This whole jeans-cuffing thing - YouLookFab Forum

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This whole jeans-cuffing thing

ironkurtin

Veteran

I don't get it. The first two pics are of me, one with jeans unrolled, the other rolled. However, these jeans are the *exact same* as the ones worn in the following pics: JBrand Aidans. But when I roll them, I don't get the same effect at ALL. They're totally stumpifying in my pics. (To be fair, these office toidy shots always make my legs look stumpy because of the camera angle, but these look way worse than usual.) What the heck?

(Note: I cannot size up in these jeans. If I do they will fall right off my butt. The peril of no hips and, I guess, muscular thighs.)

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Dressing

39 replies

Latest reply was from Truecolors

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Hm, I like them rolled on you...I would argue that this look is, in fact, stumpifying on everyone, including he photos you added, but that it's OK because cool girls don't care. LOL.

Erikajl

I think it may have to do with the type of shoe your are wearing (high vamp) with skin showing, vs a lower vamp shoe with skin showing.

I know what you mean though. It always looks better on a models legs that are probably lengthened in photoshop.

ironkurtin

Veteran

ErikaJ, I know what you mean. But I specifically looked for pics of chicks wearing booties with these, ala Madewell, and even there it looks totally different.

Jenava

(website)

Veteran

Totally different? I disagree. It looks the same to me. What about it looks so different to you?

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

I don't think they look particularly more stumpifying on you than in the other shots. You do have a dark blue jean and black boots, so when you roll them up and show skin and the lighter underside of the jeans, they do break up the line of dark color which is traditionally leg-lengthening.

In order to get the same look as in the other pictures, I think you'd have to size up somehow - a different cut of jeans, wearing them with a belt to keep them on, having them altered at the waist.... so then you've got looseness at the shin where you're rolling.

I've tried and tried to find a pair of boyfriend jeans that work for my figure. A few weeks ago I had some time at Kohl's and tried on nearly twenty pairs of guys' jeans in different cuts and sizes. I finally found that if I sized way up (basically a waist size nearly the same as my hip measurement) in a relaxed cut, I could make them work and give me the looseness through the hip and thigh that's necessary. But being a serious pear, they are *not* flattering on my butt and waist at all, and I'd definitely need to wear a belt to keep them up. I think this is just a look that comes more naturally to some figure types than others.

Dee

Veteran

I don't think they look stumpifyng with the boots. But, I think yours fit more like a skinny and the ones in the pics seem more boyfriend-like. That combined with the low shoes give it a bit of a different vibe.

Anonymous

The difference is in the jeans, no? The inspiration pics all look like straight leg jeans to me, and yours are definitely skinnies. It is a completely different vibe .....

Diana

Veteran

I don't think you look stumpy! I would say that the only difference seems to be that the jeans on the models look looser and straighter in the lower leg. Do you have a more BF cut pair you could try with?

UmmLila (Lisa)

Veteran

I don't think your legs look stumpy in the rolled photo, but I do think a lower vamp shoe like Erika suggested might be something to consider.

I keep telling myself I'm done with rolled jeans ... and then I keep on doing it. I guess when it gets really cold and into sock weather, that will be it for the year.

rabbit

Veteran

This is the difference I see; the following is totally subjective but what I always end up doing:

-high vamped shoes (your boots, Riri's high-tops) the roll needs to be long enough to rest on the top of the boots without showing skin and then no stumpifying happens.

-low vamped shoes - (the loafers and pumps on the models) - skin showing there, either on the top of the foot or on the ankle balances out the potential shortening of the rolled pants to my eye. The same works for me when wearing sandals -- I roll higher, but booties I always roll lower.

ETA: I do this with both skinny and more baggy bf jeans.

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I don't think it looks stumpy either. I think we all have things that our eye never gets quite used to seeing on ourselves, and it's hard to be objective. That said, lisap and Diana have a good point that the jeans seem like a different type of cut.

Hey, rolled or unrolled, I say go with what makes you feel the best! No rule says you have to roll.

gryffin

Veteran

IK - I have to confess, I am not a fan of rolled jeans either except with certain caveats. I like your jeans unrolled. I have worn mine rolled to good effect, to my eye, if the cuff hits at the top of the booties vamp. I also like a rolled cuff with ankle straps where the cuff hits just showing the strap (ie the okalas). In picture 4 her cuff is hitting at the top of the vamp. In pic 3 the low vamp elongates the line, hey it's a look, you like it or you don't. I personally do not find pic 4 as pleasing. I have the same reaction to cuffing, as I think you do. I have long legs and I make the most of them. I only follow the trends that work for me so you can sign me up for the cuff challenged support group!! Don't know if that makes you feel better but at least you know you have company!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I also don't think they look stumpy. The difference could be that you just have bigger (ir not stick) calves... I NEVER look like the models, nor half (90%?) of the people on here in the same jeans, because I have quite heavy calves. This may be why they look like a different cut. I also think they may be rolled a little high for the shoes. But they still look good!

