What 20 Years as a Nordstrom Stylist Taught Me About Buying Jeans Online

ByJennifer Sattler

After more than 20 years fitting women in jeans at Nordstrom, I can tell you this with complete confidence: buying jeans online is actually easier than anywhere else, if you know what to look for. For two decades I stood in dressing rooms with clients who were frustrated, defeated, and convinced the problem was their body. It never was. It was always the jeans. When the pandemic hit and the dressing rooms closed, I knew the women I had spent years helping still needed to find jeans that fit, they just had to do it from their living rooms now. So I created Jen’s Jean Shop.

Here’s the thing about shopping for jeans online: you don’t look like the model in the photo, so the photo can be a bad representation of how those jeans will look on your body. The descriptions are just as confusing, because what one brand calls a low rise, another calls a high rise. I am not a math person, but I am a measurements person, and there is a difference. Three numbers, the rise, the leg opening, and the inseam, tell you everything the photo and the description never will. Once you understand what those numbers do to the fit, you will never buy a pair of jeans that doesn’t fit you again.

This is why buying jeans online without knowing these three numbers is a guessing game.

The Three Numbers That Make Buying Jeans Online Easy

1. The Opening

If you pick long or short jeans with an opening between 16-20” they will look good with any shoe.

1. MOTHER cropped with a 17.5” opening in petite and regular ankle length.

2. Pistola cropped with a 17″ opening in petite and regular ankle length. 12 color choices. Promo code 15JEN

3. Agolde Long 19.5″ opening. This look-for-less is great too.

4. MOTHER completely convertible 16″ opening. Wear long as a bootcut or cuff to your ideal ankle length.

Welcome To Your Wide Leg Jeans Era

Wide-leg jeans with openings greater than 24″ look better with block heels or a platform. Here are three styles from Paige, MOTHER, and Frame that won’t swallow your shoes if you want to wear them with heels. They are so popular that they come in petite sizes too!

The Jeans That Fit Everyone

Paige Anessa 31″ Inseam

When the Nordstrom 6 said these are the jeans that fit everyone, we were serious. From 5’2″ to 5’9″ and all the shapes in between, we love these jeans and recommend them to everyone! The “Anessa” which comes in 3 lengths and 35 different style and color combinations. You can see why we’re obsessed.

25% off This Weeked

Best Paige Denim Fits

  1. Cindy Straight Leg– These jeans make an appearance in more of my trademark capsule wardrobes than any other. My favorite way to wear mine this summer is with an oversized button-up and flats.
  2. Anessa Wide Leg– These wide-leg long and cropped jeans have a universally flattering rise and the best butt pockets; slightly higher and always in proportion to the size. 35 different style and color combinations. This new green seaglass green with braided pockets is so good!
  3. Laurel Canyon Bootcut- These are the most flattering boot cut jeans ever. They have the same flattering pockets and are made with Paige’s signature transcend fabric. Unlike a lot of jeans, these are not 100% cotton. They are a blend of rayon, which keeps them super soft, polyester so they won’t bag out, spandex for stretch, and cotton so they actually look like jeans. Yes, they come in petite.

2. The Rise

3. Inseam

The Cropped Jean Mistake That’s Aging Your Whole Outfit…

Wearing your jeans too short is a dead giveaway that your denim is dated. Find your ankle-length inseam, then use the measurements listed online to find the perfect modern cropped jeans. These are 5 of my favorite styles, and they all come in petite lengths or can be rolled up to the exact measurement you need.

The Ideal Long Inseam for Flats and Heels

6 Jean Styles Every Woman Needs Now

SEE THEM ALL ON

Jeans are the backbone of every great outfit. Not more pairs, better ones.

  1. Canadian Tuxedo- My fashion fix right now is an updated Canadian tuxedo, a great pair of jeans, and a matching denim jacket. This can kickstart a capsule wardrobe because it gives you an instant outfit and two pieces you can wear a dozen other ways. Save on the one I’m wearing HERE (promo code 15JEN). This dark denim straight-leg suit is so flattering and on sale now.
  2. Classic Straight Leg- because good classics never die. Snag this tried and true name brand under $75
  3. Long and Loose– perfect for warm weather. This season we are seeing this style with a little lower rise.
  4. Wide Leg– Looks best with heels. When I’m wearing mine, it will likely be with this pair. I should have known the brand behind the best shapewear would be responsible for my next favorite pair of jeans. SPANX built their shaping technology into denim, and I’ve never felt better in a pair. Use code JENNIFERXSPANX for your first order.
  5. Goes With any Shoe Long Jeans- These Agolde jeans with the perfect 19.5″ opening have been my favorite jeans for a few months.
  6. Goes With any Shoe Cropped- If I could only own one pair of jeans for the rest of my life, it would be these, and they come in petite.

I’m in my 40’s, and this post had my edit of the 4 better-than-basic closet essentials stylish women over 40 can rely on.

SHOW ME ALL 4

Professional Personal Stylist

Women feel great when they become the authority of fashion in their own life and the best versions of themselves. Fashion and style mean something different to each of us, but they can bring us all the same confidence and inspiration we can use every day.