Todd Shelton Original 13 in 39×36: Measured at 6 foot 8
Todd Shelton sent me a pair of Original 13 jeans in 39×36 to measure. They are 13 oz selvedge denim, 100% cotton with no stretch, cut and sewn in New Jersey, and they are the best-made jeans I have taped. They are also going back, and the reason why is a single measurement that Todd Shelton does publish, in a chart on their own product page, and that I still managed to get wrong.
The waist fits. The length is right — a genuine 36 inch inseam that breaks on the shoe and puts the hem on the floor, which almost nothing does at my height. The denim is rigid, thick and heavy, and it looks and feels better than anything else in this database. And I cannot sit down in them comfortably, because they are tight through the thigh and the seat.
What the tape says
Every figure below was taken by me with the jean flat on a table on 30 October 2026. Nothing here comes from a size chart.
| Measurement | Todd Shelton Original 13, 39×36 |
|---|---|
| Waistband, flat | 20.25″ |
| Front rise | 11.5″ |
| Back rise | 16.0″ |
| Rise differential | 4.5″ |
| Thigh, flat (1″ below the crotch seam) | 12.5″ |
| Inseam | 36″ |
| Leg opening, flat | 8.0″ |
| Fabric | 13 oz selvedge, 100% cotton, no stretch |
It is not the thigh. It is the rise.
My first assumption was that the thigh was cut small. My own tape says otherwise — and to be clear, that is my measurement of the garment, not a disagreement with their size chart, which uses a different method. At 12.5 inches flat the thigh sits in the middle of every 36 inch inseam jean I own — roomier than the Wrangler 13MWZ, roomier than the Amazon Essentials slim fit. If the thigh were the problem, those two would fail first. They do not.
The number that is actually unusual is the back rise.
| Jean | Size | Front rise | Back rise | Thigh flat | Leg opening | Stretch? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Todd Shelton Original 13 | 39×36 | 11.5″ | 16.0″ | 12.5″ | 8.0″ | None |
| Wrangler 13MWZ | 40×36 | 14.5″ | 18.0″ | 11.5″ | 8.5″ | None |
| The Perfect Jean | 38×36 | 12.5″ | 17.5″ | 12.25″ | 8.0″ | Yes |
| Amazon Essentials Slim-Fit | 40×36 | 11.75″ | 17.25″ | 12.0″ | 7.25″ | Yes |
| Ariat M4 Low Rise | 40×36 | 12.25″ | 17.25″ | 13.0″ | 9.75″ | Yes |
| True Classic Stretch Straight | 40×36 | 12.0″ | 17.0″ | 13.5″ | 9.0″ | Yes |
16.0 inches is the shortest back rise of any 36 inch inseam jean I have measured — a full inch shorter than the next closest, and two inches shorter than the Wrangler. The front rise, at 11.5 inches, is also the lowest in the group. The whole rise block is shorter than anything else I own at this length.
Rise is what carries your seat. On a tall frame there is simply more of you to carry, and the difference between a 16 inch back rise and an 18 inch one is the difference between a jean that sits where you put it and one that is dragged down every time you bend.
Rigid denim has no second chance
Here is the part the numbers alone will not tell you. Of the six jeans in that table, five contain elastane or some other stretch. The Todd Shelton is the only rigid one.
A 12.5 inch thigh in stretch denim and a 12.5 inch thigh in rigid denim are not the same garment.
Stretch fabric borrows. When the rise is a little short, the fabric gives a quarter inch at the seat and you never notice. Rigid denim borrows nothing. A short rise and a mid-sized thigh in rigid denim will pull the moment you sit, and the jean has no way to absorb it. That is exactly what these do.
This is not a fault in the jean. It is what raw denim is supposed to be, and part of why it looks the way it does — I have written separately on what raw, selvedge and stretch actually change about a tall fit. It just means the measurements have to be right at the point of order, because the fabric will not cover a mistake.
