigate ethical options.

Result of investigation: disappointing. Even if I could get past buying jeans from a 'collection', the vast majority of the ethically produced jeans on the market are designer jeans and intended for skinnier people than I. Possible there are ethically produced size 16 jeans out there, but my google-fu could not find them.
This was a somewhat depressing moment, and resulted in a binge of ethical clothes buying for N, which I shall detail in a later post.

So I went the op-shop route. Found a very nice pair of soft denim in a local op-shop for $8. Because I had N I couldn't try them on, but I figured if they were a terrible fit I'd just re-donate them. They fit fine, but there was a problem with the zip - it wouldn't stay up. This really irritates me. People, thrift shops are for clothes in good condition that don't fit you, or don't suit your needs or your taste anymore. They aren't a dumping ground for clothes with problems. Grrrr.  Took to a local alterations place and got the zip replaced. Cost more than the jeans did, but all up less than a brand new pair would have cost.

I feel good that I finally have a pair of jeans (which are to me a wardrobe staple) that I can say are a fairly ethical choice, being second hand, a bit ashamed that it took my regular jeans disappearing from production before I made that switch, and still irritated at whoever donated those jeans with the dodgy zip.