distressed jeans for petites.

Top H&M. (similar here and here.) Jeans: Nordstrom. Jacket: Gap. (similar here.) Booties: Nordstrom. Bag: Target. (similar here, here and here.) Sunglasses: Kate Spade. (similar here.)

I love distressed jeans, but being as short as I am (4’11”) can present problems when I go to purchase them, particularly when the jeans have knee rips.  Because my legs are so much shorter than most, the knee rips end up several inches lower than they should be, and look awkward.

I’ve been crushing on this pair of jeans for months and months, but I didn’t think I could make them work because of the rather pronounced knee rips.  Thanks to some lovely petite ladies that follow me on instagram– who gave me some great ideas for making these jeans work– I decided to give them a try and I’m so glad I did.  You can see how the jeans looked before here.

I worked with the tailor at Nordstrom and had a few simple changes made so these jeans worked for me.

Here’s what we did:

1- we hemmed them to hit at the top of my ankle bone (I rolled them from there) using the original hem.

2- Back filled the hole at the thigh.  I like it much better now that it’s not a gaping hole and it will preserve the distressing better.

3- stitched up the open knee on my right leg.  It was the lower of the two, and closing it up helps make the other one look right on my frame.  I considered adding a new slit at my knee, but I’m still not sure about that one, so I’m leaving them be for now…

One of the things I actually appreciate about being short is how it’s taught me to not be afraid of altering my clothes to make them work for me.  It took me awhile to appreciate this, because having to alter most things you wear in some way or other can be kind of a pain, but I’ve also noticed how afraid a lot of women are to buy something that doesn’t work right off the rack.  Alterations aren’t nearly as scary as you think and messing with your clothes so they’re just right for you is a great way to love everything in your closet.

Speaking of love.  These booties.  You guys.  I finally found a pair that work for my shortie legs and they’re so comfortable right out of the box.  No blisters, the leather is soft as butter, and they go with about 85% of my closet.  I’m going to be wearing these alllllll spring and summer…

(ps. if you have a Nordstrom card you get $100 of free alterations a year…)