When I told one of my fellow gym rats that I enjoy writing a blog about sports and education, and that I was thinking of also writing about shopping, he reminded me that shopping is an important sport too, especially for women. Shopping for the perfect pair of jeans can be extremely challenging at a regular department store, however The Levis Outlet Store makes it much more fun and less pricey.  If you have never visited the Levi’s Outlet near you, I strongly recommend going. I cannot think of any item of clothing that is as universally flattering to all body types than a snug, but not tight pair of jeans.  When shopping for jeans in department stores, I have noticed that the store rarely carries my size in the misses department. I have to venture into the junior’s department to find jeans to fit me, but these jeans are rarely age appropriate. Just because I work with teenagers doesn’t mean that I have to dress like them all of them time. I have a longer unpaid vacation than most working moms, since I do not work for pay in the summer. I do prepare extensively for the upcoming school year, but I do not usually have to dress up for this work.  Luckily, my father was available to watch my daughter, so I could spend almost an hour trying on all the different colors and styles of jeans available in my size. The regular Levi’s Stores and The Levi’s Outlet carry jeans in three inseam lengths, at least three different rises, and five different proportions, which the company refers to as Curve ID.  Curve ID allows women with a variety of body shapes the option of buying jeans that are snug in all of the right places. The company calls the different shapes, Slight Curve, Demi Curve, Bold Curve and Super Curve.  The Levis Outlet store also offers dozens of cute tops and accessories, including belts to pair with your new jeans. I settled on a pair of “Classic Rise”, Boot Cut, non-Stretch, Demi Curve jeans in a dark rinse, which ended up to be on sale for twelve dollars or nearly 80% off the retail price. If there is not a Levi’s Outlet near you, you can purchase most of these outlet items on line. The only problem with purchasing the outlet clothing online would be that you cannot return or exchange items that are marked down more than 50%.   I was able to exchange a pair of jeans at The Levi’s Outlet that I had purchased from the Levi’s Online Store for thirty five dollars, but not the clearance pair that I ordered for fifteen dollars. I would suggest only purchasing clearance items that you can actually try on. Levi’s Outlet stores in Connecticut are located at The Tanger Outlet Mall in Westbrook, and The Premium Outlets in Clinton. Happy back to school shopping everyone!