Best Jeans for an Hourglass Body Shape

With a defined waist and balanced hips, the common problem is a waist gap: jeans that fit the hips are loose at the waist.

This guide is for the hourglass body shape: bust and hips within 5% of each other, with a waist at 75% or less of the wider of the two.

Look for

  • Stretch denim in a high rise that sits at your natural waist
  • Curvy or contour-waist cuts, which are drafted with a bigger difference between waist and hip
  • Straight, bootcut or slightly flared legs that balance the hips
  • Mid to dark washes with even fading; heavy whiskering can exaggerate the hip line

Skip or adjust

  • Low-rise cuts that sit below the waist and lose your proportions
  • Rigid, non-stretch denim that pulls across the hips and gaps at the waist
  • Very baggy cuts, unless you tuck in your tops to keep the waist visible

More for the hourglass body shape

Jeans for other body shapes

These are starting points, not rules. If you love a style that isn’t listed, wear it.