Shopping for jeans wouldn’t be such a chore if there were more styles of jeans available. But no. There is only what is ‘trendy’ right now, and usually, whatever’s trendy now looks good on .00025% of the population, and terrible on everyone else. The low-rise trend was that way – it made scrawny girl’s hips jut out like knife blades, and everyone else’s bunch up in a ‘oh-so-flattering’ muffin top.
The skinny leg thing that seems to be trendy right now is just as bad – either you have no butt, and it makes you look even more like you have no butt, or you do, and it makes it look giant in comparison to your teeny, skinny-jeaned ankles. (And don’t get me started on what it looks like if you’ve already got a butt that’d make Sir Mixalot stand up and salute. “Contrast” is putting it too kindly.)
Oh, I know, I know. I got no right to complain – I’m small enough that I can shop at most chain stores. (And by shop, I mean “try on 30+ pairs of jeans, hoping to find one that’s not too objectionable, and if the stars are aligned and the perfect combination of leg-length, waist-to-butt ratio, and lack-of-rhinestones happens to appear, you have the privilege of shelling out $100+ for something that’ll wear out in the knees in 6 months (or god forbid, is already ‘distressed’ – but that’s another rant for another time.) anyway, starting the whole process again. But I digress.) But it seems that EVERY woman I talk to – from teeny size 0’s all the way to the rockin’ plus size ladies – can’t find a pair of pants that fits.
So really. Who are these pants made for again? Seriously, people. Don’t make pants for 0.00025% of the population. That’s just silly.
Rosy the Cat Says:
My problem with finding jeans is that, not only do I fall under the heading of “plus-sized,” but I am also tall AND short-waisted. The only jeans that don’t end up coming up ridiculously high in the waistband and cutting into my breathing when I sit are low-rise, which look decent on me if my shirt’s long enough, but those push my tummy upward when I sit.
Oh, jeans, I love you and your wardrobe versatility, but why must “fashion” mess with your fit?
— Rosy the Cat
zoe Says:
I can never find jeans either. I’m short, and plus size, with the added complication of NOT having a big ass…. so I land up with pants that are too long, too tight in the waist, and still baggy in the ass.
If you happen to find ones that do fit, but 20 pairs!!
M Says:
How about non-fashion, non “female-cut” jeans like say Levis 501?
Yumi Says:
Oh… I understand so… being near to Size 0 (seems to be size 1 or 2 in amercian system of measurement… I only know my European an my English size XD) is also no good at all… they design only jeans with no butt at all… I mean… I’m small, I’m thin… but I’m definitely NOT skinny, I’m at least a bit proportinal… so, no cance for getting jeans that fit over my butt, and sit straight at my waistline… (not ever speaking of the lenght… but hell, that’s something you can solve with a sewing machine…)
Oh… and plus the problem of searching clothes in the teen’s section is, you don’t get anything decent or normal… why do adult clothes always start above my size? I’m not sixteen any more… I have no need for pink and lilac and glitter…
Harper Says:
Ah jeans, the bane of all, it doesn’t really help me that I’m 5’5 and bluilt like a dwarf which means I have to buy my pants at a special store for plus sized men.
And for the pants legs being to long, got the perfect sollution, roll them up.
j0lt Says:
As a taller guy, I have experienced pic #3 so many times! They’re fine with making jeans that are equal to or shorter in length than width, but rarely the other way around!
Aldarad Says:
Alina, please throw out the statement above. It was fun in my head but awful in print!!
Istra Says:
i realize this probably won’t help you alina, but i’ve found the new line of “right fit” jeans at lane bryant actually work. they have 3 different “colors” you can be depending on body type, and the right fit blue are the first pair of jeans i have had in ages that actually fit. i still have to hem them, but if i only have to alter one thing that is pretty good for me!
Stephanie Says:
My favorite bit of fashion is the fake pocket. Me, I like pockets. I gave up and bought men’s cargo pants. Now my husband and I wear the same pants. But they’re comfy and they have real pockets.
Bard Says:
Guys have the same problem, ladies. If you have any kind of belly, jeans that actually fit while you’re standing up are…uncomfortable…when you sit down. If the jeans are comfortable sitting down, they pretty much fall off when you stand up.
Kestralyn Says:
If they fit in the hips, butt and waist, but they’re just too long… BUY THEM (lots of them) and take them to your local dry cleaner. They can make them the right length – and they even have a method to keep the jeans hem so they don’t look like they’ve been shortened.
Of course, that first part is a BIG “if”! Blah.
LogicMouse Says:
I’m ++ sized, and buy my jeans at Avenue. They’ve always fit pretty well if they actually have any of my size left in the store, but suddenly, about three months ago, some brain in their sizing department apparently ‘realized’ that 200+lb women are always running around in 6″ heels, and really need jeans with longer legs.
