Suz, I've found G-Star sizing to run TTS on their jeans, jackets and skirts. XS fits me well in their jackets. I take a 25 in most pairs of jeans and that's what usually fits best from G-Star - but NOT in these Kate jeans! The Kate's run big. I sized down to a 24, and they need alteration on the waist, hips and seat. I don't want to wear them with a belt - but you might!

I love the quality of the white denim, so I'm going to the expense of alterations. Thick, white, and has no stretch. Or maybe 1%?

Gosh Viv, this is EXACTLY it - complete TYRANNY. I am a petite hourglass and short waisted - high rises make my torso look even more cut off and, worse, cut in to my poor belly.

I honestly only go to the Gap or Br for jeans now because they are easy buy/easy return, reasonable, and I generally know my size. But I look forward to seeing what you find!

Horses for courses as Angie would say. I have a very long torso so I love high rises because they give me better proportions. I am so envious of you ladies with long legs! I need to fit my thighs and hips so the waistlines never bind. But I’ve noticed that some jeans are labeled high rise when they really aren’t if you check the rise measurement and study the stock photo. So annoying when that information is missing.

The return to high rises doesn't make me happy either. I do have a waist and a longer rise, but I have something now I didn't have during past high-rise eras: a belly. Good luck to you, Viva and others. And thanks for all the suggestions. I'm going to go through them and see if I can find something that works for me.

Mid and low rises look good, IMO!
Zara always has something fun.

Good luck with the jeans!

I think we are at peak high rise and we are on the way down again... so there is hope:)

I quite like a high rise but mid is also good. Low rise is a battle for me!!

I am no help, since all I have right now are high rise jeans. I have a long rise and a long waist, wide hips, round butt and muscular thighs, so I need a rise that is at least 10.75 in. and they look kind of mid rise on me. I struggle with mid rises and I have never been able to wear low rises. Just trying them on made me feel uncomfortable and not covered enough. I think your jeans with the raw hem would work, and I like the G-star ones that Angie posted for you.

Count me with all the fans of lower rise boyfriend jeans. I will definitely check out the G-Star version. The jeans in my closet range 4 sizes - the higher the waist the bigger the size, but then they are often too big through the hip and leg. Mid rise is almost high rise on me anyway. Good luck!

nodding my head to Viva and all others for whom the high rise trend is problematic. Can I also add a rant about retailers who simply state “mid-rise” or “high-rise” instead of providing the rise in inches?

High rise is a good look on me (long torso, somewhat hourglass) but I can’t stand pressure on my abdomen. Very uncomfortable when combined with my mild digestive problems. That really affects what I wear. So my jeans collection is a mix of loose high rise pairs, men’s straight jeans that rest on my hips, and low rise skinnies.

I agree about providing the rise in inches. That said, I’m enjoying all the misses sized pants that I bought & paid to have hemmed. Although I’m petite, I have a short waist & a long rise, so petite sized pants don’t always fit. It depends on the brand.

I hope the Emerson’s work for you!
I have a similar issue - 30 inch waist and 36 inch hips. I’ve had good luck with Joe’s Jean’s midrise styles. The Lara is the name of the cigarette leg. Also, I’ve found that the cropped version of the “skinny” Icon fits more like a cigarette.
eBay and Thredup are awash with midrise styles right now - many new- with-tags and returnable - at nice price points.

Late to this but have to chime in! As a petite 5'1" curvy short-waisted pear, with "muscular" thighs (hah, not really so much muscle) I feel
the tyranny with you all! A rise of 10" or more on me is extremely uncomfortable with the waistband hitting my lower ribs/bottom of my bra,
and unpleasant to look at with that crotch-pleat thing especially when
sitting down. A rise of 8 1/2 - 9 1/2" works, and not much else. When I was shopping for new jeans a year ago after losing weight, I rejected a couple of dozen possibilities because either they didn't give the rise measurements online or were high rise. Old Navy was in the reject pile - no rise measurements. However, I was in a store and decided to try on the pop icon skinny and it fit very well without being skin tight. The front rise is just right but the back is a smidge long (a common thing for me) but at some point I just live with it. I bought it in three different washes. They are a little too long but I like the look of folding them up and could hem them if I wanted to. I also got one pair of the ON Power Slim Straight with a similar rise and just slightly wider leg. I've also found a Macys Style& Co curvy fit skinny fit that worked well, also not skin-tight, although the fabric and quality leave a bit to be desired. I'd been looking for mid-grey jeans for so long that I decided these were good enough. NYDJ works occasionally but mostly has too high a rise even in petite sizes.

the other issue I have is that so many jeans these days have inseams that are too short for what I want (under 27").

