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Original poster

So, jeans.

27 replies

IWouldNotCouldNotWithAGoat · 01/04/2011 03:33

Bootcuts are mumsy. Skinnies make my legs look like two sausages. And straights make my feet look about 8 feet long.

So what the hell do I wear?

OP posts:
Jacksmania · 01/04/2011 04:39

Bootcuts are mumsy????? Shit. And I spent all that money on bootcut Big Stars. Angry

OK. Flares??

Librashavinganotherbiscuit · 01/04/2011 09:25

oh good grief, bootcuts are only mumsy if they are also of a certain wash, make your bottom look flat and you wear them with other mumsy clothes.
If you find a pair of bootcuts that make you look fabulous then go for it (slightly prickly as my fave pair of jeans are citizens of humanity kelly jeans!)

notyummy · 01/04/2011 09:42

Libra talks sense.

Get some skinny bootcuts, wear with some fab wedges and a cool top = look good.

DonaAna · 01/04/2011 12:42

I think bootcuts flatter most average non-model physiques way better than skinnies or flares. That's why they were so popular for almost a decade. That's why we are not giving them up.

Update the footwear, not the jeans.

aquavit · 01/04/2011 13:18

I'm v happy to be back in bootcuts for the summer (like skinnies in winter, but they only look OK on me with boots) - had forgotten tbh how much more flattering than skinnies/straights they are on me. The Next Ultimate ones seem to be rather good (by which I mean, they haven't stretched hideously like every other pair of cheap not-hideously-expensive jeans I've had recently...)

I quite like the idea of 'boyfriend' jeans but they do not suit me at all (big arse small waist)

BadPoet · 01/04/2011 13:21

I agree with Libra and DonaAna. Luckily I can absolutely get away with it in my windswept rural little corner of GB. If I lived somewhere more fashion-forward, I'd move.

I have straight legs from M&S which I love. I have realised this is because they are actually bootcut!

messylittlemonkey · 01/04/2011 13:23

Flares are back, dontcha know?

jaffacake79 · 01/04/2011 13:49

Bootcuts here for me too. Big bum, smaller waist and quite sizeable thighs. These are Next ones I have on and they fit like a dream and don't gape at the back thank god.
Slim fit ones to go in boots though wouldn't wear them any other time, they'd look like inverted triangles!

sparkle1977 · 01/04/2011 13:57

try slim leg jeans, bit looser than skinny jeans but not quite bootcut, you might find them a good alternative.

madammecholet · 01/04/2011 14:01

Net a Porter email I had recently said:

Crop it ? cropped jeans are big news this season. Versatile and universally flattering, take yours from day to night with a switch of heel.

Wear Flares ? tap into this seasons seventies trend with Luxe flared jeans.

Roll up ? take cues from the cool girls and roll up your jeans for the instant outfit update.

jaffacake79 · 01/04/2011 14:13

See, Roll up's just remind me of being a kid and wearing too long jeans, and having to roll them up until I grew! Grin

Librashavinganotherbiscuit · 01/04/2011 14:31

I love roll ups but think you either have to be 5'10 and size 12 or smaller OR wear wedges and in both cases have slim ankles to carry them off, ditto with cropped (they are NOT universally flattering!)

ConnorTraceptive · 01/04/2011 14:34

OK what are the wrong shades of bootcut??

aquavit · 01/04/2011 14:36

jaffa rolled up jeans remind me of being a kid too - but less because of waiting to grow into them, more because it was deeply, deeply uncool at my school not to roll your jeans up....we all had freezing cold ankles for the winter of 1987, to my parents' complete bafflement

yy Libra cropped jeans are so NOT universally flattering, think they are particularly cruel to the large-bottomed among us

aquavit · 01/04/2011 14:38

Connor very even-toned mid-blue is probably the worst, though I don't much like anything that is very uniformly coloured. Pale/stonewash/etc is obviously out unless the cut and wearer are VERY cool. Oh and any coloured jeans - including black - are also hideous if the cut is mumsy.

but the real bootcut jeans crime is to have them too short, no?

notyummy · 01/04/2011 15:15

Agree re the cropped. Worth a try, but harder to pull off if shorter/wider.

DonaAna · 01/04/2011 17:19

NAP just tries to sell more stuff. If you are built spidery like I am, cropped looks horrible - it accentuates all my bad bits. Flares look good on me but are difficult to wear IRL - have you tried the floor-sweeping version on rainy, muddy streets (and wooden platform soles / straw espadrilles don't help)? Rolled up - I look like an extra from Beverly Hills 90210...

Perhaps I'm just getting older - I've found styles that suit me and won't be doing something just because it's on-trend but not for me Grin

Connor , it seems that skinny bootcut (tighter way up) is the updated bootcut. Honestly, though, most women still look good in the bootcut they bought 8 years ago if they update accessories and footwear (that's also the frugal way to maintain your wardrobe - the building blocks remain the same, you buy a couple of trendy accessories or new tops every year). Like I said, bootcut seem to flatter many more people than skinnies or flares. If you look like a model, you obviously have a lot more freedom, but on average body sizes, many fashion extremes simply won't work.

Jacksmania · 01/04/2011 17:40

Thank fuck goodness bootcuts are ok - I spent a bloody fortune on mine.

Can anyone answer this - WHY is shopping for jeans such a nightmare??? I live in Canada, on the West Coast, and can't find jeans that I like or that fit anywhere in our area. And I'm not being a snob, I have looked, believe me! I finally found a shop called Buckle, across the border in the US, that sells the most amazing jeans... expensive but worth it, and thank goodness it's only a half hour drive across.
Still have to have the waistband taken in though, even if they fit everywhere else.

Jeans and bathing suits - why are they such a faff to fit? I mean, I can find khakis that fit, or business trousers... why are jeans so difficult????

DonaAna · 01/04/2011 18:02

Jack, I live in Europe, and the jeans that fit me best are Dex from Canada (an obscure chain somewhere in Montreal) and 7FAM from the US. Anything in high street stores where I live looks absolutely awful on me. So I feel your pain Grin Thank god internet shopping is possible these days...

Jacksmania · 01/04/2011 18:03

Well, if you ever order anything from Canada and the shipping is horrible, let me know. I could get it delivered to mine (or pick it up) and ship it on to you, would probably be much less.

noddyholder · 01/04/2011 18:03

New shape bootcuts much tighter around the bum and thigh and look more up to date.

WhatsWrongWithYou · 01/04/2011 18:11

I bought skinny bootcuts from FC last summer < fashion forward >, and there isn't a great deal of difference between them and my old Oasis scarlets.
I think you'd get away with updating the old ones, but mine are not long enough for heels.

Haven't worn them much yet though, as I've still to sort out footwear.
I take it the wedges need platforms as well as heel height?
< fashion ignorant >

shmoz · 01/04/2011 18:16

Whatever you do, don't copy Martine McCutcheon in the Activia ad Shock

Jacksmania · 01/04/2011 19:10

Link?
Purely in the interest of giggling avoiding a fashion faux pas.

shmoz · 01/04/2011 21:40

I must warn you its not pleasant