I Hate Wearing Jean Shorts—Except This $70 Pair from Levi’s I Can’t Stop Wearing

Today, it often seems like malls are dying, but luck was on my side in a local Nordstrom store. I didn’t approach my shopping day with the mindset of finding shorts, specifically, and I was open to anything that read cute-yet-professional and cool enough for a weekend in the desert. (I’m a believer—by unfortunate experience, not by choice—that if I’m searching for a specific item, I’ll almost never find it.) That’s when I stumbled across a rack of Levi’s. It’s important to know that I’ve never had great luck with the beloved denim brand. In fact, I’ve found that the brand’s jeans never complemented my figure as well as my Agolde jeans. But something about this particular outing was different: Perhaps it was the baggy flare or the rigid cotton or the longer inseam, but there was something enticing about the shorts in front of me. I thought what the heck, and I added the Levi’s to my pile to try-on in the dressing room.

As soon as I shimmied into the baggy Levi’s, I knew I struck gold. It was one of the few times I glanced in the badly lit dressing room mirror and didn’t have one singular thought about how my thighs looked or if my belly was on display. Rather, I was thrilled with how comfortable they felt. They only had a size 27 available versus my usual 26, but I found it to fit well without looking ill-fitting. Despite its no-stretch composition, the waistband never dug into my skin or left me spilling over. (The only time I find myself wishing I’d gone with my normal size is when, after wearing them for a multiple days in a row without washing, they loosen up a bit.)