It was 10:30 p.m. on a Monday night, and Carol Lim was already in her pajamas, ready to tuck herself in for bed. Humberto Leon, a classmate of one of Lim’s roommates, had just come back from class...

I never thought I’d live to see the day that mom jeans came back into style. I remember cringing at the alarmingly high denim waistlines that my friends’ mothers sported at every play date. I was 4...