The Vine: March 20, 2009
Sars,
I have a jeans-related problem and thought the good people of the Tomato Nation might be able to help.
I have a round butt, and this is causing all my pants to fit strangely.I’d been wearing jeans from Delia’s, but I’m caught between sizes (one size is too tight, next size up I can pull off without unbuttoning) so I’m looking for different brands that are perhaps cut slightly more generously through the thighs and rear.
The problem is mostly front to back, not side to side, as my hips aren’t especially wide.Any suggestions are welcome, but I am a recent college graduate so cheaper is better.Thanks a lot!
Lady Mix-a-Lot
Dear Mix,
Gah, Delia’s jeans.They fit exactly right for the first 15 minutes and then I spend the rest of the day hiking them up.
I would suggest any store that has a range of jeans cuts — the Gap used to; I believe Joe’s Jeans has different cuts for different body types, although those jeans get pricey; Ann Taylor and New York & Co. probably do, and I know Levi’s does.You’ll have to do a zillion try-ons until you find a cut that works.American Eagle might have something that works, as their pants run narrow in the hips, but there’s not a ton of room in the butt in the pair I’ve got on today.
Readers, any specifics to suggest?
Tags: Ask The Readers retail
My sister, who is far curvier than me, swears by J. Crew. I third or fourth the Lucky Brand love. I’ve been wearing them for years through a couple of sizes and just keep coming back.
You can try PZI Jeans http://www.pzijeans.com/. They’re designed specifically for those of us with junk in our trunk. They’re about middle of the road, I’d say, price wise. A lot of them are a little too “club ready”for my taste, and these are usually the styles you find in stores, but if you look you can find your good ol’ basic five pocket jeans and you can always get those syles online.
I’ve got a small waist but big butt and thighs, and I’ve had GREAT luck with the Gap Curvy style. I bought three pairs while I was home at Christmas. The Gap also has really good sales, so you can still afford to get them tailored a bit if you need; they also do different lengths in each cut (P(etite), R(egular), and L(ong), I think?), which can help to avoid tailoring.
I personally have not had much luck with those make-your-own-[x] websites, and I would advise you to read the return policy carefully before you place an order. I know lots of people swear by them, and they can be a good deal if you find the right ones, but if you end up with a made-to-order pair of jeans that don’t fit and can’t be returned, you’re kind of screwed.
I have a non-flat ass, but I can’t say that it’s rounder than the rest of me would indicate, so I might not be much help. However, I do know that Levi’s has jeans with a little bit of stretch to them (now, DON’T think back to those crazy corrugated-looking ones that came about in the mid-’80s!).
I like this stretch; they look like any other pair of Levi’s and you don’t get that droopy butt that happens if you haven’t washed the jeans in a while. They also cling well at the waist, so no plumber-butt moments.
Kohl’s usually has a big selection with various lengths and styles, and they’re usually under $50.
I was going to mention the Fashion Bug Right Fits that cbetsk recommended. I haven’t worn them myself, but the Lane Bryant Right Fit are pretty much universally well-liked among plus-sized folks I have seen discussing them (once sizing issues are ironed out–apparently they stretch a lot so you need to get ones a size or more smaller than it would seem in the store). And the Fashion Bug model should be pretty much identical except for straight sizes, because the stores are owned by the same company.
Try Tilt brand jeans from PacSun………………………….They are PERFECT!!
I love my Lucky’s. They fit my butt well. I think the style is Sweet and Low or something? Maybe easy rider? I just tried to look but they’re not labeled.
I also like Gap’s long and lean.
I bought some bargain brand name jeans at a clearance sale and since they were out of my side, I bought the next size up and had them taken in (they were REALLY cheap). Maybe they were magical Tardis jeans anyway (bigger on the inside), but they made my bum look tiny, were supremely comfy and I mourned the day the knees wore out, because I can’t rock the George Michael 1988 look .
Would that be an option for you?
I’m late to the party, but just had to add my vote for the camp of “expensive jeans=sometimes totally worth it.”
My glorious booty is a good 15″ wider than my waist… and for years, I couldn’t bring myself to spend more than $30-40 on jeans… but they’d start to sag or not fit right after only a few months. In contrast, the pair of Lucky “easy riders” that I bought FIVE years ago are still going strong — granted, they’ve faded, in that lovely old-jeans way, but no rips yet, and I wear these things at least once or twice a week.
And my Citizens of Humanity “Kelly” jeans were, yes, a splurge — but I’ve worn them once or twice a week for a year and a half and they still look brand new and fit like a glove… to the point where random women compliment them in bathroom lines. I’d rather spend $180 once every two or three years for that kind of awesome than go back to “it sorta fits” cheap jeans…
If you ever decide you’re in the market for “investment” jeans, I’d recommend trying to find a store that specializes in them. In Philadelphia, there’s Charlie’s Jeans, where the staff is trained to know what will work for your body. I’d imagine in most major cities there are similar stores. Alleviates a lot of the frustration… the staff person at Charlie’s had me in my dream jeans within three tries, and was able to advise how much they’d stretch/shrink, etc.
I have a small waist and narrow hips, with a bubble butt and thighs on the athletic side. I swear by 7 for All Mankind, which are out of my price range. I find them on Ebay (slightly used) for around $30-$50. The ‘Flynt’ cut is the best for me, it’s specifically designed for a round butt. The quality is excellent, I usually wear my jeans tight and often and they’re quickly full of holes/coming apart at the seams/have busted belt loops – but my oldest 7s are still going strong with no holes or visible wear, I’ve had them 4 years.
