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Please tell me high rise isn't the only option

Aziraphale

Veteran

Well, I guess there's no denying it anymore. High-rise jeans are back in style. I am seeing them everywhere. The thing is, a high waistband looks so terrible on me that's it's not even funny. Even ordinary mid-rise doesn't look great; only low-rise truly works. The super low-rise jeans of the early 2000s -- the ones that showed plumber's crack on most other women -- worked just fine on me.

Please reassure me that there will continue to be low-rise options that aren't hopelessly unfashionable!

Dressing

22 replies

Latest reply was from Suz

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

There's always eBay

Oops, I just realized it wasn't availability you were asking about. Are you looking to wear the latest fashion or what looks great and feels just as good?

Aziraphale

Veteran

Alexandra, I like to stay current, but I normally don't buy the latest "hot" item just because it's hot. It has to look good, too. But I've been noticing that there are fewer and fewer low-rise options for jeans in the stores. I don't want to look like I'm dressing for last decade, but I also don't want to wear high-rise jeans!

Another factor is my husband. He thinks high-rise pants look good on precisely no one. I don't totally agree -- I think they look passable on tall thin women -- but they are certainly not my favourite look, either.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

I did a search on Shopbop and there were
16 low-rise jeans
63 mid-rise jeans
81 high-rise jeans

So you're right. But -- the definitions are fuzzy. In some cases an 8" rise is low-rise, in some cases a jean with an 8" rise is in the mid-rise section. Similarly, some 9" rise jeans fall in the mid-rise category, while in other cases they fall in the high-rise category.

Personally I am loving the extra coverage of a higher rise, but am preferring 9.5-10" rather than 11 or 11.5". I have the super high rise jeans, but they don't look as good on my short waist as the rises that are a bit lower.

Maybe you want to stock up before you have trouble finding jeans that you like. I do think you will still be able to find them though, just like boot cuts never completely went away.

Retailers will get behind higher rises, because it is one of those trends that will affect many other styles so represents a lucrative opportunity. I think Inge had an article about this in one of her news updates.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Cocolion, thanks for the reply! Yeah, there's no way I can wear a 10" rise. 7" is perfect, 8" is not bad but looks like mid-rise on me. Anything longer than that looks high-waisted on me, and on top of that I find it really uncomfortable. Arrgh. I prefer not to "stock up" because it's hard to predict what I'm going to feel like wearing in two years' time.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Oh, Elisabeth, I am so with you! High rises look dreadful on my short torso. It's an instance where long legs do not at all save me from looking squat and dumpy. I've been so grateful for all the lower rises in recent years that I'm glad I have a good selection of denim.

Gracie

Veteran

I'm with you – 7 to 8.5" rise is good for me. And you DH and my DH are of the same mind. Yesterday I tried on a pair of jeans with a 9" rise and he looked quite alarmed and asked if that was "the new thing"... because he didn't like it. He's used to seeing me 'long-torsoed' and that's the style I feel most comfortable in too – needles to say, the jeans are going back! I do hope that low rises will still be plentiful.

CocoLion

(website)

Veteran

Aziraphale -- I have a few pairs of low rise (too low for me) jeans do you want them? One pair is from True Religion, they are charcoal super skinnies. There is a bit of a bleach drizzle on the front, which I think you could paint out, or just live with if you don't mind RATE style.

The other pair are from Sold Design lab, but their version they made for Target last year. So they are inside out jeans. Amazing fabric. Camo print on one side, washed black on the other. The washed black side is so flattering, but these are just too low rise for me. I need higher rises for work, so my white shirt stays put. I bend a lot and don't want my underwear showing.

The Trues are size 27, the Solds are size 5. The Trues fit smaller than the Solds. Maybe I should post this in the Style Exchange, because these are probably too big for you.

Suzanne (ambergreen)

Veteran

@Aziraphale, I don't think you can go wrong with items that look great on you whether they're in or out. That's my solution when I don't like what's trending. As a short-waisted petite I am also not going to add a single pair of truly high-waisted pants.

(That said, I have a quite high-waisted wool pencil skirt that looks amazing, and those weren't in for years. I don't know if they'll be in even when high-waisted pants are. But the two aren't the same, I admit...on a skirt it borrows a little of the corset idea while pants really can't do that without gettng ridiculous. Heh.)

You can rock whatever truly works for you at ANY time. It's that style-is-timeless thing vs. fashion of the moment. You'll be fine.

Alexandra

(website)

Veteran

I think if you dress in your own style, the 'last decade' will be a non-issue. As ambergreen said, you can rock your own style at any time.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Ambergreen, you're right, I have several high-waisted skirts and they look just fine on me. But the pants -- no way. Thanks for the suggestions.

Cocolion -- Thanks so much for the offer! You are sweet. I don't think either pair would work -- the True Religions sound like they might fit, but I don't wear super skinnies anymore. The other pair sounds super awesome, but a size 5 won't fit me, especially if they don't fit small. But I really appreciate the offer. Maybe there's someone else reading this thread who might want them?

Gracie, Janet -- thanks for the commiseration.

carter

Veteran

So totally with you! 7.5" to 8" is just about perfect for me. I have some mid rise jeans that just don't seem to work with anything tucked or semi-tucked.

