Aha! moment with skinny jeans - YouLookFab Forum

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Aha! moment with skinny jeans

Aziraphale

Veteran

So I think I've figured something out, and I thought I'd pass in on in case there's anyone out there with the same fit issues as me.

I mentioned a while ago that I'm spending a lot of time in the letterpress workshop, and need black clothes. My old black skinny jeans are super comfy but getting faded. I wanted a new pair of black skinnies. I found a nice, very comfy pair of R&B 'coal' skinnies, but the size 24 that the SA convinced me to buy left red welts in my hipbones and after a half hour of wear, I couldn't wait to get them off my body. I exchanged them for a size 25, which are super comfy. HOWEVER, they slide down, as many skinnies do on me. My old pair slide down too, and I can tell they're way too loose in the waist and seat. I've just never bothered having them taken in.

Anyway, I took both pairs (old and new) in to have the seat taken in along the back seam. IT'S MAGIC. Now they don't slide down! I think the issue is that with an 8" or 8.5" rise jean (because, let's face it, good luck finding a 7" rise these days), the waistband is higher and so what fits across my bum is too tight across my hipbones and belly. I don't curve in at the waist much; I'm pretty columnar. With 7" rise, the jeans sit low enough on my hips that this is not a problem.

In other words, my small flat butt doesn't work for most skinnies! To fit at the waist, the seat is too loose. And because I have slender thighs but muscular calves, the skinnies grip my calves tightly and the too-loose top part of the jeans can't keep them up.

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21 replies

Latest reply was from Aziraphale

Isabel

Veteran

Az, this is what I have been doing for years. I get skinnies 2 sizes up and then have my mom take in the waist and sometimes take in a little at the back seam ( I have a bum though ). It is a beautiful thing - not my bum but rather the alterations. LOL

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ha! Interesting. I might have the opposite problem. My thighs are bigger and that's where most of the fit issues seem to be. I have had that too-tight on the hipbones red welt thing but usually with BF jeans, weirdly enough. They are loose everywhere else but not right across the hip. For me it is usually when they are low rise that I get that. The band hits directly around my hipbone in that situation.

I am glad you've found a solution!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Lol -- Isabel, I'm sure your bum is a beautiful thing. But yes, alterations are wonderful!

Suz, I think I've heard that when jeans are too tight in the legs but loose at the waist, then downslide happens. Tight legs pull jeans down. Mine happen to be tight across my bulgy calves, but tightness on the thighs probably does the same thing.

That's weird that your bf jeans are too tight on the hip. I find that mine are loose everywhere -- but I always size up! I need a belt to hold them up, but with bf jeans that's the look l'm going for. I'd prefer if I didn't have to wear a belt with skinnies.

Beth Ann

Veteran

Bodies come in a myriad of shapes. Learning which alterations work for you will save you lots of money and shopping time!

catgirl

Veteran

Interesting! You and I have similar shapes but I feel a higher rise stays up best on me. The lower the rise the more slippage there seems to be. I'm having déjà vu about déjà vu on this issue!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Beth Ann: absolutely. Well said.

Una: no kidding. I feel like this is a chronic problem for me, but I haven't had to worry about it for a long time because I was on an anti-skinny jean kick for about two years. All I bought were boyfriend jeans, which are a bit baggy to begin with and are meant to be worn with a belt.

You know, the lower rise skinny jeans I have are all from several years back, before they started putting so much stretch in there. Less stretchy jeans seem to slip less. Low rise stretchy skinnies might be a nightmare, but I don't have any, so I can't tell.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Yeah, not all my BF jeans do this. Just one pair and they have a very firm waistband. It's actually okay now that they are a bit worn in, but the first month or two I'd get the red welt thing. The SA had tried to talk me into a smaller size because they were so baggy elsewhere. But I literally would not have been able to do them up across the hip.

