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?

I’m struggling to get rid of mine because none of the current other options suit me. Mom jeans are particularly bad on me and make me look like I’ve got. Massive gut even though I don’t carry excess weight there.

I suspect that those of us who are continuing to wear them are just like the middle aged people in the mid 90s to early 2000s. Back then bootcut jeans were on fashion for quite a long time but it was ages before most middle aged people embraced them (I remember my mum and her friends finally starting to wear them in around 2002-3, just a few years before skinnies took over - this is just one example, but I do remember noticing the odd middle aged woman wearing bootcuts and thinking how fresh they looked in them, so it must have been unusual for me to have even noticed). They were still wearing straight leg jeans even though they hadn’t been in fashion for a long time, so they must have still been available somewhere.

I don't much care that wider legs are more fashionable, but i am super relieved to be able to relax again. I have enjoyed clothes this past year unlike any other since I was in my 20's.
I have been wearing loose joggers, soft, wider fit jeans with a low or mid rise (great for me and my short torso) and shorts quite a lot. Going in to winter I am now wondering about how to merge these with coats/rainwear.

I have some fantastic loose combats that will go great with my boots and jumpers, and plan to wear my long wool coat over them, but can't for the life of me bear going back to those bland, hip length raincoats that we all wore with skinny jeans.

Interesting to see the body police out in this thread. I have seen plenty larger sized girls in wide jeans who have looked fucking amazing. I do suspect many posters here are overweight and angry. As a slim person i cant imagine judging someone like that and expecting any stranger on the internet to give even the slightest shiny fuck about my bitter, narrow opinions and self loathing.

I tried "mom" jeans, found them really unflattering, already back in skinnies.

The model just about pulls it off although there’s still a lot of extra fabric around the stomach and crotch are that doesn’t look great. On me (size 12, average height, hourglass) this look would be pure Humpty Dumpty.

Boot cut jeans are awful. The definition of ‘mumsy’ 🙈

Exactly. It's Style and Beauty. Not fashion. Not trends. Style.

Fashion is what you buy, style is what you do with it. Or something.

being afraid of mumsy or frump is so middle aged

just relax, wear what delights you and and avoid mumsnet, lol. I came in here to catch up after a few months hiatus and christ there's such a depressing, bitter energy across the entire site.

I will try again next year!

Wearing what’s ‘in’ isn’t a guarantee for looking good anyway.

Flimsy thin cycling shorts with matching tiny tops, all made of the same material seem to be in fashion. But I think most women are shunning it. Camel toe galore, plus minor wedgie and looking like you’re literally just wearing big underwear and forgot to but your clothes on. Looks fantastic on models in photo shoots I’m sure, not so much on the average person carrying a shopping basket in tesco express. I’ve come across three or four women wearing this during the the summer and it’s just embarrassingly awkward seeing people in this get up. No one seems to know where to look, you can see people looking and thinking WTF? The worst one was in beige - it was like watching someone walk around in Spanx that had unfortunately lost their elasticity.

I’m talking this get up here:
m.shein.co.uk/Neon-Orange-Crop-Cami-Top-And-Cycling-Shorts-Set-p-3026933-cat-1780.html?url_from=ukadplasS2105260100997118PetiteS_GPM&cid=16905480373&setid=&adid=&pf=GOOGLE&gbraid=0AAAAADm0yO6xwiOfHpxBOUGSWceK7PNjq&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI9ebEhpLn-QIVks13Ch0NFwkoEAQYCCABEgKa7vD_BwE&ref=www&rep=dir&ret=m

Skinny jeans may not be height of fashion - but they do still look good.

being afraid of mumsy or frump is so middle aged

what's wrong with middle aged?

I wonder if a fashion thread could be created then? So those of us who are interested in fashion, and what’s on trend and current, can have discussions without be sneered at by posters who insist it is completely ridiculous.

skinnies will be back in soon, as the 00s fashion takes hold.

back in as in very on trend

Is it? "mumsy" means bootcut jeans?
What a shame that the word mum is a synonym for old fashioned and without style.

I’m now beginning to think this has to be regional. I’m in central London and it’s completely the opposite round here, skinnies are mumsy and bootleg are on trend.

Bootcut jeans have been ruined for me by the village bitch wearing them. She is a really nasty piece of work who hides under the guise of a good Christian, and although her choice of jeans is obviously unrelated to this, I can’t help but associate them with her 😂 It’s a shame because I used to look pretty good in them last time around.

Skinnies are practical for cycling and dog walking in winter so I don’t think I’ll be giving them up any time soon. I’m also quite tall so I don’t think they look too bad on me, with my wellies on. I do have some more relaxed ones now that I like very much with my short boots so I’ll probably wear those a lot this year too. Might try and get some mom jeans if I can find a pair that suit me.

Wide legs probably work better in towns, I’d be a total mud sponge in them out here. Or I’d have annoying flappy bits to try and stuff into my welly legs.

This is exactly how those of us who continued to wear boot cut jeans after they stopped being fashionable felt. I love bootcut jeans, they suit my shape, and I never had problems finding footwear which goes with them. Skinnies on the other hand make my legs look like parsnips unless I'm wearing long boots which make my calves look bigger, and with a lot of flat shoes make me look like a clown wearing oversized footwear (thanks to my very skinny calves and ankles and wide ish feet)

Ah, Sizzler we know that some women on MN will be 29 forever....

Would anyone dare to wear a pair with a Breton top?

No - you think they date people. That's not the same thing as it actually being true - as half this thread can attest to.

I agree with this.
They look dreadful on anyone who isn't 16 with a washboard stomach.

I don't see anyone wearing skinny jeans any more. Not the mums or the teens.

The reality is that skinny jeans make most people's legs look like parsnips. And they now look frumpy because they are so out of fashion. So if you're trying to avoid looking frumpy, then I think you're barking up the wrong tree.

One of the new shapes will suit you - it's just a case of getting use to them.

They look good on me and I'm neither. I finally found a jean style to suit when I found mum jeans. They're still not as comfortable as dresses and skirts though which is what I usually wear. Luckily for me I'm now in fashion!

She's a model and they look horrible

Clinging to the thighs, baggy on the crotch. That's not exactly selling mom jeans

I don't think many people look good in mom jeans. Straight leg/wide leg or bootcut (despite my hatred) but I really don't think anyone bar teenage girls or the very slim look good in mom jeans. And they don't have the cool factor of dad jeans or really baggy jeans/low rise which aren't flattering but are in style atm

Style and fashion isn't just wearing what's in trend. You can wear clothes which aren't in trend and still look stylish

I don't think black skinnies are that unfashionable that you look frumpy or unstylish if you chose a more modern or classic outfit