How to look good in jeans – Jean construction and fit

Treating finished denim garments by applying different washes, distressing or embellishments is a way to vary the look of the different types of jeans for women. Another way to vary the jean design is by the jean style or cut and using different construction elements such as pocket design and placement and seam placement. Listed below are elements in jean construction that are part of what determines the best jean fit for body type. Consider jean elements such as the wash and cut but also being confident is how to look good in jeans.

Content:

Make a Flat Bottom Curvier

Lift a Saggy Bottom

Make Narrow Hips Look Wider

Make a Wide Bottom Look Narrower

Enhance a Curvy Bottom

Make Your Bottom Look Smaller

Best Jeans for Curvy Women

Tummy Pooch/Muffin Top

Slim Large Thighs

Elongate Your Legs

 

Make a flat bottom look curvier

Pockets on clothing can be more than a handy place to carry something. Jeans back pocket design, placement, shape and bulkiness can flatter or not flatter your figure, dependent on your body shape.

If you want to make your bottom look curvier, jean back pockets, the yoke on jeans and strategic fading can help. This is helpful for some body types which can have a flatter bottom such as the rectangle body shape, the inverted triangle body shape and those with an apple shaped body.

Jeans back pocket design

Back pockets on jeans can be more than just functional or even fashionable. The shape and placement of jean back pockets can create the illusion of curves.

 

• Curved back pockets can make your bottom appear rounder

 

The jeans above on the left are Siwy Jeans. Shop Siwy Jeans at Amazon – check the images there for ones with rounded pockets

Curved, contrasting stitching can also give the illusion of roundness. Pictures Below are True Religion Jeans – See True Religion Jeans at Amazon

 

 

• Flap pocket jeans add volume at the top of your butt, where volume is usually needed, to making your bottom appear fuller

pocket detail

 

• The extra volume added by detail like stitching and embellishment on pockets can help fill out a flatter rear. You can find a design that suits your tastes – from subtle to bold.

slit pockets

• Slit pockets can also round out your rear by adding volume at the top of your butt to give the look of a curvier bottom.

Yoke

The yoke on the back of jeans is the section just below the back part of the waist band that helps jeans fit your body contours. (However, some jeans are constructed without a yoke). The shape of the yoke varies from a v-shape, to straight to curved.

If you pick jeans with a straight or v yoke you can always use other features such as fading or curved pockets  to create an illusion of a rounder rear. These are examples of straight and v yokes on jeans.

A curved yoke will make you look curvier

• Just as curved pockets will make your bottom appear rounder, a curved yoke (also called a sweetheart yoke) will have the same effect.

Fading

• Fading on the seat of jeans can emphasize your backside and make you seem curvier.  The contrast of the fading varies according to wash or jean color depth and the amount of abrasion applied to the denim. Fading can be applied in varied intensities to different areas of garments.

Lift a Saggy Bottom

Jeans back pocket design

• To make a rear look perkier, choose jeans with a higher pocket placement.

Pockets placed higher will draw the eye upward and and away from the bottom of your rear – (picture on the left).

Jeans with low pocket placement, at or below the top of the leg, emphasize of the bottom of your rear – (two pictures on the right).

Shapers

• You can also choose jeans with built-in shapers to lift your bottom.

Levanta Cola, Skinny Jeans use strategic stitching for a lifting effect.

 

Some brands use control of the direction of stretch of the fabric to create shaping panels

J Brand Photo Ready Maria High Rise Skinny Jeans (left) and NYDJ Ami Side Slit Fringe Hem Skinny Jeans (right)

 

Make Narrow Hips Look Wider and Add Curves

If you have narrow hips as is common for the slim rectangle body shape and the inverted triangle body shape, low rise jeans with a wide waistband that sit on the hips will make narrow hips appear wider and thus curvier. If the low-rise, wide waistband jeans are flared or boootcut the illusion of curves is enhanced.

 

A wide belt worn at the hips will add bulk to narrow hips making them look wider and curvier.

 

Make a Wide Bottom Look Narrower

Pocket placement and design can give the illusion of a narrower rear for those with wider bottoms.

Jeans back pocket design

• Choose jeans with mid-sized pockets where the pockets are located at the center of your buttocks.
• Avoid jeans with small pockets as this will make your bottom look bigger in comparison.
• Plain pockets are better because flap pockets or pockets with embellishments add bulk and make the rear appear larger

Plain, Dark Wash

• Plain and simple jeans in a dark wash work best. Darker washes, without any fading or whiskering are slimming.

Enhance a Curvy Butt or Make Your Butt Look Smaller

Trends are fine for fashion but the shape of a woman’s body shouldn’t be a trend. Curves or not, the differences in women’s shapes are being celebrated.
Fashion can be a means of individual expression and you can play up or play down your curves but still appreciate your body and individuality. Jeans rise, type of yoke, jeans back pocket design and denim shades and washes are elements that you can use to get the look you want in jeans.

