Best Jeans for Apple-Shaped Women

Where the Lee goes bootcut, this one goes straight, and that's the newer way to solve the same problem. The waist sits high and the leg drops from the hip with no taper and no flare, so it skims the middle rather than wrapping around it. Pull these on after a bootcut and the difference is obvious: less shape, more line.

Fit is where this pair stands apart from the other straight legs here. The waistband is soft enough to sit in for a whole afternoon, and ours didn't gap at the back, which is the failure that sends most apple-shaped shoppers back to the returns desk. There's real stretch in the fabric but it keeps a matte denim look, and the rise does the smoothing without a control panel digging into you.

The caveats are about consistency rather than design. It runs short on taller wearers and long on shorter ones depending on the pair, so check the inseam before you commit. The rise itself isn't identical from one to the next: the high waist that sits above the navel on one body lands below it on another. If the cut matches your proportions, though, this is the best-value straight leg in the group, and it survived a wash without shrinking.

There's no zip and no button here, just a wide stretch band you pull on. That sounds like a small thing until you've spent a day with a fly pressing into a soft middle, and it's the reason this pair stayed in rotation on long days rather than getting swapped for something softer.

What surprised us is how ordinary it looks. The band reads as a normal waistband from across a room, the bootcut is cut like the others here, straight to the knee and then a modest flare, and the denim is thick enough to feel like a jean rather than a legging. It also held its shape through a full day of desk sitting, which is more than the stretchiest things in this group manage.

Two trade-offs come with the missing hardware. There are no belt loops, so the band has to do all the work, and on some bodies it slips down over a long day. Sizing runs generous, so if you're between sizes, take the smaller one. For a reader whose main complaint is a waistband that digs in by lunchtime, though, this is the pair that ends the argument, and the dark wash covers the office too.

This is the least expensive pair in the group and the most traditional. The Amanda sits at the natural waist rather than above it, and the denim is thicker and carries more cotton than the stretch-heavy pairs here, so it holds a line instead of following every curve.

That structure is the argument for an apple shape. A firmer fabric smooths where a soft one grabs, and the tapered leg keeps the silhouette from reading wide all the way down, so this is the pair here that tucks into boots most easily. Anyone shopping on a budget should start here, and the deep indigo and black options make a second pair an easy decision.

The one thing to watch is consistency. Length varies between washes, and the regular runs long on shorter frames, so the short option is the one to try first. The waist also runs generous on some, which is fine if you want room over a middle and less fine if you don't. Try your usual size, but keep the tape measure handy.

WallFlower runs this bootcut from a 0 to a 24, a wider stated range than anything else here, and the cut is built for curves rather than corrected for them: room through the hip and thigh, a double-button waistband that sits flat, and a bootcut that opens below the knee.

Two buttons instead of one is the detail we rate highest. A double closure spreads the strain across the band, so the waist stays flat when you sit and doesn't roll forward over a soft middle. The stretch is generous, the most of anything in this group, which makes these easy to wear from morning to night and, for a fair number of bodies, reason enough to take one size down.

Durability is where it gives ground. The waistband and seams are the weak points when this pair does go, and the stretch that makes the fit forgiving also runs the fabric on the thin side. That doesn't undo the fit for a reader who wants a bootcut across a wide size range; it just means these are the pair to wash cold and hang rather than tumble.

A skinny jean in a guide about balancing a fuller middle needs a reason to be here, and the 311 has one: a shaping construction that holds the stomach and the seat instead of leaving them to the fabric, and without the painted-on feel most skinny jeans have.

It's the most polished pair in this group, and the priciest. The denim is dark, substantial, and stretches in a way that hugs rather than compresses, so it reads as a jean you wear to work rather than shapewear you hide under something. We took these to the office and they passed, which is not something we say about every stretch skinny.

The honest caveat is the silhouette. A skinny narrows all the way to the ankle, which sends the eye back up to the widest point, so if balancing the middle is the goal, the straight and bootcut picks here do more of that work. Sizing runs small for some, the front pockets are shallow, and the back pockets are a wear point over time. Wear them when you want a sharp, close line and a blazer on top.

Mid rise is both the reason to look at this pair and the reason to be careful with it. If a high waist feels like it's cutting you in half, which is often the case on a short torso, a band that lands just below the natural waist is calmer, and this one does that at a budget price.

The shaping comes from the stretch rather than a panel: the band gives over the belly and the straight leg falls clean through the thigh. On a short torso the proportions look deliberate rather than high-water, and the fabric is light enough to wear at a desk all day without feeling like armor.

The catch is the waist. This isn't a curvy cut in practice, and it can gap at the back, which is the complaint this pair draws. The fabric is on the thin side as well, so it smooths less than the cotton-heavy Gloria Vanderbilt pair. Sit down in them before you cut the tags, and keep a belt in the rotation.

This doesn't feel like denim. It's a soft, stretchy pull-on that behaves like a yoga pant and reads like a wide-leg jean from a few feet away, which is exactly what makes it useful on days when a real waistband is the last thing you want against your middle.

The wide band is the part we rate highest: it sits flat across the stomach and stays there, and the wide leg skims past the hip rather than tapering into it. It's the most comfortable thing in this group by a distance, and it has real usable pockets, which is not a given at this weight.

Order with a return in mind. Some pairs arrive with a chemical smell that survives a first wash, so air them outside before you decide and send them back if it lingers. Length is inconsistent too, running long on some and short on others. What you get in exchange is a waistband that never digs and a leg that hides what you want hidden.

A raw hem and a light weight are the two things you notice first. This is a soft, stretchy wide leg that skims the middle and finishes in a frayed edge, so it sits right over flats without a trip to the tailor, which is a small mercy if you're short.

It earns its place as the summer pair in this group. The denim is thin enough to wear in July, the wide leg gives plenty of room through the middle, and ours came through washing without shrinking or losing shape. On a body where the middle is the widest part, the straight drop from the waist is the thing that makes it work.

The limits follow from that weight. Light denim doesn't smooth the way a heavier pair does, so this skims rather than holds, which is a different job and worth knowing before you buy. Length runs short for anyone over about 5-foot-5, and the sizing is true, so order your usual and don't size up for room.