I didn't think there was such a thing as the perfect pair of jeans!lol Since I'm not a mid-low rise kind of gal I really don't have any suggestions for you on where you could find these elusive jeans. If I were in your situation I would look for the best pair of flared or boot-cut jeans and alter the leg of the pants. If all else fails you could always come over to the dark side and wear jeans that come up to your waist:) Then again I dress like a dork so you may not want to follow my fasion advise.lol

Foxy.

Well, here's the problem w/ that. I am really short. I'm also kind of short wasted. The mid-rise jeans fit me just a fraction below my belly button. If I wear the regular rise, they come inches above my belly button and it's really weird looking on me. Even when I have to buy the "Sits Low On Waste" ones from Old Navy, they come just below my natural waste. They are by no means LOW on me. LOL

Yesterday I did actually find some cute looking ones at Levis.com, but they are not available within 50 miles of me (that's the farthest away the website will tell you). I e-mailed them to ask if there were any being sold in Texas, as I am going to be there later this month, but I haven't heard back.

Anyway, here are the ones I found...

Keep your fingers crossed for me, that they sell them in Texas (preferably somewhere close to Dallas). LOL

Here is a link that might be useful: Straight Leg 505® Jeans (Plus)

Is that woman in the photo supposed to be a "plus" size? If so, she's probably the smallest plus size ~I've~ ever seen. What is she, a size 12?
Anyway, they're nice jeans. But why the sudden need for the perfect jeans? Is it just that the kind you normally buy are discontinued? That happened to me a few years ago, and although it seems really small-minded, I tell you, I thought my world was crumbling. It took me a while to find another type that worked - now I go with the Gap mid-rise boot cut. But those aren't perfect either - they're elasticized, so they fit great when I first put them on in the morning, but by afternoon, they're so "broken in" that it looks like I haven't done laundry in weeks.

The search for perfect jeans is fraught, simply FRAUGHT, with peril and disappointment.

Shelly

It's just that I'm down to one pair of jeans, and I wear jeans every day. Well, ok, I now OWN two pairs, but the new ones still need hemmed, because no one makes a 28.5" inseam.

LOL

But, I've just been thinking about how hard it is to find a straight legged jean these days. I've been wearing boot-cut for approximately 7 years now and I'd really like to move on from that.

Yeah, I hear you. And straight leg pants really are more flattering for most people (let's be honest - we've all seen What Not To Wear).

But you know, it's only recently that jeans inseams have gotten longer. Up until just a few years ago, the longest inseam I could find was a 31... MAYBE a 32. And I take at least a 33" inseam. I can't tell you how happy I was after the movie Dirty Dancing came out, and everyone started rolling their cuffs up :) Now, it's a whole other story - I actually have to get my jeans hemmed because they're too long! That's ~never~ happened to me before... but having been on both sides of the fence, I can attest that it's much better to need to hem than to walk around like you're waiting for a flood.

Oh yeah. I'm not complaining about the inseam. I'm glad that I can eventually get them to fit. It's just that I'm broke, so my mom is gonna have to hem them for me and the last pair she hemmed only to 29" which is JUST long enough to where the back drags the ground and the hem has raveled out back there and I've had to cut it off. Needless to say, these jeans are looking a little rough. W/ my parents just moving and my mom's job, it's just really hard for her to get the time to hem them.

So, yeah, I'm not totally complaining, but man it sure would be easier if they made girl's jeans in sizes like they do guy's.

The perfect pair of jeans.... I thought that was just a myth like a perfect man LOL No offense guys, I'm just kidding.... 8o)

I have the worst time finding a pair of jeans that fit. If they fit in the waist, they're too tight in the hips or thighs.... If they fit my hips then they're huge in the waist....

I'm also glad that inseams have gotten longer in the last few years. I'm almost 5' 11" and used to have a hard time finding jeans that were long enough. 10 years ago stores rarely carried pants in tall sizes (or short for that matter). I think I spent most of my teenage years looking like I was waiting for a flood. LOL

Tisha,
Have you ever tried mens pants? Thats mostly what I wear. I have no waist. I'm curveless! I will occasionally find Levi's 515 (or is it 516?) in womans and I always buy whatever they have in my size (love them!) but other then that I wear mens. Hemming is still and issue but I usually do my own.
C~

What's the waste (rise) like on men's jeans?