Pac Sun, J Crew (pants, I’ve never tried their jeans), and Z Cavaricci also work for me.
Same problem – I have been wearing only Gap jeans for ever – then found Men’s Levi’s – anything with a low rise. Men’s pants go higher up the back (so no bum cleavage), and generally have more space front to back in the thighs, but none of that weird side hip shaping that just ends up looking weird and wrinkly on those of us with narrow hips, but generous bums. Try boyfriend cuts at J. Crew, Old Navy and Banana Republic, too.
Recently, all the ladies at work have been coming in wearing the same pants. The Sweetheart jeans from old Navy seem to magically fit all shapes and sizes. They fit me with my narrow waist and unnaturally wide hips, they fit my indian friend with big ole puhdunkadunk juicy rear and thighs, and they fit our other friend who has the little scrawny rear of a chain-smoking hill-woman. Totally DIFFERENT shapes, but the pants seem to go with it. These jeans are cheap and come in three different colors of blue.
I just misread part of @Soylent’s comment to say “but they made me look burn tiny” and I’m kind of sorry that isn’t what it actually says. I think I’m going to start using the phrase anyway to describe clothes that make me look super small. I mean burn tiny. Awesome.
My latest jean discovery is H&M’s new line of jeans (of various styles) – very affordable and surprisingly flattering. If you live in a city that has an H&M, it might be worth checking out.
Ditto the thumbs up for Lucky Brand Jeans… pricey, but -super- durable, with a wide range of fits.. Sweet & Low are my favourite.
Silver Jeans. Specifically the Suki style. It’s perfect for my curvy tush and you look awesome in them as well. Bonus, they’re only around 70 bucks.
Joe’s Jeans was what came up when I googled a few years ago for this same undertaking. They are pricey, but the “Honey” style fits perfectly and has just the right amount of stretch.
Ann Taylor Loft makes a great jean that works really well on me. Curvy boot cut are a perfect fit!
I will second Lane Bryant for the bigger girls with butts. I generally buy them second hand because I am cheap when it comes to clothes but Venzia’s has a sweet cut when it comes to the backside.
I’m a little late on this one, but I want to issue a warning about Old Navy’s jeans – they fit beautifully for a while, but the zippers are too long, and will eventually pooch out. This leads, naturally, to what the Fug Girls kindly call “polterwang.” Not just sitting – I get it walking, too. If you go for these, invest in longer shirts.
@Fluker: This condition, when it occurs in jeans/pants with too much room in the happy valley, is also known as “boy box.” This tends to afflict women with no backyard, vs. women with roomy ones, but it’s as fun to say as it is un-fun to see in the mirror.
Do you have a good thrift/consignment shop near you? Yes, you end up trying on a million pairs of jeans, but because they usually have a wide range of brands/styles, you can get a pretty good idea of what will work for you. And you get to see what they do when they’re broken in. If you found a couple pairs you like at a thrift store, you could always go find new pairs when you have more money (if they’re more of a spendy brand).
I’m little but have a, let’s just say, well-defined butt. I can’t tell you the last time I bought jeans new, but the pairs I’ve been wearing the past couple years are Silvers and Gap.
“‘m a little late on this one, but I want to issue a warning about Old Navy’s jeans – they fit beautifully for a while, but the zippers are too long, and will eventually pooch out. This leads, naturally, to what the Fug Girls kindly call “polterwang.” Not just sitting – I get it walking, too. If you go for these, invest in longer shirts.”
Since you mention it, does anyone have advice about this? I have plenty of junk in my trunk, but short proportions, so any jeans other than the custom ones I already recommended lead to this affliction. I’m wearing Gap curvy jeans today and have to fold the top over to make the pooch go away.
I’m petite (5’4″), short legs, with very curvy waist-to-hip ratio. After trying on about 200 pairs of jeans–everything from dirt-cheap to stupid-pricey–and exhausting the creative resources of the “jeans experts” at high-end retail–I settled, happily, on Lucky Brand jeans. I’m in the Lola model, which has an inseam for short girls. It’s a low-rise jean so I either have to choose my lingerie thoughtfully, or wear a longer shirt. But they fit my curves–and I was fed up with shopping already! Give them a try!
I totally have to second PacSun’s Tilt (though they aren’t called that anymore) jeans- They are the one’s I’ve found that fit well on my 12-year-old-boy figure and STILL give me a GREAT ass. And they run 2-for-$55. Great ass, great price? LOVE. And they’ve got tons of differnet washes and cuts.
Express Jeans, “Stella” cut, comes in medium and really nice dark washes. They also come in LENGTHS. And they are awesome. Worth every penny of the $70 or so I spent on them.
Fashion bug used to carry a line of jeans call Zandi. I also like the stretch jean Ashley Stewart sells.
I have to 11th Lucky Jeans. The Easy Rider is a god-send! I’ve found them in resale shops for cheap. Try hitting up Plato’s Closet. I have to nay-say Joe’s Jeans Honey; the hype had me convinced they were the be-all-end-all…and my thighs were too fat for them! Kohl’s Access Line has some decent jeans that are always on sale.