Denim Review: J Brand Kassidy Jeans in Photo Ready Serenade

I’m doing two reviews this week and my second one is on the J Brand Kassidy Photo Ready Skinny Cargo jeans in Serenade. These are made exclusively for Trilogy in London and are a part of their Navy Collection. It’s actually been a long while since I have worn any J Brand jeans or even tried out a new pair, so it’s really good to be able to review something from their new collection!

Here is a little bit of the text from the Trilogy website explaining about the collection – This utilitarian inspired denim trouser is cut exclusively in photo ready fabric as part of our exclusive Navy Collection. The Serenade wash is a washed out version of our best selling Blue Bird fabric so is a unique navy wash developed exclusively for us with J Brand. In photo ready the style is amazingly flattering and slimming and this cool style is the perfect go to jean for day to day.

The last time I wore a pair of cargo pants from J Brand was around their famous Houlihan and Agnes days, so it’s really good to bring them back as I’ve always liked them. These are a lot different though in the sense they are denim, incredibly soft and stretchy and the cargo pockets are placed towards the front of the thighs with chunky zippers at the top. I also love the matching chunky zippers at the outerseams as they really just add that extra detail to the jeans to finish them off. I like to wear mine slightly undone so that they fall over my feet a bit more, this always creates the illusion of longer legs! I have added a lot of photos of the details of the jeans, so you can see everything I am talking about.

In terms of the fit, I can’t say that I can really match these to another one of their jeans, but more so it’s a cross between the Houlihan and a 620 skinny, but in denim. They feature regular back pockets, which are of course positioned a little higher than usual, just like on the 620 fit, and they are skinny all the way down. The rise is a little higher than most as well, coming in at about 8 inches. The inseam is about 29 inches and the leg opening is tiny when fully zipped up, at around 9.75 inches. They are actually pretty cool and I like the seaming around the top of the thighs to the pockets. I did take these in a 27, which is my usual J Brand size, and they fit me true to size as you can see. They aren’t super tight, they do have a very slight slouch to them, but given that they are a cargo jean, I think that’s intentional.

The Serenade wash is actually really nice too. It’s like a very washed out navy, one that’s been worn to the maximum! However you often imagine navy to come in twill, but these are definitely not twill, they are denim. It’s pretty versatile and goes with most things and I think it would look gorgeous if it came in a washed out grey and a black too! I think choosing the silver hardware to go with this wash was the right option as it really blends in nicely too. I’ve worn these with both flats and heels and I think they go with either! They are incredibly versatile and given the nature of a cargo pant, they definitely work with flat footwear just as much as they do with something a little higher! I’m hoping we might see some celebs out in these as I would love to see how they style them!

One last thing to mention is how they are holding up. They were tighter to begin with and have stretched out a little bit with wear, but no more than you would really expect with a pair of J Brand jeans. They are really comfortable and I can safely say that they can be worn all day without feeling restricted or irritated because the fabric is incredibly soft and stretchy, so there are no problems there! I always love that with denim as now that I get older, I get more intolerant to being restricted and uncomfortable. I end up never wearing jeans like that unfortunately.

One of the reasons that I haven’t really worn J Brand in a while is due to the pocket positioning though. Like I mentioned above, they always tend to place them higher up to create the illusion of a perkier butt, but for someone who already has a butt, I find they don’t sit as nicely as some other brands do on me with a lower pocket positioning. They aren’t awful by all means, but I just prefer the bottom of my back pockets to hit where my butt meets the top of my thighs. Other than that, I think these are really cool! You can buy them online at Trilogy by clicking here.

Jeans courtesy of Trilogy, opinions all my own. Written by Lorna Burford.