Accidentally Allison : Jean Shorts - Age Appropriate and Priced Right!

I apologize to my devoted readers for skipping out the last few days. After a wonderful weekend at home last week to celebrate Mother's Day with the one and only Stultz clan my week started off a little rough thanks to Delta airlines. Being the expert traveler that I am now and trying to be frugal in avoiding those pesky baggage fees (and having just enough miles for every airlines not qualify to "elite status") I decided not to bring my laptop and was forced to go old school and read a novel instead. I must say that I highly recommend, "Help" by Kathryn Stockett to anyone looking for a good read. I have to admit that this book about upper class white families and their African-American help in Jackson, MI hit be harder now that I am a mere two hours away.

Any who, back to the good stuff. Recently, I've realized that I've come across that stage in my life where shorts have all of the sudden required more length. Now don't let that fool you - I have great legs. It's one of the few traits I inherited from my mother and I must say that if they still look like hers do at 53 I will be very blessed. While the rest of my body begins to droop and grow fat I never knew could exist, my legs remain intact. Therefore, I've always loved shorts - thank goodness, because I sweat very badly.

So last week I took advantage of being back in Indianapolis and took my family to Von Maur for Mother's Day! Everyone was ecstatic. The only saving grace for my brother and father is that Von Maur is full of plush furniture for all of the Y chromosomes. I have to admit that besides the traditional spring break vacation I went on for many years, I'm not used to showing off my calves so early in the season, but moving a few hours south means that everything bumps up my at least 4 weeks seasonally and I realized that gym shorts just weren't going to cut it. As I perused the many racks of shorts I began pulling some of my favorites brands - Joe's Jeans, 7 for All Mankind, Hudson...the usuals had never let me down before.

Now even though I gave some of the styles a chance, I have to admit I had my doubts. Being a petite 5'4" and having what I have appropriately deemed as an out of shape gymnast's body, these tight little shorts with the cuff do not look well on my figure. Okay, they look just fine - but not for an almost 26 year old professional. Call me crazy, but I really don't want to run into my church congregation or coworkers on the weekend in booty shorts. They may as well say "juicy" at the point. I was discouraged, it seemed like the only styles I liked looked as if someone had rolled around with them on a freshly mowed lawn, then threw bleach on them, and had the neighborhood menace take his dad's car and run over them. How could I find a pair of shorts that was age appropriate, somewhat dressy, and weren't what I like to consider "mom" jeans.

My mom, trying to be sweet, found a pair she really liked...but I wasn't ready to walk around in a pair of jeans labeled, "Not your Daughter's Jeans"; I certainly hope not considering I don't have one! Ugh. So I came back to Memphis discouraged and ready to peruse some jean shorts. I haven't gotten any yet, but I have a found a few pairs I think are worth looking into.

If you like the cuffed look (like I do) but need more of an inseam, I like this Current/Elliott pair. The inseam is 5" cuffed, 6" uncuffed so it's going to provide more coverage than some of the pairs that provide the wedgie effect.

Current/Elliott 'the Roll' jean shorts, $178

For something with a little flare, I love this Forever 21 option. I saw this pair in the latest issue of Cosmo and was actually surprised to learn that they didn't cost an arm and a leg.

Forever 21 Button Tap Paperbag Denim Shorts, $22.80

Or for something classic and a little more dressy, try this darker tailored version from the Loft. Also affordable, these jean shorts could definitely be worn on the town or to the grocery - making them a good financial choice!