I love to wear long ass jeans over platforms - I’ve been doing it for years and I probably won’t stop anytime soon. However, when I released the TINAS, which are more narrow through the leg, I hemmed them short, cuffed them and never looked back (except to see if you were looking).

Let’s talk about hems.

What is a hem? It’s the edge of the leg opening. Hemming is the sewing process of shortening the length or finishing the bottom edge on a pair of jeans. Hemming uses a method of double folding the raw fabric edge of the leg openings into itself to make a clean smooth edge.

When I was working at Loren, the beloved denim shop just off the G Nassau stop in Greenpoint, there were 3 hems one could get (of course there are a number of ways to finish a hem, but let’s start here). A regular hem, a chain stitch hem and an original hem. Well what’s the difference?

A regular hem is when your jeans get a ½ inch seam sewn with a regular straight lock stitch. This is the simplest and the cheapest. It could also look like your mom hemmed your jeans for you, you know what I’m talking about, gah head, have a look.

A chain stitch hem - a chain stitch is one continuous thread that loops back on itself. It is stretchier than lock stitches, which is why you find them in places such as the waistband and leg seams of jeans. Hems sewn with vintage chain-stitching machines develop a desired roping effect after washing because the hem twists around itself. The rippled hem was originally considered a defect. Now it’s a sought after look, I’d say a quintessential denim detail. #chainstitchhem

(Chain stitch pic 2:) see how the thread loops back on itself creating a “chain stitch” Also notice the wear on the rippled hem that gives that desired roping effect.

Original hem - this is cutting the original hem off and saving it to sew back on after the leg has been shortened. This is good if you want to have that worn in seam without working in the wear. Also to avoid “mom hem”. #originalhem

(Original hem pic 3:) you can see in the lower leg that the raw edge of the fabric is folded over and the original hem is sewn back on.

Now that we’ve hemmed our jeans, let’s talk cuff. I read a bunch of articles about cuffs on some nerdy denim blogs and basically they’re stupid. My list is stupid too. And leans waaaaay towards my interests and style.

Single Cuff - roll those jeans up once and show off your chain stitch hem and/or the white side of your jeans

Double Cuff - a cuff, but rolled twice. I don’t like this cuff bc to me it looks like your jeans are too long and you haven’t taken the time to hem them. It doesn't look like it’s on purpose, know what I mean? Lots of people do this so actually, what do I know?

Tight Roll - I love an opportunity to do I tight roll. My big sister used to do this when I was little and I’ll be forever obsessed. This is when you take your baggy-ish pants cross the leg opening horizontally to tighten around your ankle then fold up. Usually you have to fold twice to make it stay. 80’s highschool fantasy baby.

Fat Rock-a-Billy Cuff - ugh I live for this (rock and) roll. I forever love a rock-a-billy look, I just do. So go ahead and roll it up, the bigger the better.

Cuffed n’ Tucked - me and my friend Garrido didn’t make this cuff up but we may be the first to give it this great name. This is when you cuff your jeans then tuck them in your cowboy boots. Usually this is when you’re wearing straight leg jeans that won’t fit over your boots.

Bubble Cuff - this is when you’re wearing bell bottoms and knee high boots. You make a fat roll at the top of your boots because the jeans are too wonderfully bulky to tuck inside said boots.

See my post in Instagram today to get a look at these different cuffs

Is there a hem or cuff you prefer? Mention it in the comment section below!