Maurices is a great place to shop for plus size jeans. I love their store brand. I wear their Briana Midrise and love them. And they're only around $35, which is great for in-between-jeans And as someone mentioned, definitely wear a belt, it works wonders.
For me, it's not so much the jeans as it is the shirt that goes with them. I am in an 18 now, but I just went through the "20's are loose, but weird" stage myself.
I wear my jeans higher waisted, but I layer shirts. Ex. Cute tank top under a blouse so the layer underneath hides my lower tummy buldge and the blouse or T-shirt, or whatever covers the muffin top at the waist. Just depends on your body type, I guess.
I wear Torrid's Virtual Stretch jeans - they fit perfectly, have plenty of give and take and have been very forgiving with weight loss and weight gain!
I'm in the same boat with the stretch jeans. They're amazing. I wear mine JUST below my belly button. I have a very short waist. It prevents it from looking like I'm wearing some bad shapewear and just bulging/spilling out at the top. I have an apple shaped friend who wears her jeans below her belly and I just think it honestly looks awful. It's how she's most comfortable though. I have some stretchy size 18's if you'd like them! Very comfy! Lol. I just smalled into some 16s and some old 17s I had from when I was a teen and I'm not sure what to do with those and my old size 20s. Charity is most likely where they're going.
And as someone mentioned, definitely wear a belt, it works wonders.
