I have been Denim Obsessed for many years now, I am always finding out new information about jeans, obessing over the perfect fit and gaining more and more knowledge about which jeans fit best. I have put together a little post about my opinion of how jeans should fit and the best jeans to flatter your body shape. I hope this information helps you when you go on your next denim shopping spree!
Styles of jeans and how to wear them:
Bootcut/flare – I find you need to have hips to make these work best, bootcuts are great for balancing out larger hips and giving you a great silhouette. If you are narrow and are not that gifted in the hip department I wouldn’t suggest a bootcut/flare jean, they can swamp your body and make you look bottom heavy and a bit out of proportion. Bootcuts are made by almost every single brand out there and I couldn’t narrow it down to just a few brands to suggest, you have a whole selection so go wild and pick!
Straight Leg - The straight leg jean is a lot more versatile than the the bootcut jean. It’s a more flattering option if you are not blessed with hips as the leg opening is wide enough to go over your shoes but not wide enough to make your body look out of proportion. Even if you have hips you can still rock the straight leg, it’s a very flattering cut. Since skinny jeans are so hot right now, if you don’t feel comfortable wearing them then opt for a straight leg jean, it’s half way between. When worn with heels they will still give the illusion of super long legs as well.
Skinny - Skinnys are very versatile and could work for any body shape as long as they are worn right. If you are slim then you have no problem rocking a great pair of skinnys, they work if you are tall or petite, with heels or with flats and are perfect for tucking into boots. Even if you are on the curvy side you can still wear them! You probably want to wear a longish floaty tunic over your skinnys and a good pair of boots as well, this would look great on the curvier lady. The perfect skinny jean, you have so much choice! Paige Premium have a good choice, you can choose your leg opening and your rise. So many brands out there do skinnys and they are all gorgeous!
Super high rise – This style jean I don’t think is all that flattering, it works if you are blessed with being very tall and slim, otherwise super high rise on a petite or curvy frame can make your figure appear short and dumpy and isn’t very flattering. MiH jeans are great for a super high rise if you can rock this cut!
Low rise – Low rise jeans are a personal favourite of mine, they are very flattering on a smaller frame, they give you a great silhouette. Curvier ladies may want to stay away from low rise jeans, they can give the dreaded muffin top which isn’t showing off your body to it’s best. A medium/higher rise is best for your curves. Jeans that have great low rise are Diesel Matic and Lowky and Frankie B. low rise.
Boyfriend – These jeans can be worn by anyone, all shapes and all sizes, they are great, super comfy and versatile. They may not be the most flattering jeans out there but worn right (a little tighter rather than super baggy) they can look great. A few favourites of mine are the Paige Jimmy Jimmy, AG Adriano Goldschmied ex-boyfriend and the Current/Elliott boyfriend jean.
Jeans to flatter your figure:
Smaller butts – If you have a smaller butt, you want to stay away from large pockets or long pockets, they are not flattering on the butt at all. Jeans that will flatter your butt and give it a perkier look are smaller pockets, pockets that don’t go past where the cheek meets the thigh, this will give the illusion of a rounded butt. Flap pockets are great as well for the appearance of a rounded tush. I find J Brand jeans work wonderful for smaller butts because the pocket placement is higher up. Frankie B. is also great because they have a low back rise and great pocket shape to flatter. Siwy are another great brand for a smaller bottom.
Bigger butts – If you are blessed with having ‘junk in the trunk’ you can get away with pretty much any pocket style, no pockets, longer pockets, flap pockets, bigger pockets… The pocket style I would suggest staying away from is smaller pockets, if they are small, quite high up on the butt placement or rounded like Siwy, then it wont flatter your butt to it’s best ability. Also stay away from super low back rises, nobody loves a butt cleavage! There are so many brands to suggest, Diesel, Paige Premium, Rock & Republic, 7 For All Mankind, True Religion, Current/Elliott, AG Jeans… The world of denim is your oyster so take your pick!
Tall – If you are tall it can be hard to find longer inseams. Rock & Republic do inseams of up to 37″ and even 39″ sometimes so they are perfect for those long legs! Paige Premium has a tall selection as well and True Religion also do longer lengths. Diesel go up to a 34″ leg which sometimes run as long as 36″.
Petite – I know it’s hard to find jeans in a 30″ or less inseam, Paige Premium now does a petite line, Diesel come in 30″ length and Rock & Republic now have petite lengths as well! Also with the super peg leg skinny being hot right now, you are in luck! They normally run at around 29″-30″ so perfect for you petite ladies!
Other Denim tips to remember:
∆ When wearing heels with your bootcuts or straight leg jeans make sure the hem is about 1cm off of the floor, if the hem of your jeans covers the heel it will give the illusion of longer legs.
∆ Wearing jeans with pockets that hit where the cheek meets the thigh is perfect, it makes you have a rounded and shapely butt.
∆ If your jeans are a little too tight and are giving you the dreaded muffin top, wear a looser tunic to cover it.