What I should have ordered
Todd Shelton does two things most brands do not. The thigh is a separate choice from the waist — lean, basic, relaxed or athletic — and their size chart publishes the actual numbers for each one: waist, seat, thigh, front rise, back rise, knee and ankle, for every size. That is more than almost anyone in this category gives you.
Which makes this my error, not theirs. I picked basic, having measured my own thigh and matched it to their chart. By my own thigh measurement that was the right call. By the way these actually fit, it was not.
Here is the mistake, and it is worth more than the review. I matched on the measurement I took off my body, instead of matching against a jean that already fits me. My thigh is my thigh; it does not tell you how much room a rigid jean needs around it. The pairs I keep sit at a 17 to 17.5 inch back rise. Had I compared that number against their chart rather than measuring my own leg, the athletic fit would have been obvious before I ordered.
Their own chart says what moving up buys you. Going from basic to athletic adds roughly 4 inches in the seat, three quarters of an inch of front rise and an inch and an eighth of back rise. That would put this jean at about a 17.1 inch back rise — squarely in line with every other 36 inch inseam pair in the table above. Their high rise option adds about another inch on top.
So the fix is specific, and it is not ‘size up’. The waist is correct at 39. At 6 foot 8 and 285 pounds, the athletic thigh is the one to order, and if you carry more through the seat than I do, look at the high rise as well.
If you are tall and thinking about rigid denim
Three things worth taking from this, whichever brand you buy:
- Back rise matters more than the thigh. It is the number that decides whether a jean stays where you put it. Very few brands publish it — Todd Shelton is one of the ones that does, which is exactly why there is no excuse for what happened here.
- Rigid and stretch are not comparable at the same measurement. If you are moving from stretch denim to raw, you need more rise and more seat than the tape suggests, not the same.
- If a brand lets you choose the thigh separately, that is the choice that matters. Measuring your own thigh is not enough on its own — compare against a jean that already fits you.
What to measure on the jeans you already own
Lay a pair that fits you flat and take four numbers: front rise from the top of the waistband down to the crotch seam, back rise from the crotch seam up the center back to the waistband, thigh across an inch below the crotch seam, and the leg opening across the hem. Write them down.
Then put them into the Fit Finder and see which of the garments I have taped match what already works on you. That is the whole point of having measured them — so that you do not have to order two pairs and send one back.
More on how these numbers work together is in the rise guide for tall men, and every garment I have taped is listed in the tall sizing database.
The verdict
Going back — and that is how this brand is meant to work. Todd Shelton builds to order and expects the first pair to be a starting point rather than a finished answer. Their own guidance says it plainly: start with one jean to confirm fit, exchanges are normal and free, and once your fit is established it stays on file so your size never sells out.
That re frames what I found. I did not buy the wrong jean — I completed step one of a two-step process, and the tape told me exactly what to change. Waist stays at 39. Thigh moves from basic to athletic. That is the entire correction, and it is a free exchange rather than a loss.
Which is a genuinely different proposition from ordering two sizes off a shelf and posting one back. Most brands make you guess, charge you for guessing wrong, and discontinue your size a year later. This one assumes an iteration, pays for it, and remembers the outcome. If you are tall and have spent years being told your measurements are unusual, that is worth knowing about.
Beautifully made, correctly long, and the best-looking denim I have had on. The 16 inch back rise and the rigid fabric are what send this particular pair back, not the waist and not the length. I would order them again in the athletic thigh without hesitating — and I intend to.
They are at toddshelton.com. Inseams run 35 to 38 inches in one inch increments across every fabric and thigh fit, which on its own puts them ahead of most of what is available to tall men.
Disclosure
Todd Shelton sent this pair free of charge for review. I was not paid, the brand had no sight of this piece before it went up, and the link to them on this page is a plain link and earns me nothing — I have no affiliate relationship with Todd Shelton and did not ask for one before writing this. Every measurement here is my own, taken with a tape on a flat table.
