What's wrong with skinny jeans?

[Nowimreallyworried]

Just saw another thread about jeans and boots - and it occured to me that I've seen a fair few references both here and elsewhere that seemed to be saying that skinny jeans are now no longer fashionable. As in, quite outdated. Is that right?

I'm really not in to fashion per se but I do want to look at least presentable and nice. They're pretty much staple what I wear - with a t-shirt or jumper (not scruffy ones) and boots. Am I unwittingly making a faux pas??! Yikes!

You mean long boots? You wear them with skirts and dresses.

I think they're probably due a comeback? I was wearing them in 2005 at sixth form college when they were first fashionable. That's over 20 years ago now. I think fashions work in 20 year cycles.

The wide baggy jeans are the most unflattering hideous garments I have ever seen on women. I am still wearing skinny jeans and boots I don't care if they are not fashionable

I agree, I think people got so used to it, they forgot how unflattering it is for many, and how nearly everyone knew that when they first came out. Many were horrified when the fashion appeared and were clinging to their bootlegs for dear life.

if you struggle due to tummy size then move to straight or cigarette, it balances out the legs more, doesn’t cling to the tummy and gives a more streamlined flattering silhouette, and much more elegant and current.

and that’s the joy of today’s styles, you can find what works for you, and for very few people is that skinny jeans in reality. Especially when they also look dated, it’s just not a good look for most.

Or culottes / short length jeans. I have seen some people tucking straight legs into boots still but they need to be baggier straight legs not sprayed on skinnies :)

These articles on jeans through the years make interesting reading:
https://thrifttale.com/blogs/thrifttalk/history-of-jeans-through-the-decades?srsltid=AfmBOoqdmNl9PclrtvFcpw7VsKOgaYmJ7k8OyyLBzshg17eMsUcmu6AKj
https://www.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam-in-action/oxfam-blog/denim-through-the-decades/

I wouldn't wear skinny jeans unless I was a size 6 and it was the actual 90's.

They’re ugly on 90% of people and very unforgiving. I’m a size 6-8 and tried on a load of wide legs and bootcuts the other day and felt great… popped on a pair of skinnies and it made me look really wide and centralised with scrawny little limbs. They’re an unbalanced item imo though can look great on a few people.

And, yes, they’re old fashioned. They’re of the 00s and 10s… my teen years.

Thank you for your responses @Brightlittlecanary and @EnterQueene , I have found a different article which specifically mentions skinny jeans and their return:
https://www.marieclaire.co.uk/fashion/shopping/best-skinny-jeans

20 years from when they went out of fashion not when they’ve been in fashion for the whole 20 years. Skinnies were an extremely durable trend.

See they even look awful on models!

True. I feel like they started to go out around 2015-17 ish so I guess it could be another 10 years until they are back in?

@GoldenCupsatHarvestTime I also think they look awful even on the models, but I do think it's about your eye adjusting to things in a different way. To me it looks "off" seeing skinny jeans now whether it's on a model or a woman in Asda, but that's because we're used to seeing baggier styles. I mainly wore skirts and dresses when there weren't many alternatives to skinny jeans because I looked crap in them, but they looked "normal" then even on people who didn't necessarily best suit them and you wouldn't have given a person wearing them a second glance.

@GoldenCupsatHarvestTime I think they lasted so long because they spanned the low rise/ high rise trends so they continued to feel fresh for longer.

@Judystilldreamsofhorsessee I slightly disagree because I’m the same size now as when I was 16 and at 16 I felt fat and unshapely in skinny jeans. I actually think they contributed to my teen self esteem issues… but the reality is they simply do not and have never been flattering on my shape (I’m a pear-leaning hourglass so more hippy). We wore them because wearing anything other than skinny was seen as hideously old fashioned but really they were so unflattering and my eye could see that the whole time.

Now, they’re the only Jean shape out of style! Every other shape is fair game and it’s so much better for the variance in human bodies.

Very annoyed that skinny jeans are no longer in fashion just after I’ve lost a bunch of weight and now have nice slim legs!! I’m not a total slave to fashion but I don’t like to look outdated and like to look vaguely on trend, so I don’t wear them anymore. I can’t bring myself to wear the huge baggy ones or the floor scrapers that go over your shoes cos it reminds me too much of my teenage years! But these days I wear straight leg or baggy jeans as long as they have a bit of tapering at the bottom. However you should wear whatever makes you happy!

There's also a whole heap of jean styles and colours inbetween extremely baggy Jesse Pinkman type jeans and super-skinny tight sausage leg jeans.

Claudia went through a sticking to skinnies phase of wearing tight black jeans a few winters ago with huge knits, but even she's gone wide legged now.

I've just been out food shopping and decided to pay attention to what women of all ages and sizes are wearing both on the journeys there and back and actually around the shops.

Most were wearing skinny jeans, leggings and like me, jegging type trousers, a couple were wearing straight jeans, some wearing material trousers and surprisingly, two wearing shorts. It's cold here, with awful sea mist so they were brave.

The young women were mainly skinny and leggings, most with boots, a few with trainers.

It does look as if most women wear what they like, what is most comfortable or maybe can't afford to change what they currently have in the wardrobe.

Who knew? 🤔

Im straight up and down too, just turned 62. I do have a pair of skinnies still but dont wear them very often. My favourites are wide flares. Theyre flattering on every body shape I think and I was thrilled when they came back in fashion as I couldn't get hold of them for years. Had my first pair age 12 and fell in love with them, so 50 years and still going strong 😊. Im wearing Levis ribcage bell jeans at the moment. Love them!

Try Levis.

Even worse skinnies with ballet pumps. Really awful look.
And lets face it if you are not a size 8 then they arent skinnies any more, they are chubbies.

Describing clothes as communication is a lot odder than saying that clothes have an in built cost both financial and environmental.

Places like Vinted have allowed people to shrug off the guilt of over consumption. Sure some people will have genuine reasons for putting stuff on Vinted, it doesn't fit or they need the money.

Plenty will just be bored because they've seen that palazzo pant style wide leg jeans are the latest thing rather than skinny. I regularly get deeply vacuous (thank you @GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER excellent choice of word) articles come up on my Google feed like 'all the cool girls will be wearing these jeans this season' or 'forget black, pairing these jean with this colour boot is what all the cool girls will be wearing'.

Even Vinted has an environmental cost. The energy costs involved in running such a massive platform, the energy involved in shipping second hand goods, the plastic waste that occurs from wrapping those goods to send.

Social media/advertising is incredibly pernicous at getting us to spend money and waste the earth's oh so precious and limited resources. Demonising skinny jeans or trainer socks by labelling them out of fashion is or dated is so irresponsible, it will just lead to waste going to landfill.

I'm not a saint, I'm not immune to advertising however I am making a concerted effort to only buy if I've actually worn something out. I recommend Community Clothing for ethically UK made & sourced timeless pieces that you can wear until they wear out.

So maybe my 20 year old Gap vest that I put on Saturday just gone (that I didn't realise I had a hole in until I was two hours away from home) communicated that I'm poverty stricken, or scruffy. Which just goes to show what rubbish communicators clothes are because if my Gap vest could actually talk it would say, I've done long service, my time is up and I will now be cut up for rags because my owner wants a decent planet for her child..

So perhaps we should worry less about what clothes say, what influencers say, what clothes companies marketing departments say and worry more whether they are good for the pocket and good for the world.

I haven't owned any for years now - even my 80 year old nan has made the switch to bootcut!

Wear what you want, not what others say you should

They are really unfashionable OP and have been for ages. I mean years.