Depending on how you look at it, filmmaker and Citizens Band co-founder Sarah Sophie Flicker would either be the best or worst person to road-test a pair of jeans: Not only does she prefer not to wear them, but on the rare occasion she dons a pair, she regards it as a bit of a fashion failure. “If I’m wearing jeans, it’s as though I’m admitting defeat,” claims Flicker in a girly, soft-spoken tone that compliments her Clara Bow-like features. “Because I really like to dress up. I always have. Even as a child I didn’t like to wear pants. And I never wore jeans during high school.”

There are certain exceptions, though, to her no-jeans rule. Like when she travels, which she does often with Citizens Band, the vaudevillian troupe of political activists that most recently performed at Art Basel in Miami. Or when she’s doing something in nature, like hiking. “Then, I like to be comfortable,” she explains, noting that her three-year-old Chloe jeans or recently-acquired Citizens of Humanity pair do the trick.

So, when we gave her a pair of inky-blue, straight-fit Earl Jeans to try out, it was more of a joke than an actual experiment. Little did we know, the little lady would actually wear them for the dressiest night of the year – New Year’s Eve.

“It’s really funny, I know,” she laughs, recalling the night in Tokyo. Not surprisingly, the jeans weren’t her first outfit choice. She, in fact, wanted to wear a dress. But having jumped over to Tokyo from Thailand (where she and her husband, film director Jesse Peretz, were celebrating their long-overdue honeymoon), Flicker hadn’t anticipated cold weather. “I didn’t bring any tights or anything,” she explains. “They were the only warm-ish thing I had.”

“But the restaurant we were going to has a dress code,” she continues. “And I was worried that they wouldn’t allow jeans. So I wore them with a vintage sparkly blouse and cardigan, and a pair of sparkly Miu Miu shoes, and it was fine. Everyone thought they were black pants. And my husband thought I looked really good, and because they’re slim and super-dark, I actually felt really dressy in them!”

It wasn’t the first time Flicker felt good in a pair of Earls. As she tells it, “I really like Earl. I always have. Years ago, before they were really big, my best friend was their fit model. They were the first jeans I liked because they fit a woman’s body really well. I don’t do well in boys’ jeans. But Earl really gets the curves of a lady. And they’re super-comfortable. Believe me, it’s not the last time I’m gonna wear them!”

Get Yours:

Earl 88 Straight Fit jeans in Mustang, $149, available at earljean.com

Check out Citizens Band when they perform at Deitch Projects in NYC in March. For more information, deitch.com

More on Sarah’s films thebellesoftheblackdiamondfield.com