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Original poster

Are people really giving up skinny jeans? What are flattering alternatives?

245 replies

Duvetstay · 16/04/2021 20:53

So everywhere I look online people are being told to ditch the skinnies. Dd10 assured me that NO ONE wears them now.

But everyone I see seems to? I have a pair of mom jeans and balloon leg but they are sooo unflattering. I'm a size 12, tall, hourglass shape and chunky of thigh. I'm sick of feeling enormous in these new shapes! Anyone found anything flattering that aren't skinny jeans? I look like an obese clown.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
6
wheresmymojo · 17/04/2021 20:51

Tops wise I can't pull off the more cropped ones really so going for sort of feminine slightly silky / slightly see through shirts, partially open at the top with a vest top underneath and French tucked.

CorianderBee · 17/04/2021 21:50

I'm 25 and I and all my friends continue to wear skinny jeans 🙄 They're not getting me back in flares or anything low rise ever.

RubyFowler · 17/04/2021 21:55

@mistermagpie

I've recently bought three new pairs of jeans after being welded to my skinnies for a decade.

I bought a pair of girlfriend, a pair of boyfriend and a pair of mom jeans.

It's taken work but I'm finally coming round, what has made them work is just buying a whole load of new tops - not ideal! So they all look better with either a cropped (not short but waist length, I am 40 and a mum to three so my stomach is not for public consumption) or tucked in tighter top. The looser or boxier tops I wore with my skinnies do not work at all.

Shoes are a problem though, converse are ok or other neater trainers, but I can't figure out how you wear smarter shoes?

Yeah I don't know if you can wear these styles on a night out the same way you would have worn skinnies. I haven't worked that out yet either.
TedMullins · 17/04/2021 22:02

Yeah sorry OP they are out! I was an absolute skinny jean devotee from my teens til like, two years ago. I don’t want to sound like a wanker but I wore skinnies before they were even fashionable because I was into the 80s punk/garage look. I got laughed at at school then a year later all the popular kids were wearing them. Anyway, I digress.

I’m now fond of straight leg, mom jeans and retro wide legs - I found a brilliant pair from Superdry of all places! They’re well fitted round the hips and bum then wide the rest of the way with a crease stitched down the front so they look smart. I also bought a good straight leg pair from White Stuff that fitted better round the stomach and hips than mom jeans.

I also rate Gap and New Look for well-fitting jeans and they have plenty of different styles. For a subtle transition try a fitted straight leg so it’s still slim but not skin tight.

Or, just keep wearing skinnies and to hell with what anyone else thinks! (I mean, I wear patchwork dungarees out in public so I’m hardly going to care if I spot someone in skinnies)

TedMullins · 17/04/2021 22:03

Oh and Monki, I like their jeans as well and they fit well, true to size

Salanda · 17/04/2021 22:18

@RubyFowler @mistermagpie I think you can wear slim/straight leg jeans with smarter shoes or heels. Don’t you think some heeled boots and lace up boots would work too?

But I feel like the rise in the more slouchy styles is linked to a general change in how people dress to be more casual, including for the evenings. I’m in London and I know it varies a lot in different areas/with different crowds but as a rule, if I looked around me, I’d see people don’t dress up to go out for the evening, and I think the change in fashion to looser more relaxed silhouettes and trainers becoming the default footwear option goes hand in hand with that.

I guess with skinnies they can be dressed down for day time (the ubiquitous look round here in the 2000s was skinnies, ballet pumps and a longline vest) and you could wear the same jeans dressed up to go for a drink (again a standard 2000s look was skinnies with heels and a ‘nice’ top). Now it’s looser jeans, trainers - and you can pretty much just wear that day or evening!

I think for me it’s not about fitting the newer style of jeans into the previous way of dressing (dressing up the jeans with heels and a nice top) and more about changing how you approach dressing (do I need to wear heels to go to my local pub? I personally don’t and I don’t miss feeling like I should!)

wheresmymojo · 17/04/2021 22:28

Heels are worn less often now but they're not completely out in terms of evening...

I would wear heels with turned up Mom jeans / straight leg jeans like these pics

Are people really giving up skinny jeans? What are flattering alternatives?
Are people really giving up skinny jeans? What are flattering alternatives?
Are people really giving up skinny jeans? What are flattering alternatives?
wheresmymojo · 17/04/2021 22:29

Something like the 3rd pic is what I'm going for to go out to dinner tomorrow...

...if you imagine that I have a black vest top on rather than just a bra and that I've basically eaten that model so am twice the size Grin

mistermagpie · 17/04/2021 22:29

@TedMullins

Yeah sorry OP they are out! I was an absolute skinny jean devotee from my teens til like, two years ago. I don’t want to sound like a wanker but I wore skinnies before they were even fashionable because I was into the 80s punk/garage look. I got laughed at at school then a year later all the popular kids were wearing them. Anyway, I digress.

I’m now fond of straight leg, mom jeans and retro wide legs - I found a brilliant pair from Superdry of all places! They’re well fitted round the hips and bum then wide the rest of the way with a crease stitched down the front so they look smart. I also bought a good straight leg pair from White Stuff that fitted better round the stomach and hips than mom jeans.

I also rate Gap and New Look for well-fitting jeans and they have plenty of different styles. For a subtle transition try a fitted straight leg so it’s still slim but not skin tight.

Or, just keep wearing skinnies and to hell with what anyone else thinks! (I mean, I wear patchwork dungarees out in public so I’m hardly going to care if I spot someone in skinnies)

All three of my new non-skinny jeans are superdry!
Banville · 17/04/2021 22:30

I always thought high heeled shoes (not boots) paired with skinny jeans was an awkward look. Very Sandy from Grease post-makeover.

hanahsaunt · 17/04/2021 22:33

I am 47. I have never owned a pair of skinny jeans. I doubt that I ever will. Now just waiting for the ridiculous high rise thing to be banished as well.

