"What’s better than enjoying cocktails and trying on jeans at wholesale prices?" says Auna Irvine.

It’s All in the Jeans

You might call it the Denim Paradox: Women's jeans look casual and carefree, yet they're one of the most difficult items of clothing to purchase. They're inevitably too high or low or flared or stretchy or dark or light or long or tight or . . . you know, why don't we all just put on some sweats and call it a day.

Auna Irvine, the California denim party queen.

"Women come up to me all the time telling me how I found them the perfect pair of jeans."

Twenty-one-year-old Auna Irvine of Orange County, CA, was well aware of the complications in buying a good pair of jeans. After years of working in stores on Rodeo Drive, she longed to put some fun into the dreaded jeans-buying process most women go through alone.

"It's the perfect accessory that you can wear with anything," she says. "A great pair of designer jeans can truly last a lifetime."

Irvine started out last year by bringing wholesale jeans to the people at a stall at the Orange County Market Place, but then she had an epiphany. "I realized people do Tupperware parties. They do purse parties. Why not do a jeans party?" she says. "It was kind of a really big shot in the dark, and then it just took off."

Now her jean parties service the elite of Orange County, from well-off teenagers to the wives of professional athletes. Wherever she goes, Irvine brings stacks of designer jeans (by 7 For All Mankind and True Religion, among others). She usually sells them at less than half their retail price. Parties have ranged in size from 4 friends to 200.

"What's better than enjoying cocktails and trying on jeans at wholesale prices?" Irvine says. "And it's a cool thing to say, 'I bought this pair of jeans at a party.' It's really a form of entertainment." (Those who aren't in LA can contact a local denim wholesaler who will make a house call for a "party" - the host usually will get a free pair out of the deal).

The intimacy of a party environment enables women to let their guard down and also gives more perspective than any two fitting room mirrors ever could. "At a party, someone is going to tell you, 'Your ass doesn't look good in those,'" Irvine says. "It's not mean. It's just honest. You won't get that at [a department store]. But it means when you do find that one pair, they'll be perfect."

Jeans are very personal, and Irvine, who personally prefers wearing Antiks, lets her customers get intimate with the denim, encouraging them to try on several pairs before buying anything.

"But I put my foot down when I start seeing women do squats in them," says Irvine. "It rips the jeans! You see 25- to 40-year-old women in their g-strings trying on jeans that are eight sizes too small. It's high comedy."

In the end, however, Irvine won't let women leave a party with a pair that are less than ideal. "Women come up to me all the time telling me how I found them the perfect pair of jeans."

Now there's a cause for celebration.

Posted on July 10, 2006