Denim Review: IDA by Donna Ida Mabel Ankle Skinny Jeans in Ice Bright Vintage

This weeks denim review from me is on the IDA by Donna Ida Mabel Ankle Skinny Jeans in Ice Bright Vintage. Donna Ida (who owns the popular boutiques across London) launched her own denim line called IDA by Donna Ida not too long ago and it seems to have been quite a success so far. She’s designed a lot of jeans and these are the first pair that I got to test out from the collection.

The Mabel is a cropped ankle jean with a really high rise. The rise is about 10 inches, the inseam is around 28 inches and the leg opening is 11 inches. I think they are designed to hit above the ankle, but seeing as I have shorter legs, they act as a full length skinny on me, which actually turns out to be perfect. I usually prefer lower rises, but during the winter months, I often find myself opting for higher rises to keep me that little bit warmer and to hold everything in. The rise rarely gets seen as well since I’m always covered up with longer tops. I took a size 27 in these jeans and they fitted me fine, so I would say they are true to size in terms of brands like Paige, Rag & Bone, 7 For All Mankind, Citizens of Humanity etc.

I tried to take some close up photos of the pocket detailing as Donna Ida’s signature stitching seems to be fancy threads around the stitch lines on the bottom of the pockets. In terms of pocket placement though, for me, they aren’t my favourite. They aren’t terrible by all means and in the general picture of things, they fit really nicely, but if I were to compare them to brands back pockets that I love, like AG and Rag & Bone, I don’t like these ones as much as they sit a little lower and and are longer. That’s just a personal preference though as I like my pockets a bit more angled and rounder. Not round as in a circle, but I mean with softer edges. These are also spaced a little too far apart for me, but that’s just because of my butt shape, these look amazing on Donna and on other people who I have seen wearing the Ida jeans!

The wash of these is Ice Bright Vintage and it does remind me of an old school blue. It’s powdery and really blue with washed areas. I wanted to try this wash out as I thought it would be good to try something different. I’m very used to the dark blues and blacks, so having something bright blue was a welcome change, but in terms of actual wash, it’s not my favourite either. For my personal preference, it’s too powdery for me and the lighter areas in places don’t fit with what I like. I do like the colour though, it’s unique to be that blue, but the tone of it isn’t my favourite. I am being really picky here though because I’m not saying that these jeans are bad in the slightest, they are nice jeans, they have a great fabric quality to them and are comfortable and soft on the skin, but I think I would have preferred these in a more classic wash actually. Luckily this cut comes in 3 different washes, so I think next time I would try the Iconic Blue wash as it looks like a staple!

The denim on these jeans is quite thin, which is why it’s comfortable, so you might need to make sure you wear subtle underwear so the lines don’t show through at the back. If you want to try out a newer brand of jeans that’s fairly classic, I definitely do recommend this cut to you, especially if you are shorter. The leg length is perfect and the rise is good for winter! Buy these jeans online at Donna Ida for £150.

Jeans courtesy of Donna Ida/opinions all my own.
Written by Lorna Burford