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Moving from conspicuous to conscious consumption and doing reviews along the way.  Find plenty of unsponsored reviews of Quince, Everlane, Grana, and Cuyana on the site!  I'm working towards a minimal waste lifestyle, and oh yea I love bags >.<

Levi’s Ribcage Straight Ankle Jeans Review

A couple months ago I wrote up a review of the Agolde 90’s jeans, and ever since then I’ve been on a quest for the perfect mom jeans (the problem with the Agolde ones were that they were a tad too small and even though I tried a size up, they still didn’t fit right. You can read all about it in my update in the Agolde jeans review). So I recently decided to try the Levi’s Ribcage Straight Ankle Jeans as a more affordable alternative to the Agolde jeans.

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Agolde Review: 90's Mid Rise Loose Fit Jeans and Riley Jeans {Updated November 2021}

I mentioned back in January that I purchased these jeans from fellow blogger Andrea. I had been looking for 90’s-styled “mom jeans” for a while but didn’t know where to start. But I love how mom jeans look on Andrea so when she decided to sell her Agolde 90’s Mid Rise Loose Fit Jeans because they were too big for her, I jumped at the chance. She was kindly worried that they would be too big on my, but knowing my pandemic weight gain I was more worried they would be too small haha. Well they are a bit tight but fit! I also love that I can look back at her blog to see how she styled these exact jeans (here and here).

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Mott & Bow Jeans Review {Updated March 2018}

*These jeans were gifted from Mott & Bow for review and this is a type of sponsored post

Hi guys, I just want to start off today's review by thanking all of you guys for your support, whether it's clicking on my referral links or by giving me a few minutes of your day by reading my reviews.  I never thought I would get to this point, where brands would give me something free in exchange for a review (from out of the blue, I'm not counting Grana since I've purchased their items before for review)!  I know I'm still small beans in the blogging world but I'm just super grateful for any beans at all, lol.  

I guess I feel this gratitude especially since I'v been seeing Mott & Bow jeans on my radar (mostly those FB ads) and have been curious for awhile to try them out now.  But with my shopping ban and the fact that I don't have the use for more jeans, there was really no reason for me to buy a pair to try them out.  But fortunately for me, they reached out to me and asked if I wanted to try a pair and I couldn't say no.

Since I'm no longer loving the skinny jeans look (plus I have way more skinny jeans than I need), I decided to go with slim boyfriend style in the Benson color.  Also since the length was a bit too long for my short legs, I decided to cut the bottoms so that there's a distressed frayed look instead of neat hems.  I would say this kind of frayed hem style works really well with the thick denim material Mott & Bow chooses to use.  And the denim is the just right amount of stiffness with just the right amount of give (about 2% elastane).

{Wearing: Grana linen sleeveless shirt (review here), Mott & Bow Slim boyfriend jeans, Everlane canvas backpack (review here), Everlane form slide sandals (review here)}

I've tried really stiff jeans in the past (most recently Grana's Japanese denim which I reviewed here), but I just couldn't get used to the extreme stiffness of those jeans.  For soft, stretchy denim I usually go for Frame jeans like this and this (usually in the skinny jean style).  But if you're looking for a good pair of mid-weight denim with a tiny bit of stretch but not much, then I definitely recommend these Mott & Bow jeans.  I think they are a quality pair for a decent price.

As for the transparency and ethical qualities of this brand, to be completely honest, I'm not too sure.  They are made in Honduras, which does have some sweatshops.  But the founder is also from Honduras and they have a family-owned vertically integrated system, which would lead me to believe that working conditions aren't horrid.  But of course I don't know, so I sent them an email asking them but specifics.  We'll see if they get back.  In the meantime you can find all of their jeans here.

{Update: I received a kind email from Mott & Bow with all the details of their factory.  "Alejandro Chahin's family owned facilities in Honduras called Intermoda. His family have been in the denim business for over thirty years and have extremely clean and comfortable working conditions - air conditioning throughout, the best lighting and cleanliness for safety. Many of the employees at the facility have worked there with Chahin's family for over 25 years, which really reflects the respect they receive. And wages are completely fair across the board."  So there you have it folks a fully transparent and ethical working conditions, quite similar to Everlane!}

{March 2018 update: I am happy to say that I still wear these jeans regularly and thus they fall under the "best" category in this post about the best and worst things I received for free to review.}