High-Waist Jeans–Get Used to It
I was an early supporter of high-waisted jeans as is documented in my post Weighing in on the High-Waisted Controversy. I think they’re way more flattering than most people think, and it’s a shame that some of the early high-profile wearers wore them so terribly.
The reaction to this pic of Jessica Simpson, for instance, was heard ’round the world. But, let’s blame the messenger–Jessica chose to wear pants that were too tight for her, topping them with a short sleeve turtleneck, and any ample-chested girl knows that is the kiss of death. Seriously, if you’re curvy, and you wear your clothes too tight, you will look bigger than you are…even if you are Jessica Simpson. So, if you want to enjoy this trend, you’ve got to choose very wisely. Besides, the low-waisted trend wasn’t all wine and roses, either.
Muffin tops, anyone?
But despite all the hysteria that this denim trend has caused, they’re still popping up everywhere and at every price, so I doubt it will be long before the acceptance stage begins. Our eyes just need to adjust. Like with a new haircut.
Besides remember how cute Scarlett Johansson looked at the Imitation of Christ show a few years back and what about Ciara? Don’t let Jessica’s bad apple spoil the whole barrel.
So, if you’re game, here’s a few standouts:
7 For All Mankind Jeans,$165 Joe’s Trouser Jeans $106.80
Juicy Couture ‘Patch’ $210 Citizens of Humanity ‘Hutton’ $207
Kasil ‘Hannah’ $203 Old Navy ‘The Goddess’ $20
Photos Source and Source and Source.
Comments
Comment from nick
Forget the pants…I want to know what happened to Jessica Simpson’s neck! Where did it go!?
Comment from becky
You can never go wrong with highwaisted pants and platform shoes…
Comment from Spanks!
I love me some Scarlett but is she wearing my moms bra under that tank? …
Comment from Rock the Shells!
I see what you mean, I confess I was not a 100% on board this trend but now that I look at it with fresh eyes…I can see the advantages it holds for a chick like me…IE. hold the gutsky down…I’m starting to dig it! Thanks for the “enlightenment” oh wise Blogger Valentina!
Comment from KIKI
I love the way Ciara looks in her high waist jeans and I am so glad that they are back in style!
Comment from africandoll
I am soooo feeling this high waisted craze, it’s not even funny….loved it on Kelis in the “Bossy” video and have been waiting for them to hit the States since. Where can I find an affordable pair (ie: $39.50 - $79.50)?
Comment from sweetz
africandoll:
Look on bcbggirls.com.
Comment from Melanie
All hail the high(er)-waisted jean. Finally, a style that I can wear that doesn’t leave a gap at my waist large enough to hold a small child, koala-bear style 
I have hips - not gigantic, but I had a baby, so there are hips. And, I have a long, relatively small waist and short legs. So, low rise jeans made me look like a garden gnome. NOT attractive at all…
Comment from anon
as long as the pants stay below the bellybutton I have no problem with the new style.
Comment from kandi
I just got a pair at Old Navy today for $20. I’m tall and they are long enough for me.
Comment from jen
Seriously, ick. I cannot stand these jeans. They’re just a little too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTl6aJDlDiY
Comment from Laneka Bonner
i agree with nick the pants are banging but what did happen to jessica simpsons neck
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[…] 11th, 2007 @ 8:04 pm I’ve noticed many women sporting a hideous new fashion trend…HIGH WAIST JEANS! The world went from one horrible trend, Skinny jeans, to the next, high waist jeans! Or, a […]
Comment from Isabella
Thank God. Finally they are back!
I always felt like my pants were falling off my ass in this low rise syndrome to which we’ve been subjected.
Face it fashion pros….there are real women you have to deal with, not stick models that look good in everything!
High waisted pants are soooooooo flattering and hide a multitude of sins. Look how good all women looked in the fourties and fifties!
Thank you to whomever decided to bring them back!
Comment from anon
the low rise jean fad was a mistake, an error. Because they only looked good on slender bodies. So, high Waisted jeans will always be there as the most important style of jean for women. It makes them look taller, sexier, and gives more confidence to mature women that they can sport jeans very well also! Bring them back please and abolish low rise jeans forever.
Comment from bridgette
I think the pants are absolutely fabulous.
Ive always loved 70’s inspired clothes.
But the pants are not for everyone as you can tell in the picture of Jessica Simpson.
Shes a beautiful girl but she has a bigger chest and the pants just cut her off and make her look boxy.
Comment from Alexandra
I just bought a pair today, and not only are they high waisted, but skinny as well. I was skeptical, but I’ve been wanting a pair because I figured the high waist could act as a sort of corset; plus I’m over the low-rise fad myself. I got them from forever 21 in a dark denim for like 30 bucks, and they look fabulous. I have a much longer torso than most women who are only 5′4, and these lengthen and thin me out. As long as you don’t get too costumey and pair them with too much seventies garb, they’re fantastic.
