Curvy Pieced Barrel Jeans

I bought these in a NR store yesterday after trying on, no joke, 25 pairs of jeans...and this was the only pair I brought home. I'm not a person who loves wearing jeans so shopping for them is always challenging. I feel like jeans are either too cropped, way too long (I try to avoid getting jeans hemmed), the material is too heavy/thin, too high-waisted which makes it uncomfortable to sit, the butt looks saggy, or they have holes and a sloppy-looking frayed hem. I don't know if it's an age thing, I'm 48, or what, but I'm kinda over the ripped-up, raw hem jeans look. Anyway, I've never bought jeans from Madewell but this might be my new favorite brand. I'm 5'4" and 122lbs and the size 27 fit good, knowing that these are 100% cotton and would shrink a bit after washing, which I wanted. The length was perfect for wearing ballet flats as they hit at the ankle bone. I like the very subtle barrel shape without having that balloon look. The "curvy" version of these jeans makes your booty look great, compared to the regular version which I also tried on. And no offense to the model, but these look so much better in person...I would have never bought these online based on the pic. These are just a nice, classy-looking pair of jeans.

These don't look like the photos in real life. I got them because I was looking for a true dark wash jean but they are a darker medium wash at best. They also ran small for me. I'm usually a 29 (and definitely curvy, 10" difference waist to hip) and these didn't even button. And the fabric was quite light and scratchy. So a fail all around, sadly.