Anonymous

I don't think the rolling looks stumpifying on you (or anyone else). However, whe I roll with a sandal or ballet flat, I feel so chic. Until I see pictures of myself. A long, unrolled jean is really the most leg-lengthening option for me, so I get you.

ironkurtin

Veteran

To all of you who say the jeans are a different cut... they're not. They're exactly the same jeans, same cut, some brand. JBrand Aidans. They're just fitting on me different. I wouldn't say they're exactly skinnies, but they're certainly not dangling off. And I've already sized up.

Jenava: When I roll mine, they feel too short. They don't look too short on the photo gals. Surely a model has longer legs than mine? Maybe I need to gangsta boy the waist so it's on my pelvis?

Janet

(website)

Veteran

Huh, well they look like different jeans, but I would venture a guess that very few of us mortal women look the same in jeans as models do. Nonetheless, I actually like the cuffed look on you more than the model photos. So there.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

You seem to have them rolled higher than the image in pic 3 or pic 5. Pic 4 looks like they Photoshop'd the legs longer (to me at least).

I don't love the roll with booties personally on anyone all that much (with a few exceptions) because of the severe leg shortening effect. But you are right in that your photo is from a less flattering angle.

Sal

Veteran

I agree with you IK...I like these jeans uncuffed. They are more flattering and sleek.

I have mixed feelings about the jean rolling - I tend to prefer it in summer with a less covered shoe. I feel in the most part my jeans look better uncuffed with a boot. I am long legged but hourglass/muscular.

Gigi

Veteran

IK, is it possible that the jeans on the models are a long inseam? If they're a long inseam and you've got the regular inseam ones on, your jeans are going to be more tapered at the spot where the roll stops, since jeans naturally taper more toward the ankle.

If you can't duplicate the look, I think it is also possible that the actual manufactured jeans do not match the model photo. I have seen it happen more than once that the final product doesn't match what is seen online. Maybe they make one prototype to get the marketing literature out and then change their specs at the last minute before manufacture?

I go back and forth with the cuffing. Sometimes I like to show a little ankle, sometimes not. I think maybe how stumpifying it looks might be dependent on other factors in the outfit, such as how long your top is and how high of a heel your shoes have.

Your outfit looks great, by the way. It is simple but well put together. I love your jacket.

ironkurtin

Veteran

Texstyle: They're only rolled twice, so if they're higher, I dunno whassup.

Gigi: Thanks for the compliments! I don't think this comes in long inseams. I have a few pairs of Aidans and they all seem to fit differently (!!) which I find FREAKING ANNOYING. ARRGH!

I do like them all, though.

Sveta

(website)

Veteran

I don't think thye look stumpifyng at all on you! it may be and issue of eye adjustment and also the fact that we usually much more critical about ourselves than about others.
Personally I think they look great on you both full length and rolled up.

ironkurtin

Veteran

So I took more pics with the pants pulled down as decently as I could arrange, so they were right on my hip bones. Better? Worse?

P.S. The nice lady behind me in pic 2 told me she admired my bravery because this is a "fat mirror." Ha!

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E

Veteran

I think you look good both ways, but then I'm partial to cuffs & not at all concerned w lengthening legs. So I second what Jeneva said.

I like how the cuff looks with the jeans pulled further down too, assuming your top is long enough to make that doable.

DonnaF

Veteran

IMHO, you look better than the models and not stumpified at all. I don't really care for the roll on theirs. To duplicate the looseness of their look, you will have to find a different jean. My legs are at least two sizes bigger than my trunk, so beyond a pair of jeans I thrifted, I haven't even seriously tried to duplicate a true boyfriend look. To get a tapered ankle on those jeans, I pleat peg before I roll.

Suja

Veteran

I wore a similar look this weekend and FWIW I felt stumpy. I think it is just the nature of this look. Models are positioned just so so it isn't as noticeable. In real life, it is a hard to pull off look.

unfrumped

Veteran

It's an overall stumpfying style, for the most part.
Nonetheless, you need a different cut of jeans to do the roll, I think, as others have said. It's not just a sizing thing. Then you could play around with the different lengths and shoes.

I'm not averse to all jeans-rolling for me, especially for summer. But overall I'm preferring wearing my jeans and pants long, even if slightly scrunched over a lower vamp flat or pump (pump only for date nights). I just find it more comfortable and more "me" than most rolling. I also still get that hung-up-on -leg thing unless the pant width and roll thickness is just so, and at just the right place (on me) which may not always be the right place for "fashion".

This was one of my epiphanies--that I don't have to go very deep into this look. I will forego some trendiness in that area because the payoff and the fun factor is not as great for me there, and I will focus my resources on some sweaters and footwear that (I think are) modern and more fun than the roll thing.

carambola

Veteran

I do like the roll better in the second version with the jeans riding lower so no skin shows. Not sure why. Maybe just one less break in the leg line.

Deborah

Veteran

IK glad you posted this! I cannot for the life of me leave the house with rolled/cuffed jeans;). I do see what you see, and I wonder if it is actually more about your style than anything else? Cuffed jeans is just not my look. It's not sleek and streamlined enough for me. It doesn't feel like me. It's a trend element that I don't feel works with my preferred aesthetic. I wonder if that's what's actually going on with you too?

Karie

(website)

Veteran

I like them rolled with skin showing. It's a stumpifying look on everyone, but I think you just have to surrender to that. That said, it's also a look that is much easier for a tall gal to pull off.

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