I hear ya ladies. I too have been through the discontinued jean's horror. I suffered through the 80's looking like I was waiting for a flood. I will never forget the impossible feat of trying to find size 5 pants with a 34" inseam. The only saving grace was the scrunch socks phase. They really did help fill in that gap between the shoes and the bottom of the pants.lol I understand getting pants that fit your hips only to have them not even touch your waist. I solved that problem by gaining a belly. Not the best option, but it worked.lol I am also short waisted. For me the perfect jeans right now are made by Bill Blass. They are stretch jeans, but look like regular jeans. The stretch is more comfortable and way more forgiving. They come in Long, regular and short length's. I find they hit me right at the belly button. The best part is I only pay $20 for them. What more can a girl ask for? They are comfortable, they come in normal denim colors, they fit, they don't look bad and they don't cost a fortune! Knowing my luck they will be discontinued next month.lol

Foxy.

Tisha,

What about hemming your own pants? I do all of mine, except if they have a cuff. What I can't do is pin them myself, so if my Mom's available I have her pin them & I'll hem 'em.

My point (seems I'm being unclear) is if you can get someone else to pin them for ya, it's easy to hem them yourself (I think so anyway, by hand, not by machine). Maybe your Mom can show you how next time.

Just a thought.

Right now I really like Riders Stretch. Just My Size tends to relax too much during the day, so that I look like I'm at the end of my wearable clothes and need to do laundry all so. I like a stretch jean as they stay comfortable no matter 'what' type of day you are having, but only if the stretch isn't a size or two expando.

I DO have a waist and have trouble with mens sizes. If they fit the butt, the waist gaps in the back to the point everybody knows just what brand of unders I wear or they can see all the way to 'the crack of dawn'.

Unfortunately, not all Riders are created equal. I got a new pair for Xmas in my normal size, and they won't even fasten at the waist. Even on my pretty much liquid diet!!! Bummed, I am. WalMart sells Riders, and in mulitple colors.

I used to LOVE Chic jeans, but I don't even know who carries them anymore. I spent a few years not buying clothes of ANY kind.

I'm just the opposite though, I'm short, but I'm long waisted, so no mid-low whatsomever rise thingies for me!

PG, believe me, if I could do as good of a job at it as my mom does, I'd do my own too. She's able to make them look like real jeans and not like hemmed jeans. LOL

Plus, my sewing machine hasn't worked in about 10 years and I don't sew by hand. I can't even imagine how long it would take to sew some flared jeans all the way around the opening. I'd go insane. :-P I have very little patience when it comes to sewing. I don't understand how my mom actually enjoys it.

The stretch jeans work best for me at this point in my life. My problem is the belly- if the hips and butt fit okay, then I can't zip or button the jeans! Last year when I was a size 12, Levis were great, but I don't believe they make them any bigger than that, at least not in a comfy fit. Now that I've gained a few pounds(understatement), the regular straight leg jeans don't work anymore. I found some fabulous strecth jeans at Penny's, but they are boot cut. I don't have boots, so I just end up wearing them with sneaks or flats. I'm not concerned so much with how they look, rather how they FEEL. I need to be able to breathe through out the day, occasionally, you know. LOL

GH

Hi Again Tisha,

I'm sure your Mom wasn't born doing this well, she learned & over time, I'm sure the more practice she got, the better she got at it; really you should ask her to show you & give it a try.

I have no idea what you mean by "real jeans" vs. "hemmed jeans". All jeans are hemmed, unless they're actually not hemmed, like left frayed or deliberately unravelled.

Machine sewn pants hems don't always look great, but hand hemmed pants, well, often the hem is not visible at all. (Then again I learned to sew by hand as a little girl, got a lot of practice making doll clothes.)

Yeah, but factory-hemmed jeans have a distinctive look: the stitching is actually quite pronounced, and often done with a yellow, white, or rusty orange coloured thread. And the hem itself is puckered a bit - not too much, but just enough. Even professionally tailored jeans sometimes miss the mark on the hem, so that it's obvious that the jeans have been altered.

Exactly, fishies! :-)

And, I can sew if I have to. I just really hate it. It's not a matter of practice, it's a matter of patience and if I don't like doing something, I pretty much have no patience for it. :-)

Then you be doing without!