So now I’m suddenly a petite, at 5’6″.
M-Ambrosia Says:
Everyone has that problem, no matter what size they are.
I avoid the malls completely when jean shopping; I have a moral objection to paying more than $30 for a pair of jeans. I’ve had decent luck with Department Stores like Target and Shopko.
Of course, all of my jeans tend to be a smiggon too big and a wee too long, but my shoes and a belt fix that problem.
My poor husband and kiddo have it worse. They are both built like trees, tall and skinny as hell! Finding jeans for them is an all-day affair!
Now if only they made inexpensive jeans with re-enforced knees! My current lot of 4 jeans are only going to last me through the spring, maybe, before the knees start going on them all!
Stueymon Says:
I buy my jeans from Primark, they have an awesome range of jeans that fit
CyberSkull Says:
Panel #4 is basically what happened to me yesterday. I found the size I wanted, but the cut was way too tight!
tommtkl Says:
Jeans and pants are one of the few things I can buy easily and have choices a plenty. I fall within the standard range for men so no problems. Companies are offering few more choices in the tall department for button shirts but lack those same options in t-shirts, means that I haven’t bought a t-shirt in 6 years or so. The accessories area is where I cuss and swear at every store. Hats and gloves are the bane of my existence. The one size fits all/most propaganda that is afflicted onto humanity for hats means my size 8 head is not supported by almost all stores. Or gloves size that stops at X-large and not the XX-large I need. I solve my woes by custom ordering a lot!!
Teaspoon Says:
Ugh. As a short woman with a permanent case of baby bumper belly, I can’t go higher than mid-rise. If the planets have appropriately aligned and I can find a pair that fits waist, butt, and legs, there are no shirts anywhere with a long enough tail that I don’t look like I was walking around and my belly fell out of my clothes.
Srsly, fashion designers, just…GRAHR.
the_cucco_kid-(:})- Says:
Man, I have pants troubles too. The thing is though that I can usually find pants that fit me everywhere, but they’re all those stupid low-rise things. My solution? I just have to wear long t-shirts to cover up so I can actually sit down without flashing people. 8( When are the stupid pants companies going to make pants for real people?
Sulphurtea Says:
… Well. Now I feel guilty, I’m one of the .00025% of the female population that can actually fit into jeans :V Well, okay, that’s kinda a lie, they’re usually slightly too long, but I kinda prefer them that way… so… >_>;;
Sugar-junkie Says:
Pannel #2 : story of my life.
I’m 5’7, and I’m plump. Which means I feel like a very fat giant everytime I go shopping, since it seems that there’s no woman taller than 5’2 in France (and if they do, they have no hips or ass either). Tsh. So I have to buy plus sized pants and use a belt so it won’t fall on my knees…
Roland Says:
Look around and you will recognice “muffin-style” is extremely “in” nowadays… Although it tends to result in hand deformation because of the inner body tension it induces. Panel #4 shows a most severe case, thumbs having completely moved to the opposite position.
(sorry, dear, I like your light-handed art, it so lively and fluent. It just happens to the best sometimes…)
Melony Says:
I am of the athletic and plus-sized category not to mention booty-blessed. Found that if I can find a pair that’s a decent length and fits fine in the legs but lets say not in the ass or waist or they fit fine elsewhere but are too long, I get them and go pay for adjustments. I usually shop at department stores or even thrift shops, so I’m not paying much for the pants to begin with. Seamstresses/Drycleaners are your friend! Yes its frustrating but there are solutions if you look for them.
Glew Says:
That 4th picture is priceless. I can’t help laughing when looking at it. 😀
Gracee Says:
I found some slacks at a thrift store that fit nicely (it was so lucky, I wish I knew where they are), and some dress slacks from Target that were also good, although I haven’t tried their jeans. I have wide hips, a slightly flabby belly, and a figure skater’s butt. Problem is, with the wide hips, EVERYTHING gaps out in the back. I know many people reading this have a similar problem. The best jeans I have found so far are GAP brand “curvy” style. They’re not super low, coming up to about my navel. They allow for my butt and hips so the gap problem is not as much of a problem with GAP jeans (play on words intended). They are stretch denim, which is actually a problem for me, but not a huge one: i got a size under to account for stretching, but they’re too tight when they first come out of the wash, although when I re-wear them a few times they’re not so bad. I’m pretty sure part of it has to do with gaining a few pounds 😉 I recommend them for people with a similar body type or similar fitting problem, but go ahead and get your size, especially if you only wear once before washing. They’re also pretty durable; I’ve had mine for about a year and the main wear is on the hemline. They’re a little long for me in flat shoes(i’m 5’5”), but tolerably so.
Also, if you’re not afraid of clingy fabrics, Bally brand yoga pants are wonderful- very comfy, very flattering to a curvy figure.
