QandAs: Buzz

What are low-rise jeans?

Answer:
Low-rise jeans are a style of jeans, more common

with women than men, which are also called lowriders, hip-huggers, hipsters, and low-cut jeans. Low-rise jeans have advantages and disadvantages and go in and out of fashion. They usually sit below the waist, three inches or more below the navel. Low-rise pants have shorter zippers than other jeans, especially when they are ultra low-rise jeans, which have zippers as short as one inch.

Many people dislike low-rise jeans because they show off any extra weight that the wearer might have around the midsection. This is derogatorily referred to as a “muffin top,” as the overhanging flesh can be thought to resemble the top of muffins hanging over the muffin cup. In addition, underwear is often spotted when someone is wearing low-rise jeans. In fact, the phenomenon of women’s thong waistband showing above low-rise jeans has gotten its own nickname; “whale tail.”

Other people enjoy wearing low-rise jeans, especially if they have toned stomachs to show off. Paired with belly shirts, or cropped tops, athletic low-rise jeans wearers can display muscular midsections. Other forms of low-rise pants have also become more popular, such as low-rise khakis and cargo pants.