As a thirty year old suburbanite, I need something to entertain myself while I wait in the long checkout lines in the grocery store after a long day at work. Frankly, I don’t care who wore it better or who is dating who in Hollywood. My sex life is fine thank you. So I usually flip through Marie Claire because, despite thinking Nina is the worst judge on Project Runway, I enjoy the how-tos and the product reviews. Every fall, many magazines do a piece on how to pick the perfect jeans for your body type. Many women don’t know how to buy the proper pair of pants; upstate NY might be the world’s capital for muffin-top. There’s nothing worse than body-spillage to make a person look misshapen and larger than they truly are.

I have my own personal interest in the matter. Sir Mix A lot raps that some girls have an L.A face, but an Oakland bootie. This is my fate. It’s called having an hour-glass figure – narrow, high waist and a full hip, thigh and, well, you know. The junk in the trunk. No matter how much weight I lose, I cannot lose my caboose.

I have no problem shelling out over $100 for a pair of jeans that fit properly. I have special ordered from online sites to get the correct length and rise. I have scoured through thrift stores to get a bargain. And here Marie Claire said that not only were the Old Navy Sweetheart skinny jeans the best on nearly every body type, but that they were also reasonably priced at $29.50, came in three colors and also three lengths?! Did I mention they also came in an equally affordable and great fitting bootcut as well?  At first I dismissed this. I remember buying Old Navy jeans when I was in high school. They weren’t that great. The fit was odd, you nearly always had to go up a size, and if the butt didn’t get stretched out and sag, then the back pockets literally began to rip away from the rest of the pant.

Eventually I broke down as one of my favorite pairs of jeans finally had its last hoorah. I went into the remodeled Old Navy in the mall, and checking to make sure no one saw me, headed to the fitting room with a gigantic stack of denim in my hands. I ended up buying four pairs – dark rinse, a medium rinse and a gray in the skinny leg and a pair of dark rinse bootcut. At 5 ft 10 inches, I needed the long length, which is not that common for me, but the size I generally take fit automatically. I didn’t need to try on more than one size in each rinse. The other fits – the rockstar and diva – did not have the same uniformity of fit or length. Sometimes I couldn’t get the pant leg past my thigh, sometimes the pant leg on a regular length fit more like a crop pant.

What I liked about the sweetheart skinny (and bootcut), was that the waist came to the natural waist. There was no muffin top; the tummy stays put. The skinny leg is slim on the thigh, but not so tight legs look like denim covered sausages. The washes are also flattering to figures large and small, any whiskering is done tastefully. The best part is that they look, feel and fit like a more expensive pant. After almost two months of wash and wear, they have kept their color and their fit.

So, ultimately it comes down to the bottom line. While not the best jean ever created, I would give the Old Navy sweetheart skinny jeans a solid endorsement. Old Navy often misses the mark when it comes to fashion, quality or fit, but when they do something right, it is often also highly affordable. Out of the entire denim line, these were the most consistent and the best fit. And I love them. They fit where they must with no gapping in the back and look great paired with blouses, sweaters or tees. So what if they aren’t designer! Fit is everything.