Y2K Low Rise Jeans: The Brands Worth Hunting For, and How Each One Sizes

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Eleven labels keep coming back to my rail, and I still get excited when one turns up: Miss Sixty, Big Star, Rock Revival, Miss Me, True Religion, Silver, Hydraulic, Maurices and American Eagle, plus two Italians worth knowing, Diesel and Moschino.

Each one sits low in its own way. Each one has its own way of lying on the label, too.

Short version: for proper Y2K low rise jeans, look for a rise of 6 to 8 inches. Big Star and Rock Revival cut the lowest. Miss Me and True Religion bring the back-pocket detail. Silver and Maurices are the easiest to wear every day. Miss Sixty is where the women’s cut began. On almost all of them, the waistband measures more than the number on the tag, because the tag was written for a natural waist and the jeans sit on your hips.

First, a little history. Then what I have learned about each brand from the pairs that have been through my hands.

How McQueen started it

Low rise began on a London catwalk, not in a shopping centre. In March 1993 a young Alexander McQueen showed his second collection, Taxi Driver, in a room at the Ritz during London Fashion Week. In it was the bumster: a trouser cut so low at the back that it showed the top of the bum.

McQueen wanted to change where the body was looked at. He talked about the base of the spine as the most erotic part of it, and he moved the waistband down to prove it. The collection itself is lost, but the cut stayed. A year later Madonna wore bumsters in an MTV ad, which is usually credited with taking extreme low rise out of fashion shows and into the street.

Other designers followed. By the late 1990s Tom Ford was cutting trousers and jeans at Gucci to sit right on the hip. His Gucci jeans from around 1999 had embroidered flowers and vines on the front and back. It is not hard to see those embroidered pockets again on Miss Me and Hydraulic a few years later.

From there it went to pop. Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera, Paris Hilton and Destiny’s Child wore the rise so low that a belly chain or a thong strap became part of the outfit. The American denim labels in this guide made that look affordable for everyone else.

Low-rise and Y2K jeans in stock now, measured

Maurices Womens Bootcut mid 9.5”rise blue jeans W31 L30 UK…W31 · UK 12 · UK 10Waist 31" round£21.50Express Womens Bootcut Jeans low 7.5”rise blue W35 L29 UK1…W35 · UK 14 · UK 12Waist 35" round£18.00Arya Womens Bootcut Flare low 8”rise blue jeans W34 L28 UK…W34 · UK 14 · UK 12Waist 34" round£18.00Maurices womens bootcut low 8.5”rise blue jeans UK12 W32L2…W32 · UK 12Waist 32" round£21.50Ralph Lauren Womens Mid 10”Rise Flare Jeans W33 L28.5 UK 1…W33 · UK 14Waist 33" round£34.00Womens y2k Flare mid 9”rise blue jeans W27 L29 Petite UK 8…W27 · UK 8Waist 27" round£13.50Amethyst Womens Flare low 8”rise blue jeans W33 L30 UK 12 …W33 · UK 12Waist 33" round£28.50Silver Womens Flare low 8”rise dark jeans W33 L29 UK 12-14…W33 · UK 14 · UK 12Waist 35" round£27.00

One of each. Measured flat by hand, in inches; sold pieces drop off this list by themselves.

Vintage, and still on trend

A pair made in 2002 is now more than twenty years old, which is where most people start calling clothes vintage. Y2K has become the newest vintage decade, the way the 70s were for our mothers.

It has not gone out of fashion either. In October 2021 Miu Miu sent a low rise micro-mini skirt down the catwalk in Paris, and the rise went back down everywhere. Searches for low rise jeans in the UK are up by half over the last three months, and Y2K jeans keep climbing with them.

That is the nice part of buying the originals. New low rise jeans copy the cut. A 2000s Big Star or Miss Me is the cut, in denim that has already softened, with pocket detail nobody makes at that price any more.

What low rise meant in 2003

The rise is the seam from the crotch to the top of the waistband at the front. It decides where a pair sits, far more than any word on the tag.

On a modern pair of high-waisted jeans it runs to 11 or 12 inches. The pairs on my rail from the early 2000s run from 6 to 9½. Anything at 7 or below sits right on the hip bone. That is the ultra low rise everyone remembers from the photos.

I wrote a longer piece on reading low rise flare labels, and there is a guide to measuring a pair at home if you want to check your own jeans against these numbers.

