Branding the Brander

I am a brand fanatic. I love brands. All categories, doesn't matter – food, beauty, clothing, whatever - I just love brands. New ones, old ones, recycled ones. Brands make "stuff" so much better. The idea of what a brand means, what it stands for, what it promises... it's so exciting. I have even made my career in branding - working in biz dev at a leading brand design agency. So you can imagine my obsession.

I'm also obsessed with jeans. In addition to loving clothing and fashion in general, jeans are my preferred choice of dress. In my opinion, everything looks better with a fantastic pair of jeans - tank tops, blazers, tees, button downs. Jeans can be dressed down, dressed up, it's hard to go wrong. In fact I couldn't be happier that I finally work in an environment where jeans are an acceptable form of attire. Whereas I once worked at an agency where you would be sent home to change if you attempted to show up in such "sloppy" clothing (even on a Friday), my current boss is known for attending meetings and presentations in jeans and a blazer.

So... being a shopaholic who loves brands and would wear jeans every day if I could, you would obviously think that shopping for denim would be a joy for me, right? NOT THE CASE. In fact, buying a new pair of jeans can be an incredibly stressful situation for li'l ol' me. Has anybody else noticed how insane the jeans department has become in the past 3-4 years? Or the denim bar, whatever you call it. The whole experience baffles me.

There are so many brands out there these days that I don't have a clue where to begin. Just when I thought I knew the brands I liked – Seven For All Mankind, Citizens Of Humanity, Joe's, True Religion, Rock & Republic, etc. – about 50 new ones step into the game. I walked into Saks recently and the aforementioned brands were hidden way in the back. Who are all these new guys taking over? It seems that everyone and their mother is launching a denim brand now. Remember Earl? Whatever happened to them, I loved them 5 years ago, and now it's like they shriveled up and what remains of them is real tacky.

The biggest hurdle for me with all these choices is that I wear a different size in every brand, and boy does it vary. I wear a 26 in Seven and in J Brand I'm something entirely different. How and why is that? Why does it vary so dramatically? Why does it have to be so complicated? On my recent quest for denim at Nordstrom, I lugged almost 15 pairs in the dressing room with me. And guess what - none of the styles/sizes I chose worked. Oy, where to begin.

Not to mention the starting price for most jeans these days is $200 and up. Now I don't mind dropping some coin on a piece of clothing... for the most part the pants and tops I buy are in that price range, and when it comes to shoes, we're talking double. What gets me though is.. weren't premium jeans brands in the $100 range only recently ? How did it take such a huge leap in such a short period of time?

So that's it, there's my kvetch for the day. I love shopping and I love denim, but ironically I hate shopping for denim. I love brands and I love choices, but somehow I feel there are too many choices. What's a girl to do.

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