Gigi

Veteran

AZ, I'm in the same boat. It wasn't until low-rise jeans came out that I realized I could wear jeans and tuck and actually look good! I look ridiculous with high-rise pants on, kind of like an old man with his pants pulled up too far.

I'm planning on continuing to wear my low-rise jeans. It takes a while for denim to wear out, so hopefully I'll be set until low rises come back in again!

lyn67

Veteran

I was in the same denial for years and years of extra low rises, that looked "so terrible on me that it's not even funny":-))) so guess it's our turn now to see a bit the brighter side of the....fashion/Moon:-)

Aziraphale

Veteran

Lol Lyn67 -- I guess you're right...it's time to pay the piper.

Mind you, I guess it's a good thing fashions keep moving forward, because as we cycle through styles, everybody eventually gets a period during which they have plenty of choice.

Gigi -- "like an old man with his pants pulled up too far." *chuckle*. Yes, exactly. Me too.

Anonymous

You know, Aziraphale, maybe our eyes will adjust. I think my daughter's eyes already have. She wanted some high rise skinnies so that she could wear her cropped tops to school and not get a dress code infraction. (She's 18 next month.) She came home from the mall with these super high rise skinny jeans with tiny little back pockets floating up high like postage stamps. Seriously, these jeans made her butt and thighs look huge, but I didn't say anything. She admired herself in the mirror and said, "Don't they make my butt and thighs look huge? I love them!" And then she slapped herself on the backside and laughed. So I guess it all depends on what you want to emphasize, lol. Maybe as a culture we will get used to high rises again. You can always wear your beloved low rise jeans and leave your shirt untucked, right?

rabbit

Veteran

I see high rise skinnies on waif figures as being very Audrey Hepburn. Great with cropped tops also. Basically if a body in a high-waisted pencil or tube looks good, it should work in high-rise pants. Also what Claire said :D.

The thing with high-rise is you can always wear untucked tops if you don't want to show the higher waist. Super low rise? There were years there when every pair of pants I tried on that looked designed for someone under 50 would a) show butt crack if I sat down, b) have like six inches of skin and padded hipbone bared between the top of the jeans and my navel. Some were dangerously close to revealing pubes (sorry for the TMI) let alone muffin top.

E

Veteran

I have a very long rise, came of age in the super low rise jeans era, and just assumed jeans were supposed to be uncomfortable/show your back when you sat (shirts were never long enough: I also have a long torso). When I started thrifting & tried on higher rises, it was like a revelation! Not only were the higher rises way more comfortable, but suddenly I could wear regular length shirts without any worries. I need 10" just to hit a couple inches below my belly button, so I haven't been able to shop retail much for trousers. Thus, I'm pretty excited about this new trend. But I hope everyone who needs a shorter rise continues having options as well, because it's pretty terrible when all of the trousers won't work with you!

Also, Claire, I'm with your daughter. I love anything that makes my butt & thighs look bigger.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Oh dear lord, see? Claire, you've totally NAILED why I hate high-rise jeans! My hips and thighs are already huge! Some of us really don't need help in emphasizing that department!

Aziraphale

Veteran

Claire, it's true that the eye often adjusts. But the thing is, I don't hate high-rise jeans. They look good on certain women. As Rabbit says, waifish figures can totally pull it off with a crop top. But even though I'm quite slim, they just don't work on me. I have a small derriere to begin with, and a short-ish torso, and a moderately full bust. High-waisted jeans make my butt look long and flat, my waist look non-existent and my boobs look as though they're perched on my waistband! No amount of wishful thinking is going to make them look attractive on me. Add to that the fact that my husband thinks they are simply the ugliest thing a woman could wear...not much incentive to try to make it work.

Rabbit, I hear what you're saying about the problem of plumber's crack with low-rise jeans. A lot of my friends had trouble with this. I never did, though -- my body is built for a very low rise. It probably helps that I'm short and small-hipped. But I know for sure that a lot of gals breathed a huge sigh of relief when the ultra low-rise trend started to wane!

DonnaF

Veteran

I'm with Lyn67! I spent a whole decade not buying jeans. On my body, a low rise just makes my ample thighs look HUGE because the pants' center of gravity is so low. I have a long torso and a long waist so I get smaller pretty quickly above my hips. I think that's why higher rise waistbands almost never dig in on me and often gape. I haven't tried out high rise jeans yet but I should because I recently bought a cropped top which I can currently only wear with wide waistband skirts + jacket if I don't want to flash.

Anonymous

High rise jeans look very similar on my build as they do yours Az. I get the dreaded long butt, and they make by bust look depressingly low. And I never could fill out the thighs. I saw a rerun of Miami Vice early this morning (I had to check out the clothes) and I noticed all the women looked this way in their pants. When everyone does it, it starts to look normal. I remember when all the teenagers were wearing micro rise jeans. I thought they looked so short legged, but they all did it, so it sort of leveled the playing field.

However, we live in a fashion world where we don't all have to wear the same thing, so yay for that. You have a pretty decent collection of denim don't you? Hopefully they will last you through the coming high rise invasion. Or maybe (knock on wood) it will just be a flash in the pan.

Suz

(website)

Veteran

This is so very interesting. It just goes to show you how different our bodies are.

I honestly don't know if I can make high rise jeans work for me. My body has changed some since their last heyday.

I hope you find options that work for you, Aziriphale. Or else it will be time to come up with non-denim based outfits, I guess. Not easy when denim is one of your favourite basics.