Miss Sixty, the Italian original

Miss Sixty was founded in Italy in 1991 by Wichy Hassan and Renato Rossi. The story the brand tells is that Hassan saw there were no jeans actually cut for women. So he took the men’s five-pocket jean, raised the back, dropped the front and shaped it round the hip. That first pair was called Tommy.

Low at the front, higher at the back, close through the hip: that is the Y2K jean in one line, years before the American mall brands. Miss Sixty also did it in colour, off-white and pastel as often as blue.

My petite off-white bootcut is tagged W28, measures 31 inches round, and has an 8½-inch rise, so it sits a little higher than the American pairs below. The laced pair in the photo is one of my custom pieces, threaded with black ribbon up the front of each leg. There is a whole Miss Sixty sizing guide, and the pieces are on the Miss Sixty page.

Big Star, the lowest of the lot

Big Star started in Europe in the 1970s. The American line has been made in Los Angeles since 2003 by Koos Manufacturing. For a Y2K rail, the cut to find is the Sweet Flare.

The pair I have now is a 6-inch rise with a 34-inch leg. That is as low and as long as this era gets. The back pockets have a big bow-shaped flap, and the white contrast stitching makes them easy to spot across a charity shop.

The label says 25L. The L is the leg length, long. The waistband measures 28 inches round. On me, a UK 8, they fit like a UK 8.

See what is in on the Big Star page.

Rock Revival, the rock and roll pockets

Rock Revival came out of the same Los Angeles maker as Big Star, Koos Manufacturing, in the mid-2000s. You can feel the family link in the cut: very low, slim through the hip, long in the leg.

The tell is on the back. Heavy stitching, flap pockets, and often a fleur-de-lis in studs or thread. The finishes are more worn-in than Big Star, with fading and distressing done at the factory.

My two pairs are both tagged W26. One has a 6½-inch rise and a waistband of 27 inches. The other has a 7-inch rise and a waistband of 29. Same number on the tag, two inches apart round the top. That is why I never buy on the label alone.

The pairs I have are on the Rock Revival page.

Miss Me, all about the back pockets

Miss Me was started in Los Angeles, and its first collection came out in spring 2001. It is the brand people mean when they say “bling jeans”: embroidered wings, crosses and flowers on the back pockets, with rhinestones and studs on top.

The rise on my pairs is 7 to 7½ inches, low but a touch kinder than Big Star. Mostly bootcut, the odd flare and skinny.

Miss Me labels run small against the tape. A W25 and a W26 both measure 28 inches round. A W27 measures 29. That W27 is the pair in the photos, which I customised with 3D embroidered flowers. They still follow the usual conversion, so a W26 fits a UK 8. The gap comes from where they sit: on the hips, not at the waist.

I wrote a whole guide to Miss Me sizing and the pocket bling.

True Religion, the horseshoe

True Religion was founded in Los Angeles in 2002 by Jeff Lubell and Kym Gold. The back pocket has a horseshoe stitched in thick thread, and the older pairs say Made in USA on the inside label.

True Religion names its cuts: Joey, Stella, Julie, Billy. The name tells you more than the number. The women’s low rise cuts sit at 7 to 7½ inches.

Of all the brands here, this is the one where the tag and the tape agree best. A Stella tagged 26 measures 26 round. A Julie tagged 23 measures 24.

There is more in the True Religion sizing guide, and the pairs in stock are on the True Religion page.

Silver, the Canadian one

Silver Jeans Co. was started in Winnipeg in 1991 by Michael Silver. His family ran Western Glove Works, a denim factory there since 1921.

Silver is the most wearable pair on this list. The rise on mine runs from 7½ to 8½ inches: low enough to feel Y2K, high enough to bend down. Look for the Suki cut and the embroidered back pockets.

The labels are close to honest. Two pairs tagged W26 measure 27 inches round. A W27 measures 29. They are on the Silver page.

Hydraulic, juniors sizing and pocket detail

Hydraulic has been making jeans since 1988, for the juniors market in American malls. The brand is known for its back pocket treatments: big stitched shapes, contrast thread, embroidery down the leg.

Because it is a juniors label, the tag uses odd and double numbers, like 7/8 or 9/10, not a W size. My 7/8 flare measures 30 inches round, with a 7-inch rise and brown contrast stitching. It fits like a UK 10.

If you are used to W sizes, go by the waistband measurement in the listing, never the number. The pairs are on the Hydraulic page.