So now you are all of the information I have learned over the years. If you have any questions or anything feel free to email me at editor@denimblog.com and I will help as best as I can 
Information all from Lorna Burford. Please credit DenimBlog if used.
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Diesel Jeans
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True Religion Jeans
Seven Jeans
J Brand
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Current/Elliott
Siwy
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Latest Discussions
Good blog Lorna! I love the point about skinnys with boots for curvy women like me
That is pretty much the only way I’ll wear skinnys! High Rise are great for curvy women though too, because the high rise can tend to hold all the “junk” in if you know what I mean…just wear a longer shirt over the high rise and don’t show that its really a high rise and us curvy girls are all set 
You got it
I wish you had a similar post for men.
Since I’m a girl I’m not too brushed up on fit for men but that’s something I could put together, I could ask a group of men about what they think of fits and jeans etc and I will put one together for the guys
May take a little while though. Does that sound good?
This may seem strange but I couldn’t see the image above, I am using FireFox 2. anyways, what I read was very good and I enjoyed it. I was thinking about print it out, do I have permission to do that?
Well done!
Lorna! you forget to mention one popular brand ‘DL1961′
visit dl1961.com
I have seen the following line on their website
The Perfect Fitting Jeans For Everyone!
They emailed and I am going to try out their jeans to review, I used info from jeans I have tried so I am sure once I try them I will be hooked
fantastic blog Lorna, all very true information, I certainly learnt something from it, your very knowledgeable, well done.
It should be visible, I am not sure why it’s not? You can print it out of course, as long as you credit DenimBlog.com as the source you got it from
I would say, as a short (5′2″) woman with a little bit of a tummy, I actually love what most brands call a low rise! After a lot of trial and error, I find my best rise is between 6 and 8 inches. I have a pair of Joe’s and a pair of 7FAM and in both cases they are technically midrise that wear as almost high rise since I’m a short gal and they’re 9 inches on the rise. That’s why I always try to find the actual rise in inches or cm rather than rely on “mid-rise” or even “low rise” on the label.
You are right low rise looks better on petite people because it balances out the length of the torso and the legs
For cigarette jeans, what hem length would you recommend? I feel like if they are 1 cm off the ground they kind of envelop my shoes, so I would prefer a least a few cm off the ground, but what do you think?
The shoes I’m talking about are heels…for flats 1cm off the ground is fine.
It really depends if you want to show off the shoe, I prefer the longer inseam on straight legs to cover the shoe so your legs look really long and lean but you can have them more cms off of the ground, it’s up to you
Especially if you have nice shoes you might want to show them off more 
Any inseam suggestions for wide leg jeans – almost touching the ground? How about for skinny jeans?
With skinny jeans it’s up to you, I prefer mine to stack and bunch up at the bottom when I am wearing flat shoes but If I wear heels I like them to touch around the ankle, but it’s personal preference, anything works with skinnys
With wide leg I would say definitely almost hitting the floor, it looks a little silly when the leg opening is flapping around by the shoe if it’s too short 
Hey lorna!
I am a skinny 6 feet(150 lb) collge guy. I cant find a pair of jeans that fit me. Would you recommend any particular fit or brand that might suit me?
Thank you!!
Hi Kevin
Although Diesel do run a little big in comparison to most brands for men so a 26 would be about a 28 ish. They do go up to 36 inseam but that is hard to find, if you can fit 34 then they have those all the time. What kind of style do you like? Do you like plain or jazzy pockets?
What sort of inseam length do you need? If you are skinny then you can get away with slim fitting, skinny, tapered jeans, they look best on slimmer guys, Diesel have some nice cuts like Thanaz, lots of people wear those and they go down to size 26 waist if you need it
Skinnys..friend or foe? Definitely friend, but only if you chose the right brand with the perfect stretch. There’s nothing less attractive than an adorable pair of skinny jeans that sag and bag after every wear. Both Paige and Red Engines work great for my figure. They have this XLA 4-way stretch that hug my body perfectly. I eat, sleep, and breath in them, literally.
Thanks for the article, its very informational. I have to say that all women should wear jeans that enhances thier figure. There are so many jean styles that sometimes its hard to find the perfect fit. However, I found some great butt lift jeans that really do the trick for me. Not only my butt looks nicer but I these jeans also makes me look slimmer. I just love them. And its true what you say, jeans without puckets does give me an appearance of a rounded buttocks.
Thank you Lorna.
Great info. Re skinny jeans, what would you suggest for women with meaty thighs and legs that are not straight enough, i.e. when the area around the knee cap is rather chunky? Denim leggings are really fashionable, but I seem to have issues looking good in them…. Thanks.
Denim leggings are definitely not for everyone but they are really pretty, you could try wearing them with longer boots and a long top so only part of the denim leggings show, that might work. In regards to having meaty thighs and legs, that’s a tough one, it really depends on the rest of your body shape, if you are tall then straight or bootcut can work well