Passmethecrisps · 17/04/2021 22:39

Thank you! This is the thread I have been looking for.

I am 42 with parsnip legs. I was betrothed to the boot cut in my slimmer days but I made the shift to skinny. They aren’t right on me - I can see that - but I have never felt a suitable alternative. I did buy some mom jeans recently and they were laughable

BrimfulOfBaba · 17/04/2021 22:40

It's so embarrassing that so many women in their 30s and above are ditching clothes they like because they want to seem relevant to teenagers.

Passmethecrisps · 17/04/2021 22:41

It’s not about what’s relevant for me but what I can actually purchase on the high street

Salanda · 17/04/2021 22:50

@BrimfulOfBaba

It's so embarrassing that so many women in their 30s and above are ditching clothes they like because they want to seem relevant to teenagers.
I’m not sure being relevant to teenagers is the only reason that adult women might want to try a new jeans shape or follow a fashion.
Iamthewombat · 17/04/2021 22:52

@BrimfulOfBaba

It's so embarrassing that so many women in their 30s and above are ditching clothes they like because they want to seem relevant to teenagers.
Come off it. Are you suggesting that fashion is all about ‘seeming relevant to teenagers’? We’d all still be wearing whalebone corsets and ankle length skirts if we refused to follow trends for fear of being suspected of ‘trying to be relevant to teenagers’.
wheresmymojo · 17/04/2021 22:53

@BrimfulOfBaba

It's so embarrassing that so many women in their 30s and above are ditching clothes they like because they want to seem relevant to teenagers.

I don't know any teenagers Confused

Boomchicka · 17/04/2021 23:00

I'm 29, bought some black mom jeans from M&S today! I'm pear shaped but tall and think they are quite flattering.

Banville · 17/04/2021 23:01

@BrimfulOfBaba

It's so embarrassing that so many women in their 30s and above are ditching clothes they like because they want to seem relevant to teenagers.
Plenty of people on the thread have said they'll continue to wear skinny jeans. I don't think the women who are thinking of exploring other cuts of jeans are doing so because they're scared of getting heckled by the 16 year old Sophies and Megans.
BrimfulOfBaba · 17/04/2021 23:02

The talk about skinny jeans going out stems from tiktok gen z vs millennial debates. As other posters have pointed out, skinny jeans are still in shops as there are lots of people who still like them.

Wider legged jeans of course look great on some people but there are loads of shorter legged folk for example they don't look good on. I'm referring to people who know those jeans don't suit them but are still thinking about wearing them and ditching the things they like, to feel relevant. Not really that controversial.

Boomchicka · 17/04/2021 23:02

I should add, I've been wearing my skinnies for as long as I can remember!! But times are a changing, and I'm embracing the mom.

BrimfulOfBaba · 17/04/2021 23:04

I'm not sure why the defensiveness when I was clearly talking about people ditching clothes they like, which is what some posters were doing here, rather than an interest in different shapes. If you're in the latter category, that's not what I'm referring to.

LadyTiredWinterBottom2 · 17/04/2021 23:08

I wouldn't ditch anything to be relevant to anyone. I don't want to dress like a teenager so l won't be buying balloon jeans or boyfriend jeans or jeans with so many rips they are barely worth wearing.

TedMullins · 17/04/2021 23:10

[quote Salanda]**@RubyFowler* @mistermagpie* I think you can wear slim/straight leg jeans with smarter shoes or heels. Don’t you think some heeled boots and lace up boots would work too?

But I feel like the rise in the more slouchy styles is linked to a general change in how people dress to be more casual, including for the evenings. I’m in London and I know it varies a lot in different areas/with different crowds but as a rule, if I looked around me, I’d see people don’t dress up to go out for the evening, and I think the change in fashion to looser more relaxed silhouettes and trainers becoming the default footwear option goes hand in hand with that.

I guess with skinnies they can be dressed down for day time (the ubiquitous look round here in the 2000s was skinnies, ballet pumps and a longline vest) and you could wear the same jeans dressed up to go for a drink (again a standard 2000s look was skinnies with heels and a ‘nice’ top). Now it’s looser jeans, trainers - and you can pretty much just wear that day or evening!

I think for me it’s not about fitting the newer style of jeans into the previous way of dressing (dressing up the jeans with heels and a nice top) and more about changing how you approach dressing (do I need to wear heels to go to my local pub? I personally don’t and I don’t miss feeling like I should!)[/quote]
This is so true about a shift to more casual styles. As I’ve got older (I’m 32) I’ve become way more into plainer but slightly quirky styles, think Cos, LF Markey, Uniqlo basics, Other Stories. Basically I love baggy jeans and oversized tunics with some statement pieces thrown in like a patterned coat or pink DMs. My friends call my style ‘art mum’. I never wear heels, and I’d wear the exact same outfit during the day as I would on a night out. For me, ditching skinnies is actually about not wanting to look like a teenager! I feel too young in them, and I don’t feel like they compliment my desired aesthetic of looking like a unisex sack 😂

wheresmymojo · 17/04/2021 23:41

@LadyTiredWinterBottom2

I wouldn't ditch anything to be relevant to anyone. I don't want to dress like a teenager so l won't be buying balloon jeans or boyfriend jeans or jeans with so many rips they are barely worth wearing.

Ripped jeans are the worst on me. I look like the Incredible Hulk part way through transformation and/or like my fat is trying to escape through the rips Grin