Maurices, the everyday mall pair

Maurices opened as a dress shop in Duluth, Minnesota, in 1931. It grew into a chain of small-town and mall stores, and its own-label jeans were a staple of the 2000s.

These are not designer jeans, and that is the point. Good stretch denim, studded or embroidered pockets, bootcuts and flares. The rise on my pairs runs from 7½ to 9½ inches, the most forgiving on this list.

The tag uses American women’s sizes, even numbers. A US 12 measures 35 inches round and fits a UK 14 to 16. See the Maurices page.

American Eagle, the mall classic

American Eagle Outfitters opened its first store in 1977, in a shopping centre outside Detroit, run by the brothers Jerry and Mark Silverman. It started making its own denim in 1997, just in time for the low rise years, and its jeans became the everyday pair of American teenagers.

Don’t let the mall price fool you, the 2000s pairs can be properly decorated. My Slim Boot has a 7-inch rise, heavy embroidered back pockets with rhinestones, contrast stitching and jewel buttons. The tag says US 6, the waistband measures 31 inches round, and it fits a UK 10. The shorts come tiny: a 00 measures 25 inches and fits a UK 6.

See the American Eagle page.

Diesel, worth a mention

Diesel was founded in 1978 in Molvena, in the north of Italy, by Renzo Rosso, who had been sewing his own low-slung bell bottoms as a teenager. By the early 2000s Diesel jeans were the ones everybody wanted, with their washes, their slim low cuts and the small diagonal stripe on the coin pocket.

My Diesel Ronhar shorts are tagged W25 and measure 26 inches round, with an 8-inch rise. Italian sizing tends to come up small, so check the waistband before anything else. The pair in the photos is a custom Diesel of mine, laced up the side of the leg with brown cord, with studs and denim patches. See the Diesel page.

Moschino, jeans with a sense of humour

Franco Moschino started his house in 1983 and launched Moschino Jeans in 1986, for a younger, cheekier customer. The line was renamed Love Moschino in 2008, so a Moschino Jeans label dates a pair to before then.

Expect embroidery, slogans and odd little details: hearts, peace signs, an eagle. My eagle bootcut is tagged W29, measures 31 inches round and has a 7½-inch rise. I reworked that one by hand with sashiko stitching and patches, which is the kind of thing a Moschino pair seems to invite. See the Moschino page.

Which brand for which fit

The waistband is measured across the top with the pair buttoned, then doubled.

If you want the real ultra low look, go for Big Star or Rock Revival. For pocket detail, Miss Me or True Religion. For a pair you will wear every week, Silver, Maurices or American Eagle. For an Italian label, Miss Sixty, Diesel or Moschino.

How to buy a pair that fits

Measure your hips about two inches below your belly button. That is where a 7-inch rise will sit, and it is the number to compare with the waistband in the listing.

Then read the rise. Under 7 is ultra low. 7 to 8 is classic Y2K. Over 9 is low by 2000s standards, mid by today’s.

Do not size down because a label “runs big”. The tag number and the UK size still line up the usual way: a W26 fits a UK 8, a W28 a UK 10, a W30 a UK 12. The bigger measurement is simply taken lower down your body. There is a longer answer in what size a W28 is, and a full size guide for everything else.

Last, check the leg. Many of these were made long, 32 to 34 inches, to cover a platform. A few on my rail have been taken up, and the listing always says so.

Everything from the decade is in the Y2K edit, and the flares and bootcuts are together under flare jeans. If you are building the rest of the outfit, there is a guide to wearing Y2K now.

Questions people ask

What are the best Y2K jeans brands?

For the real low rise of the early 2000s: Big Star, Rock Revival, Miss Me and True Religion. For easier everyday pairs: Silver, Maurices and American Eagle. Hydraulic is the juniors favourite for pocket detail. From Italy: Miss Sixty, Diesel and Moschino.

What is ultra low rise?

A rise of 7 inches or less, measured at the front from the crotch seam to the top of the waistband. It sits on the hip bone.

Do Y2K jeans run small?

The waistband usually measures 1 to 3 inches more than the tag, because the jeans sit on the hips. Buy your usual size, then check the waistband in the listing against your hip measurement.

Are Big Star and Rock Revival the same company?

Both have been made in Los Angeles by Koos Manufacturing, which is why the cuts feel alike. They are separate labels.