To Emphasize a Curvy Bottom

• If you want to enhance a curvy bottom, curved back pockets will emphasize the curvature of your bottom.
• A curved yoke will have a similar effect of accentuating your curves.
• Mid-Size back pockets can be flattering, without seeming disproportionately small. Small back pockets may not be desirable if you have a full bottom. The small pocket-size may be too disproportionate for a bigger bottom.

To Make Your Bottom Look Smaller

• If you want to play down a larger bottom, opt for mid-size to large, plain back pockets. Small pockets will make your bottom appear larger relative to the small size of the pockets.
• If you want to decrease the protrusion of your rear, pockets that end at the top of the leg can have a flattening effect.
• Avoid too much stitching, details or embellishment on the back pockets as this will add volume. Plain pockets work best to minimize.
• Avoid fading on the seat of jeans because the lightened area gives the illusion of volume and draws attention to your rear.
• Very high-waist jeans will emphasize your bottom, while a low-rise jean may not be sufficient for coverage for the full-bottomed woman. Ensure the waist band is high enough for you to sit down and bend over without any spillage but not so high on the waist as to be unflattering. (Where the waistband falls on your waistline will differ if you have a short torso or long torso and according to the length from your waist to the crotch. Check out this article on body-rise for more details).

The jeans on the left (first photo on mobile) have minimal fading, a darker wash and the pockets are placed slightly lower, near the upper thigh which has a more minimizing effect than the jeans on the right (second photo on mobile) .The jeans on the right (second photo on mobile) have fading on the seat, a lighter wash and the pockets end higher. 

 

Jeans with no fading in dark colors

 

 

best jeans for curvy women, full bottom and small waist

If you have a full bottom and small waist (typical of an hourglass body shape and women with a pear shaped body type) , finding jeans that will fit your hips and bottom and provide enough coverage but won’t gap in the waist can be a problem when shopping for jeans.

• You can look for a contoured waistband. A contoured waist band is cut on a curve to follow the curvature of the body. Jeans with stretch in the waist band is also a solution to this problem.

The following are examples of pattern pieces that would be used to construct straight and contoured (curved) waistbands. Straight waistbands suit rectangular figures but for a curvy figure the contoured waist band helps eliminate gaping at the waist.

• Jeans where the rise is cut significantly higher in the back than the front can also provide good coverage.

Jeans especially designed for a curvy women can eliminate much of the guess work about whether the jeans will be a good fit. These curvy fit jeans usually have more room in the hip area or the hip/thigh area, have a contoured waistband and have some stretch in the denim to better fit curves.

 

Tummy Pooch/Muffin Top

•  Low-rise jeans lead to spillage for those with extra weight around the middle but if the jeans are too high on your waist they can emphasize your middle.  Jeans that hit just below your belly button are a better bet.

Jeans that fit high on the waist, above the belly button can emphasize a round tummy (left, first). A pair of jeans that hit at or below the belly button break up the curvature of a rounded stomach and give a better look (right, second).

 

• Jeans with a bit of stretch can be more comfortable.
• You can also try jeans that are constructed to help control a tummy pooch.

Jeans that have figure shapers including tummy control panels come in a range of sizes from petite to plus. The jeans pictured below are Levi’s 311 Shaping Skinny Jeans in regular and plus size.

Slim larger thighs

• Darker colors are slimming so be sure to look for jeans in  darker washes and colors.
• Look for jeans in a darker wash or color with the side seams brought forward. The reduced area between the seems on the jean legs will give the look of thinner thighs.

 

 

Here are some examples in darker washes and colors.

 

 

• Bootcut style jeans or jeans with some flare in a dark wash can be slimming because they will help balance the fullness of larger thighs.

 

• Two-toned, tuxedo jeans or jeans with side stripes will slim the leg. The effect is even greater when the stripe is brought forward.

 

 

Elongate your legs

Making your legs look longer in jeans can be helpful for most body shapes. Elongating your legs is especially helpful for petite women, for those with short legs and for plus-size women. This will obviously help petite women look taller but it will also elongate the frame of plus-size figures making them look longer and leaner. For women with a long torso and short legs, making your legs look longer will help your vertical  proportions look more balanced.  If you are a balanced vertical body type you may want to counter leg shortening of some styles such as cropped jeans or just to slim and elongate your frame.

• Jean types that can elongate your legs include mid-rise to high-rise jeans in a darker wash.

 

• To make your legs look even longer pair jeans with neutral or similar color heels and make sure the hem of the jeans hits at about the bottom of the shoe or at least covers most of the shoe.

 

 

• Wearing flesh-toned/nude shoes with jeans or shoes that are the same color/shade as the jeans will also help elongate your legs

 

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