Comment from chris
heres the news ladies, in my humble opinion, as a photographer of 15 years experience, high waisted jeans look good on NO-ONE ! they were fugly in the seventies and they’re fugly now. i have never seen a single fasion trend that can so quickly turn an attractive young women in some seventies nightmare that should have remained in my mums wardrobe…
Comment from Charles
You’re out of your mind!!!! High waisted jeans is one of the best trends going on. I’m a guy and I’m pretty tired to see so many muffin tops and buttcraks wherever I go. I like to see women to show some sex appeal and the high waisted jean do that. Makes the butt look so classy on ladies with great bodies and they look better, period than with the godawful low rise jean which do nothing for a woman’s body, IMO.
Comment from Gina
I love the look of high waisted jeans, but for a girl my height it seems impossible to find a pair that is reasonably priced and long enough (need 37″ inseam). Any suggestions?
Comment from John Bradbury
I agree with Chris 100% and I’m quite passionate about this subject. Ladies, please move on from this horrid trend. I truly believe you’ve all been brainwashed. I have witnessed some of my most attractive female friends sporting this horrible look and without fail I have to tell them it does absolutely nothing for them. I know a guys opinion on womens fashion usually doesn’t count for much but trust me on this last word ladies: The woman out there that agree with me (and there’s plenty of them) will never tell you because they know they have the advantage
Comment from S
The higher waisted jeans give Scarlett an super curvy body and ultra female shape! This is so sexy, Marilyn Monroe-ish, and waaaay more flattering to a girl than the boxy shape that low rise jeans squish us into.
Comment from F-Anach
I agree with Charles. As a forty-something male, I am glad that high-waisted pants/jeans have come back into fashion for women. The low-waisted trend was ugly, unflattering, and, in the most extreme cases, downright vulgar. To me , the corsetting effect of high-waisted garments on women serves to narrow the waist while enhancing the curvature of hips/bottom, a very feminine and attractive look. And since real women tend to be (beautifully) more round of hip and bottom than model women, high-waisted jeans provide the coverage that low-waisted jeans cannot provide. Indeed, if a woman can be adequately covered by a low-waisted jean without any sign of “muffin-top” or visible gluteal cleft, the suggestion is that she never had much of anything to cover.
I was a college student in the now much maligned 1980s–the age of the form-fitting designer jean, spandex, big hair, etc. After twenty years, I see that look coming back in young women half my age and in a few women my age who (fortunately) didn’t throw away their old clothes. I know this trend won’t last forever, but I intend to enjoy it for as long as it does last.
What irks me is why the fashion industry is so compelled to vacillate among extremes. What is considered fashionable seems to change direction as fast as the wind. Over the course of a few years, any one fashion guru can be caught criticizing a fashion trend, and later on promote that very same trend as the epitome of style and good taste. It often takes only one celebrity seen in public in some form of clothing to create a positive sensation. Then all women have to have it, and every designer has to make it, and every merchant must sell it, to the exclusion of all other styles. Why must designers and merchants be so one-tracked? Why can’t different styles be made and sold simultaneously such that consumers always have a choice about how anachronistic or progressive they wish to be?
I applaud all brave women who have either retrieved their old high-waisted garments from the dark end of their closets and found that they still fit or are choosing to experiment with high-waisted garments for the first time.
Comment from Papasan
The ones on Scarlett are actually 40’s retro, and are not indicative of the emerging trend. The ones that are starting to pop up in the shops are the boxy, untailored, belly button level nightmares that permanently creased the midriffs of girls worldwide back in the 80’s. They don’t hide anything ladies, they just encase it in denim, causing Front Butt and Chafe Scars.
Comment from Andrea
I don’t have small hips. I don’t have a small ass. High waist jeans make women with any size look HUGE. I agree some of the low waisted looks were extreme and unattractive, but I think I’ll keep to my below-the-bellybutton jeans, thank you.
Comment from maryjane
i couldnt disagree with you more andrea.
im not that small myself, however i own 2 pairs of highwaisted jeans and they work WONDERS for my hips, plus they make your legs look longer. I find instead of trying to fit my ass into my “below-the-bellybutton jeans” i can acctually flaunt my curves. plus if you have a good waist, they emphasise that.
Comment from patty
as with everything, you need jeans that fit your shape. if you are curvier with shorter legs and a long torso, high-waist will even you out and look great. if, like me, you need a 36″ inseam plus something for your smalls hips and butt, high-waist makes you look like you can’t find pants that fit. my torso is shorter, low rise makes me look evened out and hugs my butt. and no one has ever gotten a panty shot of me. so please, please don’t take away low rise - it’s the only thing that fits some of us. i still say all women look fantastic in a pair of well fitting bootcuts.
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