The Best Jeans for Women Over 50 in 2024

You’re never too old for jeans, but your jeans may be too old for you. There’s a not-so-quiet revolution brewing in jeans-land as more women shed skintight skinny jeans and jeggings for looser, body-friendly styles. Updated jeans with boot-cut, flare, straight and wide legs are dialing up comfort and fashion. Do you wonder if wider-leg jeans will make you look wider too? Which rise is most flattering? Ankle, crop or full length? Should you opt for denim in white, black or a blue wash? Here’s all you need to know.

(Left to right) Kyle Richards, Oprah Winfrey and Carla Bruni Sarkozy.

Photo Collage: AARP; (Source: Photo by Bellocqimages/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images; Photo by Marc Piasecki/WireImage)

1. Flattery before trendiness.

The perfect jeans will make you feel a lot cooler and a little sassier without showing your lunch. They won’t squeeze your thighs and calves, leave muffin-top bulges hovering above the waistband or make you long to take them off at the end of the day. They’ll go with all your tops, tucked and untucked, pivot from ballet flats to sneakers and feel softly broken-in, even in dark blue washes. As a fashion editor, I’ve done hundreds of jeans photo shoots with grownup women of every size and shape. That’s why I’m encouraging you to break away from your usual jeans and try a new style. It may be way more flattering than you think and will certainly update your wardrobe. Check out Oprah Winfrey, Sofía Vergara, Cher and Julianne Moore in some of the roomiest and trendiest jeans around to see what I mean.

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(Left to right) Universal Thread Women’s High-Rise Sailor Wide Leg Ankle Jeans in Cream; Gap Women High Rise Stride Wide-Leg Ankle Jeans in Medium Indigo ($90, gap.com); a.n.a. Women’s High Rise Flare Leg Jean in White ($50, jcpenney.com)

Courtesy: Target; Gap; JCPenney

2. Choose a rise that works with your bust and torso.

The rise is the distance from the bottom of the crotch to the top of the waistband. Ignore extremes like low rise and extra high rises and figure out where you like the waistband to sit. This will either be a medium or a high rise. Medium-rise jeans like the Time and Tru Women’s Mid Rise Bootcut Jeans with Side Vents in Winter White ($20, walmart.com) are about 8 to 9.5 inches and sit at or just below the belly button. They give the torso more midriff space so those with a large bust don’t feel their breasts are sitting right on top of the waistband. High-rise jeans like the Universal Thread Women’s High-Rise Sailor Wide Leg Ankle Jeans in Cream or Navy Blue ($28, target.com) and Maeve The Ettie High-Rise Crop Wide-Leg Jeans in Riviera Wash ($98, anthropologie.com) run about 9 to 11.5 inches and sit just above the belly button or a little higher. They tuck in midriff flab, define the waist and solve waistband gap for those slimmer on top, wider on bottom (what used to be called a pear shape). Choose whichever rise gives your proportions a boost and remember the exact measurements for medium and high rise do blur a little from brand to brand.