Low rise pants, shorts, skirts

[Eden]

I buy clothes at exactly 3 places: Banana Republic, Ann Taylor/Loft, and J Crew. They've all had "size creep" in the past five years, so I wear a ridiculously smaller size, even though I am the same weight and my cycling thighs are definitely bigger.

Tell me about it... I can't buy clothes very many places to start with (at 5 nothing and relatively thin) and I've now found myself to be sized out of Gap jeans. I tried some on the other day and now even a 0 is large on me. I haven't purchased anything at Ann Taylor recently so I can only hope that things still fits me there....

Most of the "adult" stores (store that carry some less low jeans) - J Crew, LLBean, Eddie Bauer, Liz Clairborn, etc. no longer go below a 4 or a 2 and with size creep I swim in their smallest sizes.

[JennyPi]

I have a friend who swears by custom made jeans. She claims they only run her about $40 per pair and address all of her fit issues related to the low-rise-with-legs-the-same-length-as-someone-five-foot-ten, small-waisted-but-still-have-nice-leg-muscle issues and such (mostly proportions)

That sounds great! I've got muscular legs and virtually no hips so I'd love to give that a shot! I'm 4'11'' so it gets really tricky when it comes time to shop. I've been wearing low rise because they're the only jeans that really work for me. (If you don't have hips they generally tend to fit nicely.) If I buy a regular jean, most of the time there's too much room in the thigh and hip area. My jeans then look frumpy and I look like a baggy mess. I recently bought a couple pairs of skinny jeans (that stretch) but I can't really wear them to work. You bend over and it's ALL over.

So still, I'm on the hunt for perfect pants.

Oh yeah, I've ditched boot cut because I look like a little b-o-y in them

[bounceswoosh]

I just bought several pairs of pants, all of which sat right above my hipbone. Pants that come up to the narrowest part of my body look pretty bad on me, and most importantly I hate the way they feel. For my GI issues, any pressure whatsoever on my belly is bad news.

A friend of mine was just telling me that for women who are, erm, well-endowed in the hindquarters, high-waisted pants are really unflattering. I have a nice butt; it's just not small.

I get the pouch of fabric at my back for a lot of pants. In fact, most of the pants I rejected yesterday in my pants-buying whirlwind were rejected because they otherwise fit, but stuck out from the back. Really annoying when the belly side is slightly too snug and the back *still* pooches out by a few inches!

[Andrea]

I love a low rise jean, but you have to look out for these...

[bmccasland]

Add me to the *I hate uber low rise and I'm short* crowd. On the otherhand, I don't like the above waist style either. I'm short waisted, and I find the slightly below the waist look is OK, but I despise anything lower. AND I too fight the gap at the back thing in most slacks. I've had to have my Banana Republic pants altered to close the gap. I'm not looking forward to the above the waist look either - they look like *old man pants* IMHO. Women's clothes, and fashion, Oy Vey.

[Jolt]

I can't stand really low rise--they feel like they're going to fall off!! Most of my pants are mid-rise or slightly higher. It does seem like sizes and styles are changing, and not for the better. I was irritated recently when I went to Old Navy looking for jeans--I really liked the "Weekend Fit" (straight leg, not low-rise, and not tight-fitting) that they used to make, and have a few pairs but they're starting to get pretty ratty so I wanted to get another pair or two. They don't make anything even close to that style anymore, and when I tried on another style that I thought would be OK they were dragging on the floor (the regular length was just right before)!! And they were a little lower rise than I would have preferred. Needless to say, I didn't buy any. All I have to say about the size creep is it needs to stop!! I'm 5' 2.5", 108 lbs, so pretty soon I will have to shop in the kids department if it keeps up. Something's wrong with that picture.

[cyclechick2008]

I really need to buy pants but don't have the guts to go try them on.
I dropped 10 pounds having my tonsils out in Dec. so NOTHING fits. I'm too cheap to get a new wardrobe so everything is baggie. I agree about Levis. I buy men's they fit better.

Kim