When we heard that Khloe Kardashian had co-founded a size-inclusive luxury denim line, we were excited, then devastated.
When we tried Good American's first collection, we found the sizing was weird, the quality wasn't great, and the plus-size offerings were lacking.
Not great for a brand that's meant to be about celebrating all bodies.
But now Good American season 2 is here, and it's supposed to be better than ever. The Good Squad features a more diverse cast of model-influencers and there are more products, along with promises of even better denim quality, improved fit, and better plus-size options.
Khloe seemed to be putting in work to make her line TRULY size-diverse and body positive — but was this a genuine change?
There was only one way to find out.
Jess and I girded our loins once again, and prepared to try on — and review — EVERYTHING in Khloe Kardashian's new Good American launch.
Would we love it? Would we find that Khlo$ had made the same mistakes as before? We armed ourselves with red lipstick and prepared for fashion battle.
The first thing we tried on were Khloe's brand new denim shorts.
These are the Bermuda shorts ($145, Good American). I'm wearing a size 2/26 and Jess is wearing a size 20.
Right off the bat, we noticed something weird — our pants were twins. Though the promotional images seemed to show different distressing on each individual pair of shorts, Jess and I found that ours had IDENTICAL rips and tears. Eerie.
Though I'm not a huge fan of the "attacked by a dog" ripped-pants aesthetic, I can't deny that these are CUTE AS HELL — and they actually fit me!
Unlike Good American's season one jeans, which gapped like crazy around my waist and flattened my ass, these fit like a damn dream. They're very high-waisted, but comfortable; the denim is incredibly stretchy, and did actually make my butt look amazing.
Finally. FINALLY.
My one issue with them was the big hole placement over the right knee. I'm 5'10", as is Khloe, and that hole hit me awkwardly ABOVE my kneecap. Not a deal breaker, but worth mentioning.
"The one thing I HATE wearing is shorts," Jess said. "When I first saw these, I died a little inside... but I ended up loving them."
After our last Good American plus-size fit debacle, Jess ordered everything a size larger than she'd normally wear — and was glad for it. "These jeans were hard to zip up at first," she said. "But after getting them closed, the shorts were SO comfortable — I felt like I was wearing bike shorts."
You'll observe that the big knee-hole in these shorts is, on Jess, actually OVER her knee. These shorts are definitely made for someone of Jess' height, rather than mine.
Though neither of us would kill to wear these on a daily basis, we couldn't deny that these shorts were freaking fantastic.
"I will wear almost anything, but thinking about putting on these shorts gave me chills," said Jess. "But I'm glad I tried them. They're comfortable, and they fit."
I was, apparently, too excited about these shorts to tuck my shirt in all the way. Enjoy my stomach, world.
Next, we slipped into the most hyped item in Good American's expanded collection — the vintage-inspired denim jacket.
Oversized denim jacket ($265, Good American).
The sizing on these is a little odd; I'm wearing a size 1 and Jess is in a size 6, the largest size Khlo-money currently makes.
I am not a faded denim jacket person in the slightest, but I'll be honest: this coat made me feel COOL.
Though the fit is meant to be oversized, mine was a bit TOO oversized — I could have sized down and been more comfortable, but hey, you live and you learn.
I was genuinely surprised at how much I liked this jacket. The denim was really soft, the sleeves were long enough — as a tall person, this is a big deal — and even the buttons, which are raised, were quality.
I even tried unwearing it like a Kardashian, with minimal success — I should probably keep my denim jackets on my shoulders properly.
"The jean jacket was the thing I was most excited to try on," said Jess. "But it was a disaster. I got the biggest size Good American makes and it was too small."
"The jacket fit super tight — I couldn't button it or move my arms. This made me feel really defeated. Khloe was meant to make a body positive line of denim, but bodies like mine are still being excluded."
Though I really liked the jacket, despite it not fitting in to my Goth Queen lookbook, it was a no from Jess.
"The style was cool, but the ill fit means I'm skipping this," said Jess. "Khloe should be sorry for putting me through this."
Next on the try-on agenda: Khloe's take on super-distressed short-shorts.
You can't just call these cut-offs; they're jorts, right? We're both wearing the cut-off shorts in black ($139, Good American). I'm in a size 2/26, and Jess is in a size 20.
As a dedicated short-short hater, I was ready to kill these with fire... until I saw myself in the mirror.
These shorts made my legs look good. They fit at the waist. They were stretchy enough to move around comfortably in. They gave me the Kardashian butt of my dreams. They were perfect… almost.
