End of the Low Rise?
Manolo says, one of the Manolo’s internet friends has written the Manolo the note.
I was intrigued by your post inviting people to blog about possible trends for 2006. Unfortunately, I don’t have the insight or the wit to play in the big leagues with Manolo and his internet salon. I worship the bits and bytes you walk on.Instead, I write to you with not a prediction but a wish. Please reassure me (and my burning eyes) that 2006 will bring the end of the super low rise pants. I can’t take it anymore. My family and I went to have sushi last week and we could barely hold our appetite after having spent the time waiting for a table forced to stare at a young woman whose pants were so low that we could see the crack of her visible behind. Ew ew ew ew. EW. Never would I have thought that the sight of a visible thong would have been a welcome one.
Please make it go away, Manolo. This I pray. — Paola
Manolo says, the Manolo he too wishes devoutly for the end of the low rise, and indeed he thinks the backlash against the low rising jeans it has begun at the top of the fashion food chain. Sadly this it will take the year or two to work down to the people at the Red Lobster or the Wal-mart. So, you and the Manolo, we must suffer for at least the next few months.
January 6th, 2006 at 1:16 am
Here, here! To the end of the low-rise! (and the pressure to wear low rise and submit oneself to hideous amounts of gawking from unsavory men for young gals like me)
January 6th, 2006 at 1:52 am
oh please, low-rise jeans can make a girl tremendously attractive. if she’s right thin and fit.
January 6th, 2006 at 6:22 am
Muffin top is bad enough. Plumber’s crack is just horrible.
January 6th, 2006 at 8:13 am
A nearly impossible style. Unflattering to just about everyone over 110 pounds. Many of those who think this doesn’t apply to them have never seen what they look like from behind.
January 6th, 2006 at 8:48 am
The Deja is in total agreement! While the jeans that sit just *slightly* (1 inch max) below the waist can be comfortable and attractive, it is time for the trend of the super-duper low rise to be consigned to the dustbin of this decade’s fashion trends. Many the hours of frustration has the Deja experienced pawing through rack after rack of jeans, none with a front zipper longer than two inches.
January 6th, 2006 at 9:21 am
In the Europe, the low-rise has not been fashionable for a year now.
January 6th, 2006 at 9:39 am
The problem with any fashion trend is not everyone can wear it. Unfortunately, most people cannot figure out what they should and should not wear. I wear low riders (I’m small enough I can), but I also HAVE to wear a belt, because I can’t stand the gap and the slippage. I do blame parents (mothers) for not teaching their daughters fashion sense at an early age. MY 10-year-old daughter still doesn’t match well, but when we got out she definitely can point out the bad fashion faux pas of others, like muffin top, plumber’s crack, or just in general a bad ensemble.
January 6th, 2006 at 11:12 am
La BellaDonna, she observes that the Miachelle raises the important point: the mothers, they are not teaching their daughters the art of dressing attractively. Of the course, sometimes this must be taught by the fathers, when the mothers are not available, but this is indeed one of the duties of the mothers. What is to be done, though, when the mothers are wearing the same bad fashions as the daughters?
When La BellaDonna was growing up, her dear mama, she was not the much interested in the clothes and the shoes and the makeup. She did pass on the several important things: she taught La BellaDonna how to sit like the lady (thus giving her the option, at the least); she taught La BellaDonna to sit and stand up straight (thus ensuring La BellaDonna could not easily buy off the rack); and she passed on the love of the reading, so that La BellaDonna could read the books by the authors who were interested in the clothes and the shoes and the makeup.
La BellaDonna, she suggests that the mothers make available the books on the dressing well and the dressing for the success (not necessarily the same thing) to their daughters. This, it takes some of the stress out of the mother-daughter confrontation or struggle for the identity of the daughter, and it makes available to the daughter the principles of the good dressing. Even if the daughters choose to rebel in the way that they dress, it should be the choice, and not because they do not know any better. The principles, they can always be returned to, once they have been learned.
January 6th, 2006 at 12:02 pm
Low-rise pants can look good on a woman with a round bottom, and pinched waist and flat stomach. In other words, about 5% of the population. Everyone else is more flattered by fuller-cut pants with a waistband that sits at the waist.
January 6th, 2006 at 12:13 pm
Yes, please, please, no more low-rise jeans! But when, oh, when will we be able to buy a higher rise?
January 6th, 2006 at 12:48 pm
The Charlotte Allen brings up a great point. Just TRY and find jeans, slacks, you name it without a lower rise.
When fickle fashion sees fit, I however will mourn the passing of the slightly flared bottom on jeans, slacks, you name it. This fashion feature balances out my butt (which is not big but it balances it out just the same).
January 6th, 2006 at 12:59 pm
I purchase jeans with the low-rise, but never the “SUPER” low-rise, lest I appear in public looking like Tara Reid or one of Les Hiltons. Somethings were not meant to be seen by the whole neighborhood at Chuck E. Cheese. Or the sushi bar.
Citizens of Humanity makes a decent low-rise with a 4″ zipper PLUS another 1.5″ of button, God bless ‘em. Further, it has a nice, friendly blend of 98% cotton and 2% Lycra spandex… which is a little stretchy and very comfy. About $145 at Neiman Mark-up, Nordstrom, etc.
Last summer I came across an Italian maker called Bessi, a former student and partner of Pucci. His pants and skirts all fall right below the navel. And he puts stretchy stuff in them, too. Emma above mentioned that Europeans have changed the trend over a year ago, and she is right.
La Bella Donna makes the best point of all. I personally would’ve been GROUNDED FOR LIFE if I tried to leave the house dressed like some of the trash I see waiting at the bus stop. The SCHOOL bus stop.
