I tried to ignore it. It’s a trend that has been going on for quite some time now. I first saw it with the Kardashians and I make a point to never, ever do what any of them are doing. Then I saw my gorgeous (and much younger cousins) in them, which I also ignored because I’m twice their age and far less cool. The final straw came this week when my beloved Anthropologie sent me a deceptive email touting new arrivals from Citizens of Humanity and I audibly gasped when I opened this:
What in the actual fuck?
These are mom jeans. These are high rise, light blue, ridiculous looking even on a gorgeous model, mom jeans!
Why is this a thing? It’s hideous. I just can’t.
Didn’t we spend like two decades getting away from this very look? *insert granny voice — > My generation fought hard to not look like our moms and to avoid their fashion at all costs. In fact, we went the exact opposite way with our denim waistlines and plunged them so far into the depths of our hot pockets we all needed Brazilian bikini waxes just to wear them in public. That is how jeans are worn in my tribe. < – – ok, everyone wears yoga pants but if we had social lives we would wear low-rise jeans!
SNL and The Holderness Family went to great lengths to prove this to the world. Please tell me their work was not in vain!
Ok, fine so that is “vintage” SNL from 2013 but, one of my mom heroes more recently (2016) made this video about the shorts version of this horror scene:
Unfortunately the social disease family of our time took the below picture and used it for their Christmas card this year, with almost everyone rocking mom jeans! But, almost is not everyone and please tell me you agree that the only one in this shot who looks amazing is the one on the far right…whatever her “K” name is…Kylie, Kendal, Krispy Kreme…you know who I’m talking about!
Stop the madness.
No one I actually know in real life wears these, however, almost all my friends are approaching or are already over 40.
Give it to me straight — am I just too old to grasp this high-rise mom jean concept or is it truly horrendous?
[Tweet “Please explain to me how #high-rise jeans are different (and less hideous) than #mom #jeans because I don’t see it! #RoadTestedReviews”]
Have you or would you ever wear these? Do you know women who do?
NOPE. Never. I don’t want to be an SNL parody! I have seen some people wearing high rise but the only ones who look great in them are the ones who are at least 6 feet tall and all legs. Everyone else looks like they have a Pooch and camel toe. 🙂
Totally forgot to mention the cameltoe – the worst part! LOL!!
I am JUST seeing this post in 2020 and still… I am soooo sick of looking at a sea of skinny jeans and mom jeans all around me. What the eff happened to low rise boot-friggin-cut regular a$$ denim jeans?! Oi!!!
Truly horrendous! Last summer, in the office I started seeing teens wearing the high waisted denim shorts. I guess if you weight 90 pounds and have no muscle tone and are 14 years old, you can get away with it. But once you have a little tummy, they don’t look right and don’t even get me started on the cameltoe.
I know! But I seriously think even if you have the right body type (which my cousins do) it still looks terrible! And, ugh, the cameltoe!!
Um, no thank you! I try to forget that part of my life where I actually wore them! Let’s just pretend none of that happened……. What an awful thing we did to ourselves.
Neverrrrr! They are hideous! The ONLY person I know that wears them IRL is my teenaged niece and even she looks ridiculous!
Exactly!! So glad you understand 🙂
I’m too short for high-rise jeans. Even low rise jeans come to a normal waist height for me. I think the trend now is to wear the most ridiculously ugly cut of things possible and revel in the fact that you still look cute doing it, if you have the ONE (long and lean) body type that could possibly pull those jeans off. American Eagle actually *sells* mom jeans… like the name of the cut is “Mom Jean cut”. Ugh.
I don’t like skinny jeans either. Not made for me!
OMG they do? This is insanity. I guess what is old becomes new again but really? And even the women who have the thin, tall look still look ridiculous. I just don’t get it but I’m really glad I don’t have a daughter 🙂
LOL! Just the other day I did a search for low rise jeans (you know, three to four fingers below the belly button) and there’s nothing at all. Only ones popping up were the ugly as hell high waisted jeans. Awful!
It’s crazy, right? I can’t even. Luckily I have about 20 pair of jeans to wear until this trend passes 🙂
Despise them! And I am over 50. I think you have to have a teeny waist compared to your hips to even begin to pull this look off. And be crazy tall – which I am not. Mostly, I’m annoyed that these are sold everywhere, and it is so difficult to find jeans with normal waists.
YES! You hit all the frustrating points! So glad it’s not just me.
I love them. I find them very flattering and I am over 50,
Wow, really? I guess if they’re comfortable and you feel good in them, it’s all that counts. Good for you and thanks for commenting!
Now super low rise? Who wants to booty on someone, haha..or keep pulling your pants up. Yo each his own, right?
Never! I know so many people who wear high waisted jeans but nope, I refuse. I don’t understand half the things women my age wear. Why the fork would you want jeans up to your ribs? How are they comfortable? (And then I slowly remember not all fashion is meant to be comfortable…).
I haven’t a clue, obviously. And, this is definitely not the first fashion trend I didn’t “get” but it’s the most hideous by far!
Ok, apparently I’m the outlier here lol. I wear only high waisted and I love them! They are much more flattering on me than low rise! (I used to wear low rise) I also have a bunch of friends that swear by high waist jeans.
That said, I do agree that the light blue is pretty horrible.
I don’t think you’re an outlier at all, since this IS the trend! At least you agree about the color of those 🙂 Thanks for your comment!
OMG! Hysterical! Best blog post EVER!! I had been thinking the same thing! Everywhere I see these awful mom jeans! Didn’t the fashion Gods bash Jessica Simpson for mom jeans just a little while back and now…they are pushing them on us?? Well like you, I am going to sit out this fashion trend!! Thank you for bringing attention to this jean atrocity!
