High-rise pants (sometimes called high-waist or high-waisted pants) sit at or above your belly button. This lengthens the pant leg and creates an smooth line from your shoulders down to your feet, uninterrupted by a belt. As the waistline is at or above your abdomen you can breathe comfortably, without having a restricted belt dig into you each time you take a breath.
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| Notice how the high-rise pants elongate the legs and creates a smooth transition form bottom to top half |
Back to high-rise pants. I especially love vintage, high-rise pants. Sometimes referred to as “Hollywood waist”, these pants do not have a separate band of fabric circling around the waist. Instead, the pant fabric extends up the legs right to the top of the pants, with no cross fabric for a belt that would interrupt the line. If there are belt loops, they are below, rather than at the top of the pant waistline. There are generally darts to angle the difference between the hips and the lower rib-cage. And that’s where the top of Hollywood waist pants ends: at the bottom of your rib-cage. To maintain this height, braces are attached.
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| Note the Hollywood waist on these high-rise pants for both men and women |
Not only do high-rise pants make your look better, they make you feel better. Breathing is enjoyable! The pants sit comfortably above your waist, allowing your abdomen to expand and contract, all day long. You take a breath in, and your abdomen fills out your pants waist. High-rise pants are large enough to absorb the breathe; just tight enough to be comfortable. You then breathe out, and your abdomen shrinks back into your body. With the absence of your abdomen, your pants would start to slide downward due to the effects of gravity. But they don’t - if you are wearing high-rise pants as they should be worn. Braces come to the rescue to provide fantastic support. Your high-rise pants stay high all day long.
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| No matter how much bending or twisting, braces keep your pants in place |
The specific placement of the buttons along the waistline provides maximum support for this accomplishment. Brace buttons should be attached at the front above the center pant line and pocket above each leg (about 3-3.5 inches apart), and then equidistant from the center of the pants at the rear (about 1.5-1.75 inches from the center seam). It’s truly an enjoyment to sit, stand, bend, and twist - not to mention breathe - without having to adjust or pull up your pants. The braces do all the heavy lifting.
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| Proper button placement on these high-rise white pants worn by Farrah Fawcett |
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| Charlene Tilton with improper button placement - should be to the side to align with the pant line |
With this in mind, I’m constantly perplexed that people turn to belts. Belts restrict movement and circulation around your waist and result in pants slipping down all day long. They interrupt the smooth transition from the top of your body to the bottom.
Men have an unfortunate aversion to wearing pants at or above their hips - why? Is this an outdated style of a previous generation? Do the pants not stay up (without braces, hence the need for braces), or men don’t like braces? I have not solved this question yet. But I do know that they're missing out on the wonder of high-rise pants and braces. Historically, when men wore pants, they were high-rise and held up with braces.
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| Vintage photo of men wearing braces |
Current fashion trends are starting to take notice of the increase in rise of pants. Women’s fashion has emphasized high-rise pants for the past few years. In fact, check out this New Yorker article titled "How high can high-waisted pants go?" to understand that this rising trend will continue. It’s only a matter of time before it shifts to men’s clothing.
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| Courtshop James Jeans with braces |
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| She's lov'n her high-rise pants with braces! |
Discussion time:
- Do you wear high-rise pants? If not, why not?
- How do you find braces with high-rise pants?
- Have you worn Hollywood waist pants?