I'm not sure any of the ones I've found qualify as "not boring" lol.

Thanks Viva for starting this thread, and loving the great recommendations from everyone! I want to look for at least one pair of higher quality jeans and will use ideas here as inspo. I did look last year at COH jeans but they all had too short an inseam.

Viva - Sorry late to your party and I think you are sorted. I have a very similar body type and issues. A 9.5" rise is my sweet spot. Depending on style they can appear high rise or mid rise with the same rise. If you want the high rise look check out Madewell and look at the 9" rises. Most have a fair amount of stretch. I like to wear my skinnes skimming so I am usually a 27"/4 but size up to a 28" I find the 10" rises too high. I love, love, love the COH emerson, I have a number of washes. My favorite is the blue ridge wash, there is something so much cooler about this pair of jeans than any other - you need to size down unless you like them huge (yeah, I own both for different looks). They also have more stretch so you could sleep in them if you had to. Paige does have the transcend which has a 9.5" rise. These run smaller than Madewell so I definitely size up. Check the rises because they vary by cut and by jeans to make sure they work. Those cover my favorite jeans. Agree with Ummlila that the Nili Lotan, I have the french military pants have a good midrise if you want a non jean. Also Vince still makes some midrises but harder fo find. Enjoy your COH, try the blue ridge wash if you are able it's truly special!!!

YES! And if you want any kind of jean that is at all trendy they are all high rise, at least the ones I have seen. I have a waist that is probably about 2 sizes larger than my hips so always size up. Mid-rise skinnies work great for me because they are more like at-the-waist slim legs on me. And in spite of being petite, non-petite pants work best for me because the hips hit at my waist but of course then I have to hem them and some just aren't good for hemming.

I prefer a high rise- cause then the back is high enough to cover my ample bum! 10 is good in front, but need 14 for the back rise

Same as @ST lol - anything lower than a 'high' mid rise can look indecent on me! This past year has been the first time in many years that I've bought trousers in general (including jeans), since they finally fit well (even being petite, I need a minimum 10-11" rise).

I remember Trinny from Undress The Nation (as well as someone else in this thread) mentioning that the 'long bum' look was undesirable, but I think it's becoming more acceptable as rises rise. On the flipside, maybe people will complain of 'short bum' in the future with mid & low rises, who knows

I have no idea what a “long” bottom is. Does anyone want to explain it to me?
I used to have a bubble butt, but it has fallen; the biggest point around is lower than it used to be. Is that “long”? The top part is completely pancaked.

FashIntern I freely confess to being the forum complainer about high rises causing longbutt. It doesn’t happen w/ most people who wear high rises.
I’ll try to explain. I’m a little under 5’2, very small boned & thin *except* for my rear & breasts. So I have a largish rear/hips on a small bod, but what really creates longbutt on me is that I have a small upper body, a small, high waist, & thin legs with a “low slung” rear. (Petite pants are sometimes too short in the crotch while being right in length.) Wearing pants at my waist creates a long distance to the bottom of my rear & hips. I can’t stand that look & can avoid it completely by wearing mid or better, low rise.
I hope that made some sort of sense.

I think my bum is too round to look long, but I never tuck- so I don't think about the look of the rise!

Suntiger I used to have a bubble butt & still had long bum. I think it’s to do w/ the relative position of my waist & hips.

I am on team High Rise, being gleeful yesterday that my pants have a waistband at my waist, and that I could put a belt at my waist, instead of at some random location on my lower torso. Long waisted pear.

