The Model and Me: Harlow

If you have curves and are size 12-24 then finding a pair of jeans can be a challenge.

I very much like the white ripped ones from Embody Denim I featured a couple of weeks ago. I rejoiced when Blue Illusion brought out its shape denim range earlier this year. And I’m a card-carrying member of the Not Your Daughter’s Jeans (NYDJ) fan club (current faves featured here).

This week I’m excited to tell you about a style of skinny jeans that does all kinds of magic to your legs, your butt and your front bottom from the team at plus-size independent Australian label, Harlow.

Harlow designs and sells clothes for women size 12-24. Now before you jump up and down and say size 12 or 14 is not plus-size, let me clarify things for you.

If you do have curves and are a size 12 or 14 then it can be tricky to find clothes that fit your shape, even if they’re supposedly the right size for you. That’s why Harlow developed its size range to run from size 12.

Secondly, I really don’t like the term plus-size but it’s become such an industry norm that I use it because it gives you a clear indication if it’s a label for you.

SY readers are of all sizes and I do like to include a range of clothes here suited across all size ranges.

Personally, I swing between a 12-16 depending on the label and cut. I’ve long since lost any hang-ups about what the number is on the label and I buy clothes because they fit me, not because I want have a certain number on the label in my wardrobe.

… moving right along, let’s check out the jeans on the model.

The model

Harlow Paint it Black skinny leg black denim jeans $199 | Summer love hi-lo blouse $129 (The model wears size 20 in both pieces and is 175cm tall)

and me

I tried on the size 12, 14 and 16 jeans before settling on the size 14s. All fit in their own special way.

There was no muffin top with the size 16s but I could tell it would only take a couple of hours of wearing before they would be too big for me. The size 12s did up – just – but the muffin top was more than I was willing to wear. The size 14s? Just right. Minimal muffin top and perfect fit around the thighs and legs.

As you know, I’m a huge fan of the leg-lengthening powers of the skinny jean – and this particular jean does that SO well. What it also does is suck you in with a uber-comfort combination of premium 10oz cotton/polyester/elastane denim.

It’s a mid-to-high-rise fit, which is perfect for my shape (there’s a greater distance between the tops of my thighs and belly button than belly button to bust so a rise that sits just under my belly button balances things out).

Harlow has worked with Australian denim manufacturer Denim Smith to create this limited edition product – so it’s all about quality and a jean that will be an essential part of your wardrobe for years to come.

I was asked recently if a pair of jeans was something you should spend more or less on and I had no hesitation in saying more. I know that’s not the case for everyone but for me and my bottom heavy shape, it most definitely is.

All the jeans that I’ve found to work for my shape, suck me in and make me look taller all cost around the $200 mark.

The cost-per-wear factor wins out every time though. I feel good in them, so I have no hesitation in wearing them over and over again.

As for the whole outfit … this is the type of no-brainer combination that I reach for a night out with the girls or date night.

You can’t go wrong with heels and monochrome.

So tell me, have you got your denim wardrobe nailed? Share with us what jeans work for your body shape (it will help others to share what body shape and size you are).

* These pieces were gifted to me for editorial consideration

PS. Check out Jo from iCurvy rocking the same pair of jeans here. She’s wearing the size 12.

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Nikki Parkinson

The Model and Me: Harlow

The model

and me