Is it wrong of me to be weirdly comforted by the fact that your calves pull your pants down? I think for me it is both legs and calves, actually. And I struggled with it with a pair of leggings all day!!! Grrrrr!!!!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Suz -- no, not at all. The fact that you say this makes me happy. It's really hard not to feel like I have freakish He-Man lower legs when none of the jeans seem to fit me the way they are supposed to. Why is everything loose in the thighs and tight in the calves? Aargh.

It comforts me because you post pics of yourself often and you look fantastic -- so if even you are having fit issues, then I must be OK too! Lol

Cerinda

Veteran

And while we're on about the fit of skinnies...

What makes multiple horizontal wrinkles all down the front of the legs while the sides and back look fine?

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Uh, you all who are finding things "loose in the thighs" can borrow mine for a day. No such thing in my world.

However, I get the slippage thing too! For me, it's a combination of lower rise, snugness on the thighs, and relative looseness in the behind (I don't have much of a booty - it's all on the sides) and in the waist. I attribute it to the pants hugging my thighs and that pulls everything down as I move around. The low waisted styles slip down more easily because they sit more on my hips than at my relatively narrow waist.

So the problem seems to be pretty common, despite differing body types. I just live with hitching my pants up whenever I stand up.

Diana

Veteran

Ha, mine are tight everywhere except the waist and the ankle. So they kind of gape at the waist but my butt keeps them from sliding too far down. Even I sometimes need a belt though.... I gotta admit I kind of like the bigger waist though so I don't bother to alter it - i haaaaaate things to press into my stomach/ribs and I never tuck into it anyway so it's not like anyone sees my waistband, and I prefer the extra room for sitting down and eating big meals!

I'm another who adores less stretchy denim for skinnies. It just looks so much better, not so clingy and creasy. My favorites recently are from Rag and Bone... the Dre (which fits like a non-sausage skinny on me) comes in two different types of denim. The 98/2 one is like the old-school velvety soft but not very stretchy denim. I loooooove it. Unfortunately a lot of the interesting washes only come in the other, lighter and more stretchy fabric which is ok but not nearly as fab.

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Rag & Bone/JEAN The Dre Boyfriend

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Runcarla

Veteran

The skinny trend is the bane of my existence, and until recently I just sat it out. I have muscular legs, but a long inseam and slim knees and ankles.

In store, I have never found a pair that I can get over my calves (14 in). Last month I bought 2 pair of Lands' End Midrise skinny corduroys. They are 99% cotton, so not much stretch. They are comfortable, but body con like skinnys or leggings, and a near thing. Even trousers that have ease in the calf (straight legs, boot cuts, flares) are close across the thighs (22 in).

LOL, come to think of it - I wore skirts all last week!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Janet, what you say makes sense. I think most people have more trouble with low-waisted styles. For me, though, low rise pants slip less -- I think -- because I can buy them to fit very snug. Higher rise jeans that are that snug are going to cut into my belly and hurt.

Cerinda -- I have no idea!

Diana -- I have, I admit, THREE pairs of Dres. I love them all. I don't wear them as skinnies, though, but as boyfriend jeans. They all need a belt to stay up, and the crotch is dropped slightly. I did try sizing down once, on my third pair, and they indeed look like skinnies, but the huge back pockets go halfway down my leg and when it's tight like that, it looks funny. If I wear them loose, it just looks like I've borrowed my hubby's pants.

Runcarla -- I used to run a lot too. I wonder if that's why we both have muscular legs? I haven't run much for about eight years (I hike now, to preserve my knee joints!) but the bulgy calf muscles are still there.

Diana

Veteran

Hehe, I like the big pockets on the Dres because they're proportional to my butt! Little pockets look ridiculous on me.

LaPed

Veteran

Runcarla -- I've got the same problem, it seems most fashion wear is not designed with athletic women in mind. Most pants, never mind just skinnies, are too tight in the thigh/calf and enormous in the waist. I've moved to buying everything at a deep discount to factor in the cost of altering the waist (I can sew a little, but not well enough to take in a pair of pants).

