Low-Rise Jeans

What they Are, Where they Came From, and Why we Love to Wear Them

Top Brazilian low-rise jeans designers report that low-rise jeans originated in France in recent years, on fashion runways you and I usually do not come across every day.  I have even heard a few people claim that Jimmy Hendrix and Jim Morrison wore low-rise jeans—it seems that these fellows did not actually wear low rise jeans, but rather they wore what we like to call "hip-huggers" or "hipsters," which were actually a precursor, or primitive version of low-rise jeans.  The low-rise jeans scene was a refreshing change to the bland, straight-legged designs the existed for so long—the same fashion designs that almost put Levi's out of business.

Since the mid-90's, low-rise jeans have been on the rise—in the number of people wearing them, while the actual rise of low rise jeans has been constantly on the decline; Meaning, over the last few years, the "rise" as it's called, has been continually shrinking. Low-rise just keeps getting lower.  The rise is measured on any pair of jeans (or pants) as the distance from the middle-center of the crotch, up to the top in the front of the waist.

But what actually qualifies jeans as "low-rise"? While low-rise jeans tend to sit 3-4 inches below the belly button, thereby emphasizing the waist/torso shapeliness, there are no set rules.  The rise of the jeans may be as tall as 7.5 inches, or as low as 4 inches (however rare those are); in one rare instance, there existed a pair with a 3-inch rise; sometimes we like to call them ultra-low-rise jeans. 5-6 inches are most popular today amongst the low-rise lovers.

Wearing low-rise jeans is a bit tricky at times, such as when you bend over to pick something up, or even just sitting down sometimes, but a good fit reduces these chances of exposure.  American low-rise jeans aren't necessarily tight, which can make it a challenge to keep them on, but just about all Brazilian jeans typically contain small amounts of elastic material (e.g. spandex) to ensure that the jeans fit snugly, holding tight to your curves.  Low-rise jeans even bring out curves you didn't know you had.   This stretch allows you to do whatever you normally do without risk of the low-rise jeans getting lower (e.g. exposing); it may take a bit of practice in the beginning for some people.  People with extra long legs, and short torsos benefit most in low rise jeans since low-rise jeans tend to give the opposite effect when wearing them.

Big butt, or little butt?  One unique element about Brazilian jeans is that they tend to emphasize your butt, even if you don't really have much of one to begin with.  That is the very apparent report we hear constantly from wearers of Brazilian low-rise jeans, as opposed to American low-rise jeans, which some claim make your rump look smaller.  This design element is a result of to Brazilian culture's extreme obsession with big, JLo type buttocks; the equivalent to America's extreme focus on the female chest—the bigger, the better.

Low-rise jeans aren't only for women and teenage girls, but a much smaller number of men wear low-rise jeans as well.  Primarily, we have noted that about most of our shoppers are in their late teens, to anywhere in their twenties, while there does not seem to be a real limit as of our shoppers are well into their thirties and forties.

Of course, low-rise jeans aren't for everyone, but you know low-rise jeans lovers know who you are.

low-rise jeans

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