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?

Skinny jeans were in fashion for about 17 years. They first became a fashion item in I reckon 2005.

Even since my mid teens I do not have the thighs for skinny jeans. I am so happy they are going out of style. Buying jeans for many many years has been a bloody nightmare

Never mind sticking with skinnies, I am never ever buying a different pair of boots now. I absolutely love them.

I hate this loose, boxy look. Really unflattering. Seems deliberate. I have decent legs so skinny jeans look nice on me. I don’t know if I’m ready for bootcut. It feels so Y2K

So, I have my mom jeans but what shoes should I wear with them. I used to wear ''runner boots'' or high tops as they call them now. I think these look better with slightly cropped jeans as it covers up that ankle gap which can look a bit goofy tbh. So, are high tops really out of fashion now? NO IDEA
And if they are, what do you wear with mom jeans, it is harder to pair mom jeans with boots. I feel like skinnies were easy with boots. All types

I’ve got short legs for my height, and baggy jeans make them look even shorter.

High waisted ones set my c-section shelf off beautifully, and give me a bum longer than the M1.

The absolute best style for my shape is bootleg, but no matter how banging they make my arse look, I’m a slave to fashion. I can’t party like it’s 1999 - I’m 48. I just look like I’ve no idea what’s in fashion and probably have a wolf fleece to go with them.

Skinnies were an acceptable shape on me, though. And now they’ve been seized by the Fashion Police.

I hate this. Who spoiled jeans?

I love them because they look good on me.

I am the wrong shape for skinnies, my legs are stupidly skinny from knee to ankle and then normal-ish above the knee, giving me the parsnip look. I can only make them work in spring/summer when I roll them up a bit, kind of balancing me out, and even then I have to wear a long top to hide the widest bit of the parsnip shape!

because my calves are so narrow, long boots are really tricky, so I gave up years ago, and wear Next slim leg jeans, But I agree that many of the latest jeans shapes are so hard to wear, changing your shape of jeans means a whole new silhouette/shape with different tops and shoes and it’s not easy!

That said, I envy people who made skinnies look so easy to wear and I suspect people are still wearing them because no realistic alternative has come along!

I basically gave up on jeans in cold weather last year and wore sportswear

@NowtSalamander thats an interesting option, but what exactly did you wear? As explained in my earlier thread, I can’t make skinnies work in the winter.

I echo the comment about Lycra in the material. That technology change enabled us to show the shape of our bodies. In some cases it is too well defined!

Not everyone gives a shiny shit what high fashionistas are wearing. Different people like different things!

I was out in central London last night and I can confirm that vast swathes of women of all ages were still wearing skinny jeans .

What was interesting was that there were so many different jeans shapes about. I feel like we are entering an ‘anything goes’ jeans stage, which would be nice.

"Do people really listen to and wear what is "in" and what the "high fashionistas" are wearing whether or not it suits them?! You learn something every day - don't people just wear what they actually like?"

No because you're limited to what is actually available in the shops.
I've had my favourite skinnies re-patched many times, but now I'm having to accept they're past it and it's time to move on I think.
People who say they don't follow fashion at all are lying. We all do to some extent. As much as I might want to go out in crinoline, I'd have a hard time finding them.

"Looser jeans only really look good with short or tucked in tops and I struggle to make that work for me."

Well, yes because I don't own any of the shorter and tighter tops any more.

"Really? I think this looks fantastic.
www.asos.com/topshop/topshop-mom-jeans-in-bleach/prd/201397454"

I'd say it looks OK and that's on a model.
Many mom jeans are more rounded than that though. This one looks quite similar to my pair of girlfriend jeans.

No, but it's not the opposite of it either.
You wouldn't be stylish in 2022 if you wore a Tudor collar.

It rains a lot where I live (except for this year).

Baggy jeans are too impractical for rainy days.

@Gwenhwyfar 😂

Yeah, I'm glad to see the back of them. I'm back in 501s , relaxed fit, which for me ( short chunky legs, reasonable waist ) was always more flattering, and I roll them up slightly to make them look like mom jeans. Skinnys were always uncomfortable on my overly curvy arse.

I second this. Everyone should wear the jeans that suit them !

I don't follow fashion in that way, but I'm not naive enough to think that it doesn't affect me at all.

"They go well with slouchy sweaters, plimsolls etc. stuff that lots of women like wearing."

Hmm. I started wearing long tops AFTER getting my skinnies so it was the other way around.

"I think they will always be worn by some people."

I don't know. I saw an old man wearing braces for his trousers the other day, but nobody wears a Tudor collar these days. My point is that everything can go out of fashion eventually. Once they stop selling them in shops only those with good sewing skills or able to pay someone to make them for them will still have them.

"They first became a fashion item in I reckon 2005."

I didn't see any around that time. Maybe a decade later!

"The absolute best style for my shape is bootleg"

Probably for me too (pear shaped) but they look bad with flats and a long winter coat. I can't wear pointy or heeled shoes :(

I love that clip. People often think fashion is something separate from them. Same with interior design. Skinny jeans are popular because the fashion industry made them popular.

I wear what suits me not what high fashion dictates. Baggy jeans do not suit us larger ladies