I had decent luck with the fit of the Kara Jeans from Prana (a yoga wear company) but I got tired of the fabric wearing out so fast -- they are cotton/poly/spandex and even with cold wash/line dry they got so stretched out after 6-10 months that they'd just be falling off me. I pretty much just avoid spandex in my pants now. Very limiting, but good for my wallet.

I may try the Kut Dianas that everyone seems to adore. But I'm hesitant because the online Nordies fit guide tells me to go down a size because of stretch... hmm.

I'm sure part of the rise in popularity of stretchy denims is the feeling of being able to go down a size in pants -- who doesn't want that?

MsMaven

Veteran

Aha! I have the same problem and planned on posting about it. Thanks for doing it for me. From the top of my hipbone down I am fairly straight, flatter butt and transferring weight from back to front belly. I can't stand tight waistbands across my belly and hipbones.

It never occurred to me to have the back taken in. When I was in Paris in June I focused on the fit of the clothes I saw. So many women with perfectly fitting skinny jeans--and I finally decided that hourglass or pear-shaped women must be easiest to fit. No bagging in back or front.

I do have a couple of Dre jeans and I like them. But with most jeans now I have to wear a belt if I go out, and at home they tend to slide down. On top of that I have skinny legs and I don't like the look of very skinny jeans on me, but I hate the look of looser, baggy ones.

Much good advice to ponder here.

Gaylene

Veteran

"In other words, my small flat butt doesn't work for most skinnies! To fit at the waist, the seat is too loose. And because I have slender thighs but muscular calves, the skinnies grip my calves tightly and the too-loose top part of the jeans can't keep them up."

Just chiming in for a quick "you are not alone" comment, Elisabeth. The soft, stretchy, skinny jeans designed for women are the bane of my existence. After wearing a pair of these stretchy skinnies for an hour, the whole upper part of the jean is loose and drooping, but the everything below the knee is still firmly attached to my leg like a second skin. The look is comical--like a badly fitting pair of jodpurs.

I love wearing jeans, but have resigned myself to wearing only straights, boyfriends, and baby boots from the women's departments. For skinnies, I head to the young men's department. The sales staff look a bit bemused at seeing a 66-year old woman there, but a super-skinny, Euro-style, MEN's jean fits me perfectly. The calf area is loose enough to slide over the lower part of my leg without pulling, the hip and upper thigh are snug, and the low rise sits comfortably on my hipbones. From my experience, the best cuts are often in the premium, designer lines where the denim is either 100% cotton or has only a minimal amount of stretch. European, men's jeans seem to work the best because they have a higher, tighter fit in the butt and a very slim thigh.

Sal

Veteran

Yes I have this issue too! I definitely have muscular legs and not much butt despite a lot of squats.

I should think about alterations more. Thanks for the thread.

MsMaven

Veteran

Gaylene, you reminded me that back in the 60s when jeans first became very popular, my sister and I went to the Levis store to buy men's jeans that had the proper lower cut and bell bottoms. There just weren't the proper fit, cut and color available for women yet. No reason not to do it again!

Keix

Veteran

FYI--DSTLD low-rise jeans have a 7" rise. I haven't tried them yet because sizes are pretty erratically stocked at the moment, but the price-to-quality ratio looks good and <8" rises are SO hard to find these days. (They also make a mid-rise skinny with an 8.25" rise, and high waisted is 9.5"--basically, everything runs about an inch lower than Nordstrom's search definitions.)

https://www.dstldjeans.com/sho.....ise-skinny

Aziraphale

Veteran

La Pederstrienne -- I don't know that I'd describe myself as "athletic". My thighs are muscular but don't seem to be all that bulky. It's in the calves. The thigh part of the jeans is always too loose, and the calves too tight, which seems to be an uncommon problem. But yes, I agree with you, I can see that jeans are not made for you athletes!

MsMaven, Kiwigirl -- glad this thread was of help

Gaylene -- I never thought of the men's section! I used to get Levi's 501's in the 90s and they fit me perfectly. Maybe I should try the men's section again. Thanks for the tip.

KL -- thanks also for the tip!