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When Devin and Breana Hodgkins tell you they can’t find jeans that fit, it’s a little hard to believe them. The sisters from Scarborough are 19 and 21, respectively, and they’re tall and slender, with long legs and skinny little waists.
But on a recent visit to Jean Jungle in Scarborough, a new boutique owned by Van Buren native and longtime Bangor resident Carol (Morneault) Cronin, their eyes lit up as they walked out of their changing rooms in jeans by EA.
“I love – love, love love them,” Breana said. “I tried them on, and I was like, love.”
“Me too,” her sister replied. “They actually fit.”
They were tired of jeans that fit in the waist but not in the thigh, or jeans that flattered their figure but were two inches too short. After trying on a dozen pairs of jeans between the two of them, they settled on the custom feel of the Silver jeans – one in a straight leg, the other in a flare. Though both are college students on a budget, they decided to shell out $100 per pair – a splurge neither had considered before.
Cronin, 42, had a similar experience several years ago. She was vacationing in Las Vegas when a pair of Guess jeans caught her eye. At the time, the high-end denim trend was just beginning, and the idea of paying $200 for jeans shocked her. But when she tried them on, she fell in love with the wash and the fit. Now, she can’t go back to store-brand jeans.
“I have people who say, ‘Oh, my God, that’s so expensive,’ but people are paying it,” Cronin said. “Why not spend it on a pair of jeans you’ll wear all the time than an outfit for a wedding that you’re never going to wear again?”
Cronin, a University of Maine alumna, works full time as an optical sales representative, selling fashion eyewear to opticians throughout Maine. She was looking for an investment, and decided that if she was willing to spend that much on jeans, other women would, too. She has rounded out the mix with affordable, stylish accessories, tops and jackets.
“I didn’t want a frou-frou, chi-chi store, but I wanted high-end jeans,” Cronin said. “I hate walking into a store where nobody acknowledges you.”
That’s not the case at Jean Jungle. Alice Goodwin, Cronin’s right-hand woman, can take one look at a customer and know which jeans will look good on her – or him.
“We’re getting pretty good at telling people what style they need,” Goodwin, 53, said. “It’s just encouraging women to be accepting of the fact that they’re all different and they’re all beautiful.”
“And guys are really easy,” Cronin added. “Ten minutes, they’re in and out.”
Her husband, Greg Cronin, who worked as the assistant hockey coach at the University of Maine during Shawn Walsh’s tenure and now is the head coach at Northeastern University in Boston, is a perfect example. He’s doesn’t seem like the designer-denim type, but he now has two pairs of Silver jeans.
Her target customer, however, is the woman in her 40s. Though younger denim divas are snapping up David Kahn jeans, a favorite of Debra Messing and Jaime Pressly, one of Cronin’s top sellers is the superflattering Not Your Daughter’s Jeans, an Oprah pick. And Jean Jungle offers sizes up to 18.
“There’s a definite void in the market,” Cronin said.
To that end, she plans to unveil her own private label denim in February. She has spent much of the last year researching manufacturers and designing a pair of jeans that incorporates favorite elements of other brands. The result is a slimming, dark-wash, boot-cut jean that is available with a long and petite inseam – and a medium rise for women who don’t care to bare all.
Her parents, who have moved to Scarborough, now help out at the store, and though both are in their 70s, her dad now wears Buffalo “Rougher” jeans, and her mom just bought a pair of Not Your Daughter’s jeans with bling on the pockets.
“That was pretty cool,” Cronin said.
As for the Hodgkins girls, they’re so happy about their new jeans, they’re planning to bring their mom.
“She likes the hip look,” Breana Hodgkins said.
Jean Jungle is located at 183 Route 1 in Scarborough. For information, call 883-2525.
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