Buying a good-fitting pair of jeans is hard. It can be especially hard if you’re petite or tall. Use this guide and the Denim Data website to help you find a perfect fitting pair of jeans.
Know your inseam
Find the best fitting pair of jeans in your closet and use a tape measure to measure the length between the crotch and the hem. This is the inseam length.
Different styles of jeans have different inseam lengths. For example, cropped jeans hit above the ankle and will have an inseam length that is a few inches shorter than full length jeans. Boot cut and flare jeans will have longer inseam lengths due to their style.
Know your desired style and rise
Do you want flared jeans? Boyfriend jeans? High rise or low rise? Distressed or not? There are a lot of jeans out there. Knowing your desired style can help narrow down which jeans you should be looking at. If you’re looking for a pair of dark wash flared jeans with a 27 inch inseam, you can use the Denim Data database to find this pair of jeans from Abercrombie & Fitch.
Find brands and retailers that carry a wide variety of jeans and have generous shipping policies
Finding a good pair of jeans can be like kissing a lot of frogs before you find your prince. It helps to know which brands and retailers are likely to carry jeans that may fit you. Look for brands or retailers that carry petite, tall, and short jeans.
Find retailers that have customer-friendly shipping and return policies (my favorites are Nordstrom and Zappos). You may have to order several pairs of jeans and try them all at home at the same time to find the perfect pair.
Of course, nothing beats trying on jeans in person. If you’re lucky enough to live near stores with extensive denim collections, try them out in store.
Know which styles of jeans can be easily altered
Denim with raw hems can be easily altered, either by a tailor or by yourself with a trusty pair of scissors. Look for the words “raw” “distressed” or “unfinished” to find jeans that you may be able to easily alter yourself.
Some styles of jeans will be hard to alter. For example, jeans that are distressed and have holes or rips are often placed strategically, on the knee, by the hip, etc. If you simply hem a few inches from the bottom, the distressing may end up below your knees or in an awkward position.
Find a good tailor
A petite gal’s best friend is their tailor. A good tailor can alter jeans so that they don’t simply look like you cut off a few inches. Keeping the original hem is a way to hem jeans while still keeping the bottom stitching and weight of the hem.