Eek.
January 6th, 2006 at 1:06 pm
I’m fine with the end of the low rise jeans, provided it does not mean going back to the high waisted jeans of the 1980s.
January 6th, 2006 at 2:22 pm
I’m completely on board with banning super-low-rise, butt crack showing, gotta shave from the top to wear them, thong-exposing pants. That said, as a woman with the superhips, low rise of a reasonable distance is the best thing ever invented. Normal pants with room in the hips are huge in the waist, and a row of darts across the back of your pants doesn’t scream sexy.
January 6th, 2006 at 2:31 pm
But what, oh what will happen to those of us who are cursed with a ridiculously short rise? This trend is the first time in my life that I haven’t had to hike my pants to 2 inches below my breasts or roll the waistband to avoid crotch bunches. Low rise pants hit at my belly button. What ever shall I do?
January 6th, 2006 at 3:03 pm
Personally, I think all women’s pants should be custom made. And that custom made pants should be cheap and readily available to all!
January 6th, 2006 at 4:58 pm
No one should wear low-rise pants that are so low their crack shows. Nor should they wear *any* pants that cause their tummy to spilll over. And I think Super low-rise pants are impractical by nature–you can’t bend over!
*But* lower-rise pants are a more flattering fit for all shapes… it automatically makes the butt look smaller, because there’s not a vast expanse of fabric stretching across it like with really high waist pants. And there’s no contest, low-rise pants (that aren’t too low) are much more comfortable than having a band that cuts right across your stomach….
I also think Bridget is right when she comments on the advantages of a boot-cut or a slight flare on pants balancing out the butt/hips in a nice way, and I pray that tapered pants don’t become the norm again.
January 6th, 2006 at 5:55 pm
OMG Susanna, I love Citizens for Humanity! I am wearing a new pair now and although they are not totally broken in, the low rise seems to work just fine…for now. I also have a pair of Sevens for all Mankind that I loved at first, but now fit a little like sweat pants, due to the “stretch” quality…consequently, they sit a little too low on my hips to wear.
I am ok with the low rise, just as long as one’s unmentionables (ass crack or otherwise) are not hanging out.
January 6th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
*AHEM* I meant Citizens OF Humanity. Pardon the upscale jeanswear blunder. My sister would be so disappointed.
January 6th, 2006 at 9:56 pm
Hipsters, yes. Bumsters, no. Trousers that sit below the waist are the most flattering - high-rise pants make your bum look ENORMOUS! Mum jeans, people…
January 6th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
For a relatively well made bargain jean with a higher-but-not-too-high rise, check out Eddie Bauer.
I, too, like a waistband that hits just below the bellybutton, and strangely enough, this has been recommended to me by my doctors because tight bands around or above the bellybutton are bad for folks with acid reflux! So for me, a slightly low rise is “doctor’s orders” LOL.
But the super-low-rise: it must go, yesterday!
January 7th, 2006 at 8:01 am
i am also not liking the ass crack* look
*it is the technical term for what i am calling the flesh overhang syndrome or FOS for short - it is the medical condition, you know, for which there is no treatment
January 8th, 2006 at 1:05 am
I love the just-below-the-waist look. I have a pair of Taharis that I love (plus he makes 34″ inseams!!). But, I could never figure out how to keep my lower rise jeans on. I spent an entire evening in London trying to look hip (hard enough as it is, since I am from Montana) with my pants falling off! I analyzed this problem today while out and about, and figured out that the low-rise jeans must be either tight or cinched on with a belt. Which leads to the belly rolls. I’d rather put velcro on my butt.
January 9th, 2006 at 12:04 am
I like that the waist is getting higher-
But I hate that flares- bootcuts are going out-
the taprered jeans that are now coming in
this is also a trend only for the very thin- everyone else will look like an ice cream cone
January 9th, 2006 at 12:01 pm
SusSis, I know what you mean about having a short rise. I rarely wore women’s pants in my 20s because the crotch came halfway down to my knees, and the waists were teeny. The jeans that have always fit me best are men’s 501 Levi’s (red tab). The waist comes just below the belly button and you can choose your inseam length. They probably make 501s in bootcut.
The women’s slacks that fit me best are Liz Claiborne petite size.
January 9th, 2006 at 9:22 pm
I have recently lost enough weight that I can wear lower-rise pants and look good. Que milagro! The problem, of course, is sitting down, especially in public places.
The solution is having a coat of some kind. Drape the coat over the back of your chair, and your ass-crack will be hidden from view, just as nature intended.
I know that rises are on their way back up, but I am not looking forward to it at all. A friend of mine just had me try on some of her “mom rise” pants, and I looked like, well, a mom. Actually, I looked like the women on military science fiction shows do when they wear dress uniforms– that is to say, thick in the middle, heavy in the hams, and not unlike a postal employee from the waist down.
January 12th, 2006 at 10:59 pm
On this subject, I must say that I’m sick, sick, sick of seven-for-all-mankind jeans. I have a few pairs that I invested in a few years ago when I discovered that they were jeans that worked well with my figure. And only a small part of the general population was wearing them. They were classy, cool, and provoked envy among non-seven-wearing girls. But now EVERYBODY wears sevens. The people who look terrible in them, the people with no style, the people with mullet hair, 12-year-old spoiled girls, EVERYBODY. They are just not cool anymore. I’m almost embarrassed to go out in a pair of sevens because I don’t want to be dismissed as “oh, ugh, she’s wearing sevens.” They’re so out.
Thank heavens for my equally-flattering pair of Diesel jeans that were being sold for a very limited time at Nordstrom and therefore will not be distributed to the general population as though they were being sold at WalMart.