How to find the best fitting jeans, without visiting a tailor.
I’m 5 Feet 11—These Are the Best Jeans I’ve Found for Tall Women
It took me a long time to learn how to dress for my height. For years, I believed that the best jeans for tall women were jeans that could be shoved into boots to conceal how short they were, lest one’s exposed ankles succumb to frostbite—or worse, ridicule!
At five feet eleven inches, I’ve always towered over my friends, and by my mid-twenties, I’d accepted my destiny as someone whose jeans would always be just a tiny bit too short. Tailoring each and every pair of pants I purchased felt time-consuming and financially irresponsible. Instead, I’d resigned myself to a life of pulling awkwardly at my clothes, convincing myself I could pass off full-length trousers as “cropped” and forgoing heels in an effort to keep my hems as close to the ground as possible.
But even as I made peace with what I considered a cruel twist of genetic fate, I wondered why women’s sizing is so much less straightforward than men’s. Their process just seems so simple: waist, inseam, voila! A perfect fit. After years of watching the men in my life purchase jeans without even bothering to try them on, I figured it couldn’t hurt to start approaching women’s pants the way men approached theirs: by shopping—and searching—strictly by inseam.
It may not seem all that revolutionary, but by moving my denim search entirely online and paying closer attention to inseams before ordering, I was able to find denim that actually fit. I quickly learned which inseams would work for me, where they would hit, and that pants from retailers that don’t specify an inseam will almost always be too short. After years—nay, decades!—walking around with exposed ankles, I discovered it’s absolutely possible for tall women to find a perfect fit without visiting the tailor. You just have to know what to look for. Ahead, seven pairs of the best jeans for tall women.
Agolde 90’s Pinch-Waist Jeans
Before I made inseam stalking my part-time job, I nearly swore off Agolde denim after inadvertently ordering a pair of their jeans with a 26-inch inseam. With three and a half more inches to spare, however, this vintage-inspired pair is an honest-to-goodness gamechanger for tall women on the hunt for wear-everywhere straight leg jeans.
Agolde 90s pinch-waist rigid high-rise straight-leg jeans
$190MODA OPERANDIMadewell Perfect Vintage Jeans
If you’re above five-nine, you’re no doubt already familiar with Madewell’s tall and taller sections. With dozens of styles available in not one but two additional inseam lengths, the brand’s comfortable and consistently sized selection is a go-to for tall women. I just started wearing their perfect vintage jeans, and I cannot recommend them highly enough.
Madewell the Perfect vintage jean in Maplewood wash
$135MADEWELLGap Cigarette Jeans With Secret Smoothing Pockets
Gap has one of the best inseam selections out there, with a majority of their styles available in short, petite, regular, long, and tall sizes. These high-waisted cigarette jeans have just enough stretch to fit like a glove, but last several wears without starting to feel baggy.
Gap high-rise cigarette jeans with Washwell
$70GAPLevi’s High Loose
Gen Z has spoken, and wide leg jeans are here to stay. Not only does Levi’s ultra-soft High and Loose style come in both 29 and 31-inch inseams, but with a 13-inch rise and just the right amount of stretch, these pants are comfortable enough to withstand an eight hour remote work day (you know, for days when you feel like pushing yourself).
Levi's high loose women's jeans
$108LEVI’SEverlane Authentic Stretch High-Rise Skinny Jean
That said, I realize the millennial crowd (myself included) may not be ready to completely abandon skinny jeans just yet. This pair from Everlane comes in a generous 30.5-inch inseam and is available in five different washes.
Everlane authentic stretch high-rise skinny jeans
$68EVERLANEDenim Forum Boyfriend High Rise Loose
Tall women rejoice: nearly every style from Aritzia’s in-house denim collection, Denim Forum, is available in more than one length. This ’90s-inspired pair makes me feel like Julia Roberts in My Best Friend’s Wedding—you know, when she’s chasing Dermot Mulroney’s character down Michigan Avenue in a stolen bread van?
Aritzia the Joni high-rise
$110ARITZIAFrame Le High Flare
It’s taken me a while to come around to the return of boot cut denim, as I just couldn’t shake its lingering association with the early aughts. But with higher waistlines and the right inseam, I’m learning that bootcut jeans need not always remind me of middle school.
Frame Le High Flare Crystal Shores rips
$248FRAMEThis story originally appeared on: Vogue - Author:Grace Stearns