I've been re-watching Mad Men lately, and Joan (played by Christina Hendricks) is a great example of a "long bottom," which is accentuated by how she is costumed. See the lower left pic: She is very short-waisted (from behind, the distance between the bottom edge of her bra band and her waist is about 1 inch), and has a very long rise relative to her waisted-ness, resulting in a "long bottom." The distance from her nape to her waist, and then her waist to the bottom of her rear, are about the same. Imagine her in high-waisted jeans that come up to her natural waist, and you can see how that could result in the sense of a "long bottom." I can relate to this, because I have similar proportions--without the curves :).

Jonesy that’s it. I’m slightly relieved.
I’m a smaller shorter version but same effect.

Jonesy and Ophelia, thanks for the explanations—and pictures! I see what you mean about “Joan’s” waist being right below her brastrap in back. She looks good, but I guess I see what you mean if there isn’t enough roundness there, so then it would just be long and look saggy even if it isn’t, I guess?

My trainer and I have been talking about goals. Most of them I can quantify, but I didn’t know how to explain to him about wanting a rounder, higher butt, so tonight I wore pants that looked great on me in the late 90s, but now have extra fabric in back, just below the waistband. I showed him that & told him I want to fill it up again. He didn’t laugh at me. Good man! But I guess that just means that I have a dropped butt, not a long one.

Ophelia, you said you have a low slung butt, but this isn’t the same as “saddlebags” (which I happen to think are attractive, but I know many women who have them disagree).

I’m another member of Team High Rise. I was a teen in the early 00s so I hardly encountered a high rise until a few years ago, outside of a few thrifted one-offs. I couldn’t even understand or articulate why most pants fit me so terribly until rises started getting higher. It’s nice being able to Buy All The Pants for once. 9” is hip-slung on me; any lower and they’re basically falling off. I need 12” to get anywhere near my navel and my natural waist is a little higher still. I’m not a tall person, just a very short-torso’d one I guess.

It would be nice if retailers kept a range of rises on offer at all times, since it’s something that can’t be altered the way inseam or waist can.

Thank you all again for commiserating, chiming in, and suggesting.

Suz and Jenava: Yes, JCrew can really be a great option for me. I just wanted something a little different (because so much of my wardrobe is JC) but I know that I can fall back on JCrew if I need to.

Angie: Thanks for the G-Star Kate recommendation. It's next to try if the Emersons don't work.

Ah, MsMaven: So true. The post-Covid post-menopausal belly adds a layer of complexity (pardon the pun) to the question of pants fitting. My body is so so very different from even 5 years ago. It's just unavoidable to some extent.

Sal, I can't do low rise at all; I'm with you there! And I really hope we've hit peak high-rise!!!

Greyscale: Men's straights that rest on my hips are sort of a dream jean for me - reminds me of my post-college years when I wore my boyfriend's Levis. But now, no real hips to speak of. So I need a mid-rise that will grab hold, IYKWIM.

Chris, Thanks for the Old Navy links. I'm not buying skinnies now (that's a whole other conversation) but those straights may be worth trying. Thank you!

Gryffin, So glad you love the Emersons so much! I will make note of your preferred wash for future denim hunts.

RobinF: It sounds like you and I are very similar shapes (although I am not petite). I'm going to watch your posts closely.

Oh but FashIntern I have those too. I thought they came w/ the territory. They’re not very noticeable now that I have less estrogen escorting everything I eat to the region. But I notice them in leggings & such.
I agree low rear isn’t the same as age-related southward movement. I think that happens to lots of women w/ age but (ha) can be reversed w/ training. I lifted mine that way & your trainer has probably had many such requests.
Here is my inspo pic:)))

https://www.si.com/.image/t_sh.....-title.jpg

I’m short-waisted but have relative long legs and do like high-waisted jeans. I don’t tuck and guess I don’t really show the waist proper. I wear welted sweaters a lot with them I think, to fudge it so it doesn’t look like the waist is around my neck...

And this. Hair inspo too.

https://steelerswire.usatoday......038;crop=1

Sorry...I have *totally* digressed.