Skinny jeans - how did they stay ‘in’ for so long?

[TheOGCCL]

Whether you like it or not, baggier jean shapes are more fashionable at the moment. There are plenty of skinnies in the shops but these are not what the high fashionistas are wearing and a glance down Oxford Street last night showed many more (youngish) people in looser clothing. It struck me that the real talking point is how skinny jeans managed to stay ‘in’ for so long.

They are so eminently practical for everything and everywhere you would have thought the fashion industry would have allowed them for a season or two maximum. Instead it feels like they were actually in for about 15 years, and that it took a pandemic, driving a new desire for relaxed shapes, to dislodge them, finally.

And that actually they haven’t really been completely dislodged, so many people have taken them to their heart, even where they don’t even suit their body shape particularly. Has people power kept them in fashion?

Also - baggier jeans tend to be paired with shirt or even cropped coats. That’s no use in winter. Bit longer coats and loose jeans I’m not sure about at all.

10/15years ago everyone claimed the skinny jean was the most flattering cut and now everyone is saying the opposite. That’s how trends work. What is on trend at the moment is always going to look more flattering to you because that’s what you’ve been trained to think.

I love that they don’t need ironed as the wrinkles stretch out of them!

And 20 years ago when Kate Moss started wearing skinnies people tried a pair on and thought 'oh, Christ no, they make my legs look like fat parsnips'. But yes, then due to their ubiquity they trained themselves to think they looked flattering.

My legs always looked like misshapen parsnips in skinnies so I shunned them throughout their reign.

I'm overweight so they don't look great on me.

I have skinny legs and a large stomach and boobs ( think. Capital B standing up ).

I see so many women with a similar apple shape wearing skinny jeans and either fitted or baggy tops. Neither of which look great tbh.

Wide leg trousers and jeans have been a godsend for balancing out my size 18/20 figure. I tend to wear more fitted tops and wide leg high waisted trousers or jeans usually with a nice jacket.

I have such thin legs it would look awful if I wore skinny jeans. That's not to say they don't suit some slender body types because they do I'm just can't bear to see them on older ( I'm 50 ) apple shapes because that is all they are used to 🤷‍♀️

I think they will be very useful this winter when we are worried about heating our homes and can't afford new clothes

There's always post like these from people desperate to be right and get rid of something that they've claimed isn't 'in' anymore - very boring. Saying a certain type of Jean isn't 'in' any more is like saying a black dress isn't 'in' anymore. Why does it even matter?

I'm tall with slim long legs but child bearing hips and a wide bum.
Baggier jeans look incredibly frumpy on me and so do high waisted.
Low rise skinny are for me!

So you’ve never heard of, or noticed fashion and people following it then? What did you think fashion designers, shows and magazines were for?

They are my winter uniform, and I will not relinquish them, ever. I wear skinnies, with long boots, and big jumpers, every, single, day, in Winter. I look amazing 😉Suck it up!

The reason my teenagers have all gone to Mom jeans, flares and baggy Y2K low waisted combats is because they wear extremely tight crop tops all the time! They never knowingly cover their stomachs! Coupled with a baggy cardi/hoodie type arrangement.

If I wore Mom jeans and a baggy cardi, I would look exactly like a Mom and not in a good way. I can't show my stomach (with its Mom pouch). So, I still wear slim/skinnies, black top, and a jacket/slacket or open shirt.

I do have other types of jeans, cropped, pale, flares, but they require a different silhouette which is harder to style for my +50 years old body shape.

In a way, it's good for young people we are still wearing skinnies, as it helps distinguish them as trendy! There was a time when everyone, mums, grans and the young were all wearing skinnies and everyone looked the same. Thankfully for them they can show off their torsos and regain their rightful place as not old!

I hate skinny jeans, they make me look shorter and fatter than I actually am. It means I've spent the last 10-15 desperately searching for non-skinny jeans as unfortunately the shops stock what's in fashion. Hopefully for you, the shops won't stop stocking skinnies completely as they did for bootcut for so many years.

For almost all the history of bottoms in the UK, they have been skinny -- whether that be hose or breeches or bracchae or leggings. Loose trousers have really only had a few showings and only in the last 200 years. On the long view, skinnies have always been in. It's probably the weather.

I’m one of the people who thinks they look better in skinny jeans! Wide leg jeans look awful on me. I’m fairly petite and my legs are very skinny and I have no arse.

I like the boyfriend look but I dont seem to be able to pull it off.

i think they are similar to leggings which have been going even longer, and are also part of the athleisure wear / casual dress thing. They are comfortable and sort of don’t feeling like wearing proper clothes, if you are a bit fat you just wear a big top, and unlike leggings they can be dressed up a bit. They work in winter and summer - no wet ankles in the rain.

They aren’t especially flattering on most people but they are easy and tick a lot of boxes

Nail on head, @mangoontoast : the reason what's in fashion matters is that the shops stock more of it. And sometimes exclusively it!

I read the title of this thread and agreed for the opposite reason. I can't fit into skinny jeans (too much muscle on my thighs - that's my story and I'm sticking to it), and much prefer loose fits but for years I've been stuck with a choice of various bottom-hugging jeans which I don't like! Last week I bought some wide leg jeans - they're a bit long but it was great just to have them as an option!

Skinnies all the way here! My legs are my best bit and I work hard to keep them like that so no way am I hiding under baggy trousers . Plus I'm only little so mom jeans make me look like one of Snow Whites crew.

This is how I feel about baggy jeans. Very few people can actually get away with them, they mostly look hideous. Skinny jeans look much better on most people in my opinion.

I still wear skinny jeans. I prefer them. I dont care if they are in or not. You get to a certain point in life where you wear what you feel comfortable in not what fashion dictates.

I see more people wearing skinny jeans than any other style. Perhaps I live in an area that doesn't give a shit about latest fashion fads.

I don't think they are 'in' though are they? They haven't been for at least three years. Shops still sell them, but that is not the same thing as being 'in'.

I remember when I was a teenager in the 90s being astounded that my mum could still buy hideous leggings and jeggings from places like BHS and M&S. They weren't 'in' then though.

I agree with PP about baggier jeans needing to be worn with tighter tops. I liked that when I was a teenager, less so now I'm a size 18 adult with a csection overhang. Skinny jeans don't suit me as much as bootcut jeans. But I can wear skinny jeans with any shoes or boots and throw a smart or casual loose top on with them and I'm dressed. With boot cut jeans, I then need heels so can't wear them when I'm out walking and they're not much use for casual days out. I'd then need baggy boyfriend jeans for the casual days.

Love my skinny jeans.
The newer shapes are not for me or a lot of people. Tesco has rails of sale jeans baggy,boyfriend,mom style but no skinny reduced.

I really don't care about fashionistas, so don't give a monkey's what they think/say. I am going to be wearing skinny jeans this winter as they are the obvious choice with long boots. I don't see that ever changing.

If they're still in the shops, which they certainly are, then obviously there's still plenty of people buying them. So perhaps they are still "in".

Why are people making out like the only options are wide leg or skinny jeans?What about straight leg jeans? They work in winter without ‘flapping about’?