If you're trying to choose a size in kids jeans, we'd start with the pair your child already wants to wear. Even if they're getting a little short. There's useful information in those jeans: where the waistband sits, how much room there is to bend, whether the legs feel easy or get tugged at all day. A size label doesn't tell you very much of that.
Our Play Jeans have an elastic waist and a relaxed, slightly cropped leg, so the comparison takes a little thought if the pair you're holding is narrow and full length. You might want the same comfortable waist with a completely different shape below it. That's a reasonable place to begin.
Lay a favorite pair flat
Choose jeans or trousers that fit well now, or a pair whose fit you can describe clearly: good through the waist, for example, but ready for another inch in the leg. Fasten them, lay them on a flat surface and smooth out the folds without pulling the fabric. Let an elastic waistband settle back into its resting shape.
Keep the label size in your notes, along with whether the pair is new or has been through plenty of washes. Those details help explain the garment you're comparing. They don't turn one maker's 2T into a measurement shared by everyone else.
The waist, inseam and rise each tell you something different
For the waist, measure straight across the flat waistband, with the elastic relaxed. Write down that it's a flat measurement. If another size chart gives a body circumference, you need to know how that number was taken before treating the two as equivalent. A stretched elastic waist is a different measurement again.
For the inseam, follow the inside leg from the crotch seam to the hem. This is the number to look at when the waist feels right but the length doesn't. Then measure the front rise, from the crotch seam up to the top of the waistband. Rise is easy to overlook, and it helps explain why two pairs with similar leg lengths can sit so differently.
While the jeans are in front of you, add a sentence about the change you're hoping for. “More room through the seat” is useful. So is “the hem is right, but the waist slips.” It gives a size question a little more shape than simply asking whether to go up one.
Leave room for the jeans to have their own shape
The Lemon Patch Pocket Play Jean is meant to look roomy through the leg and a little cropped. If that's the shape you're after, compare the measurements with that in mind. If you want a longer trouser, we'd look closely at the inseam before going up a size, because the waist and rise change too.
Our Vintage Fabric Pocket Play Jean has that same relaxed, cropped approach, with the pocket fabric bringing something different to each version. If you're choosing a pair for a birthday or another particular date, look at the order timing as well as the size.
Send us the numbers, and the part you're unsure about
If a measurement you need isn't on the product page, ask us. “This pair is comfortable, it measures this across the waist and this along the inseam, and we'd like a little more room here” gives us something concrete to work with. For a gift, a caregiver can often measure a recently worn pair for you.
Keep that little note with the date. It's a helpful starting point next time, until the child grows and the favorite pair changes. And if you're still deciding what kind of denim you want, our guide to choosing cotton kids jeans gets into the fabric and construction. Fit is part of the decision; how you want the jeans to feel is part of it too.
Leave a comment