I’m SO glad you agree and see my point!! I thought I was going crazy…or just getting really out of touch!
OMG! Hysterical! Best blog post EVER!! I had been thinking the same thing! Everywhere I see these awful mom jeans! Didn’t the fashion Gods bash Jessica Simpson for mom jeans just a little while back and now…they are pushing them on us?? Well like you, I am going to sit out this fashion trend!! Thank you for bringing attention to this jean atrocity!
i don’t hate these jeans that much, mainly because i like my tummy covered 🙂 i’ve always felt weird in low rise stuff and the crotch always feel like it’s assaulting me. not so nice. however i like my jeggings because it’s like i’m still in my comfy athletic wear but miss my jeans… jeggings. sometimes when i give more than 2 shits i will put on some jeans. i guess i don’t own mom jeans and don’t plan on buying any, mine i consider normal jeans with wide legs. whatever!!! i like comfy jeans that don’t ride my crotch. those..
“The crotch always feels like it’s assaulting me” < - - OMG LOL!!!
This is hilariously awesome to me! I remember wearing them and the tighter you taper the legs the better. Some girls look really cute in them. What is almost worse is a super skinny man in “skinny jeans” please spare us the agony of the chicken legs lol!
Glad you enjoyed it! And I have to agree 100% about men and skinny jeans. Just, no.
Finally! Everywhere I go everyone seems to LOVE this stupid high waisted trend! It gives me horrible flashbacks of high school and a boy asking me why I pull my pants up so high. Gah! And what’s worse, high waisted and cropped! Just sell them with suspenders and everyone can look like Urkel. Every time I get an email advertisement from a clothing store for jeans I send a reply telling them that I hate their high waisted pants, it’s a stupid trend that makes everyone look dumpy and ridiculous, and can we please move on from the super skinny skin tight jeans. No one looks good in skin tight clothing, i don’t care who you are. I know no one will see it, but it makes me feel better in the moment. I’m holding on to jeans and work pants that are 10 – 15 years old because this stupid trend doesn’t seem to be going anywhere. Ah, thanks for the vent!
Haha!! Thanks so much for sharing! And I too hold on to super old pairs of jeans because they are loose, comfortable and hit below the waist!! Still, this trend continues…*sigh*
High-rise cut is a trend because large people like it (flab coverage and compression) and there are just so many large people these days that what they do nd what they want becomes a trend, quite literally. I am frankly sceptical as to when the lower waist is coming back, if ever. Large people cannot pull off the skinny slash low raise look, they get muffin tops and then there is that ass almost falling out of the jeans. What I find super-frustraiting is that it is absolutely impossible to buy low rise jeans these days. Everything, and I mean EVERYTHING is high rise. Some mid-rise jeans are available, and it is something I have to wear or just go bottom-less.
LOL!! The answer is probably just going pantless 🙂 I love it! Thanks for commenting!
I’m happy to learn that the low-rise “trend” is coming back. High-waisted jeans make your butt look flat, usually because the pockets are placed too high and they’re taller than they are wide. I could fix every pair of jeans in the world on every individual by putting the pockets on the correct spots and adjusting their shape and size. I never go shopping for new jeans nowadays, I haven’t for years, because I noticed that you can’t get low-rise jeans anywhere. By not having variety, shop owners have driven away a huge customer base. That’s why I buy familiar brands’ jeans online, USED, and I raid flea markets regularly. Luckily, I still have many jeans from my teenage years, they still fit and they are LOOOOOOW <3 I have hundreds of jeans, many I have bought at ridiculously low prices from remote flea markets, and they are just an investment for "lower times" 😉
High-waisted jeans are also oftentimes unhealthy; they put pressure on the bowel while sitting which can cause bloating, diarrhea and irregular bowel function, and if the waistline is a bit lower on the upper hip bone (still considered high) it can seriously strangulate blood flow to your feet and genital area. I am skinny and my legs are longer than the rest of my body, and my shoulders are wider than my hips, and low-rise jeans make my legs look shorter and torso longer, and hips appear wider, which I love. High-waisted jeans on that kind of body.. No way!
Thank you! I can’t understand this trend. I thought they were hideous last time around and I’m not falling for it again. I admit to owning one pair, but I only wear them if the waistband is covered. It’s my over 50 way of still wearing a cropped shirt and not risking belly exposure. Even so, they’re on the lower end of the high-rise scale. I think these high-rise jeans probably look good on someone with a long torso, especially if they have shorter legs proportionately. I’m already more legs and the last thing I want is the waistband of jeans banging into the underwire on my bra. I just spent a few hours hunting online for a pair of jeans that are mid-rise. It was not an easy task. But I was determined and found what I wanted. Getting older is awesome. You just scream no and pass on things that don’t make you look good. I’m still in shock this hasn’t come and gone already. Is there a mirror shortage? Maybe I should go back and order a few more pairs of those jeans and stuff them in a doomsday shelter in case this high-rise crap doesn’t stop soon.
I just bought some low rise jeans. The brand is called LTB, maybe you can get your hands on one of these. I found them in pretty much all sizes and lengths, and they are actually full length, not “cropped” or flood length, as normal people would call it.
I guess the difference between high waist and mom jeans is that mom jeans are deliberately loosely cut, while high waist can have any shape. Either way, I’ll be glad to see them go away. For me, it’s funny to see how they were marketed as “body positive” and inclusive towards all sizes, when in reality it was just a way for Instagram attention seekers to show off their butt surgeries.
I think the mom shorts in the video above were fairly ok, at least they weren’t high waisted, ha!
Anyway, once my jeans arrive, I will report back on the fit and look of them.