Cardigan Empire

Salt Lake City Fashion Stylist

The Do’s and Dont’s of High Rise Jeans

The best feature of a high waisted jean is the coverage.  It’s better suited to give women support through their soft delicious center and to not gap when you bend over.  Basically it keeps everything under wraps.
Who does a high rise jean work best for?
High rise jeans typically offer the most benefit for women with a defined waist.  Someone whose waist is 75 percent or less than her hips (you can calculate this by measuring the circumference of your hips and dividing it by the circumference of your waist).  But having a defined waist, doesn’t mean you have to have a six pack, it’s also great for containing what many refer to as “muffin top.”
What are the pitfalls of high rise jeans?
The first area you need to evaluate is the waist.  A good pair of jeans should never squeeze your soft, delicious center over your waistband. This is usually a pitfall of low-rise jeans.  But a high rise pair shouldn’t squeeze your body into a kangaroo pouch under your waistband either.  You want to find a pair of jeans with flexible support through the front pockets, they’ll usually market this as hold you in magic or something similar.
The next area you need to evaluate is the vertical rise.  If you are tall, have a long torso, or have more booty and/or thighs than hips, try a higher rise: 9.5 to 11 inches.  The high rise will elongate your shorter leg-line and help you avoid back gap.
If you are petite, have a short torso, or have wider hips but a slighter booty and/or thigh, try a moderate or mid rise: 8 to 9.25 inches.  You don’t want your rise to fall underneath your bust and you don’t want to exaggerate the breath of your hips in favor of narrowing your waist.  If things don’t look quite right in a high rise, experiment with a slightly lower mid rise.
How do I know whether or not I have a long or short torso?
First, bend to the side and mark your natural waist.  Next, straighten your torso and bend your elbow.  If your elbow is above your waist – your torso is long, if your elbow is below your waist – your torso is short, if you elbow is at your waist you are balanced vertically.
How can I quickly tell how high a rise is in the store?
Use your hand width as a guide.  If the rise is shorter than your hand width, it’s a mid rise; if it’s the same as your hand width it’s a mid rise; if it’s longer than your hand width, it’s a high rise.
Are high rise jeans uncomfortable?
Not if you buy them in the right size.  You don’t want the waist to pinch or squeeze, it should offer comfortable support.  If you happen to be a bigger size in your hips/thighs/seat than you are in your waist, buy the size that fits your broadest measurements, then have the waist taken in.
Where can I find the best deal?

First the best deal is going to be the pair that you wear them most and you feel the best in.  Don’t evaluate your purchase on the initial price of purchase, take the price and divide it by the number of times you will wear it.  You want a low cost per wear, not just a low cost.  So if you spend $100 on a pair of jeans and wear them twice a week for a year, your cost per wear is 96 cents per wear.  Alternatively if you bought a pair for $35 and only wore them once a week for 4 months, the cost per wear would be $2.19 per wear.  The $100 pair would be a better value and you’d probably feel better each wear…which is why you wore them more in the first place.  That being said, my favorite pair of jeans is Madewell, but if you are between sizes or just want to try our an extreme trend, I’d check out Old Navy.  I have a whole post detailing each of my 5 favorite jeans and where to buy them.

Comments

  1. Love the jeans, but the shirt? Where is that from?

  2. I have very small and narrow hands but have a long rise so the hand width trick won’t work for me…I have realized by now 11 – 12 inches is a requirement for me.