Straight size girls, beware: the distressing at the front is DANGEROUSLY labial. You could already see my underwear through the front rips; one centimeter further, and my nooks and crannies would be visible.
That aside, I loved the little side-rip. I couldn't believe I was looking for a way to make these short-shorts SHORTER, but I am here for these.
"I was scared these would make me look like a badly-wrapped tamale," said Jess. "But once I got them on, I loved them. Koko was turning me on to shorts!"
"They were a bit difficult to zip closed the first time," Jess said. "But once they did, these shorts were *so* comfortable. They didn't restrict my breathing. I could move around. The tears in the front didn't show off my vagina. I was like, what is this witchcraft? Seeing myself in these black shorts, and seeing how cute I looked, helped push me out of my comfort zone. I would definitely wear these in my normal life. I mean, look at my butt!"
Note for plus-size babes: though the rips at the front of my shorts edged dangerously close to my edges, Jess did not have the same problem — which is awesome.
These Good American shorts got near-perfect marks from BOTH of us — which is awesome.
These shorts are miracles: not only did they fit both Jess and I really well, they made us like an article of clothing we both generally hate. That's some body positive fashion magic. Well done, Koko.
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Finally, we tried perhaps the scariest article of clothing in the entire Good American line — the denim pencil skirt.
If you lived through the '90s, you'll know why the thought of this made me scream. Nevertheless, this is the pencil skirt ($135, Good American). I am, once again, in a size 2/26, and Jess is in a size 20.
I put on this skirt, and a genuine fashion revelation happened.
As a former dancer, my thighs are the biggest part of me. That's always made pencil skirts a struggle — they're either too big in the waist or insanely constrictive around my legs.
But this skirt was perfection. I have NEVER had a pencil skirt fit me this well in my entire life. The super stretchy denim didn't gape at my waist and hugged the curves of my legs. I felt sexy and confident in this denim pencil skirt, which is something I never ever thought I'd say.
But because it stretched to fit my thighs so much, there was one weird problem.
The promotional images showed this skirt with a VERY high kicksplit in the back. In real life, it's not that serious. Even when I stood with my legs really far apart, you couldn't see my ass. Phew.
But because the denim was stretching so much to contain my magical thighs, the front of the skirt flipped up a little. Not a deal breaker, but definitely something I noticed.
Jess was similarly in love with this skirt. "It fit like a glove," she said. "It gave me the Kardashian ass I always wanted."
"It really emphasized my waist and showed off the booty," she said. "I had no problem getting it closed. It wasn't quite as stretchy as I'd have liked, but what pencil skirt is? This was so good."
The amazing fit on this skirt turned both of us from Good American skeptics into believers.
"I need this," said Jess, and I agree. That's basically the entire review; I am buying this skirt, Jess is buying this skirt, and you should, too.
Finally, I tried a pair of boyfriend jeans — disappointingly only available in straight sizes.
These are the Good Cuts raw edge boyfriend jeans ($169, Good American). I was on the site AS this style dropped, and they were only available up to a size 16.
Not very inclusive, Khloe.
I ordered them anyway, because I'm trying to lean into this style. (I liked the last Good Cuts style we tried, minus the craft project holes in the legs.) I could only hope that Khloe had improved them as much as she's improved her other products.
Khloe did change something — the way these jeans close. And I had FEELINGS.
I.
Hate.
A button.
Fly.
Especially on high-waisted pants, which these, like almost everything else Good American, really are. They were hard to fasten, they were hard to take off, and they bunched up weirdly when I sat.
Strike one.
These boyfriend jeans made me want to break up with them — they were a confusing series of highs and lows.
First: They fit exactly the same as the hole-filled Good Cuts jeans, which means they are INSANELY big at the waist. You could fit another person in here with me.
That said, I really liked the length. It's amazing to shop a denim line that doesn't make tall people stress about inseam lengths. The raw edge is cool, and the crop is a great length. Sadly, I couldn't wear these unless I went down a size (risking them being too tight in the thighs) or spent heaps of money getting them tailored. If I'm spending $170 on pants, they need to fit right out of the box.
Overall, though not everything was perfect, Good American has improved INCREDIBLY.
Although we were expecting to be disappointed, we were anything but. With more attention paid to the brand's plus-size options — no more exposed belly rolls or vaginal holes — it's really working towards a brand that embraces ALL bodies.
And with more attention paid to overall fit and quality, Good American is showing that it's a brand that should be taken seriously — not a Kardashian-backed novelty.
Good American isn't a perfectly size-inclusive denim line yet, but with this launch, it's showing that it definitely has potential.