Shenshen Says:
This is why I tend to make my own pants. That way I know they will fit me in the rise, leg length and in the back. And if I find a pair that do fit, I can clone them again and again. 🙂
Nicole Says:
I’m 5’5″ and as thin as a twig but with a rather shapely rear. My main problem is that when I shop I have to either fit for my waist or fit for my rear. Which means that I have to shop for my rear, because it prevents anything with a properly fitting waist from buttoning. So all of my jeans fall open in the front when I’m standing, sag open at the back when I’m sitting and unless I’m wearing a belt (another impossible find) can actually be wiggled out of without unbuttoning.
Luckily I’ve found that Old Navy Sweethearts and Flirts fit pretty well and are in acceptable colors.
soilent Says:
Heh. I don’t care about ass. I favorize Cargopants for whatever reasons.
Jazz Says:
I totally feel your pain! I’m 5’9” and that means, 95% of “the average sized jeans” are waaaay too short for me… Which is why I normally end up buying pricey brands cause no one else seems to be making womens’ jeans with 36” length…
Denaya Says:
Pants are overrated.
Caradin Says:
Augh, I’ve 5’7″ and plus sized too. I have to go to lane bryant to buy pants. It’s the only place I can go clothes shopping and not want to cry, since I’m almost too small to fit in their clothes, but far too big to fit in department store clothes. My only problem with them.. is that I can’t get a pair that is long enough for my legs… or if I find a pair that isn’t too short.. they’re far too long. I also have an hour glass figure.. like.. I’m no wasp or anything, but there is a definate gap between my elbows and my waist, but my belly is too big for low rise pants to be comfortable for me. Of course, most places can only go on generalizations… no two women are alike. It’s the curse of being so varied.
My Dad also has the hardest time finding pants that are not too long since he’s mostly torso and his waist size always suggests he should have longer legs.
Ephraim Says:
I haven’t worn jeans for years. i prefer slacks or anything not jean. usually the pockets are deeper in not jean pants
Cori Says:
Next task: find comfortable cotton pants that /aren’t/ jeans. I dare you. And when you do, let me know.
Architechnik Says:
Gah! Pants are overrated!! I’m surprised how many times a week I end up saying that.
Personally, I get several different pairs of old pants, cut the seams, and resew them together with pockets all over the place. I love pockets. And zippers.
sistah Says:
Here here!
LoneHowler Says:
I swear mall stores are eather geared for skiny under fed teanagers or Asians because XL seems to mean XS nowdays. I have given up on most ladies stores and have decided to shop in the mens section, at least the sizes are honest. However there is a new mall north of Calgary that has Gap generations (first one in north America) and it has massive walls of jeans. I am tempted to raid their store in seach of the perfect bluejean
Melyssande Says:
I found jeans by NY & Co that fit great while visiting family. I decided to pick up a pair in my hometown. I pick up a 6 and can barely get it up to my hips. I peel out of them and check the jeans I wore into the store… yes size 6. Which was apparently a mislabeled 8. I go back a few months later and discover that even buying the exact same cut, style & size they vary from pair to pair.
7 pairs of jeans tried on later (I desperately needed presentable new jeans for work). Being grumpy and completely in agreement that I might be better off without the jean I mentioned to the sales lady that their factory seemed to have issues with staying near specs much less within them. Her whispered suggestion? “Don’t buy the jeans here…” Her honesty which left me totally speechless.
I have given up on those jeans since I’m pretty sure that quality control is just a vague idea to be taken up some day wherever they are made.
Ren Says:
I, personally, am waiting anxiously for baggy skater jeans to come back into style. Or cargo pants. I mean, it’s got to come back some time, right?
Giselle Says:
I hate jeans shopping, it’s a nightmare. I am in no way or shape an averagely shaped. I am a small girl 5’4″ but I have sort of massive thighs to go along , it’s not only fat but also lots of muscles for cycling and swimming. I can never ever ever find a pair that goes past my thighs. I came to the conclusion that jeans are made for people without meat on their thighs. I end up buying jeans a size bigger (also for everything else leg and shirt wise) because else they don’t fit around my legs. Shirts are also not meant for small people with larger than average boobs >.>
ImmortalGreene Says:
Has anybody tried Carharrt for Women? Most people don’t know they exist, but they’re the only jeans that fit me decently in the waist, hips, and thighs, and don’t wear out within a month. I love stores like D&B.
I’ve given up shopping in department stores for pants. Most of them have no waist, and if they fit at the waist and butt, my thighs look like overstuffed sausages. I loathe bootcut jeans.
kgirl Says:
I buy pants that fit my hips and they are to o big at my waist I find ones that fit my waist and they wont even go over my hips, and the legs are always too long, plus I’m picky so they have to be thinner material and dark
Sabrina Fies Says:
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