Jeans- talk to be about what's 'in'.

[ANNotherWriter]

I have some straight jeans, some girlfriend and some wide leg cords.
Is anyone wearing these or is it all barrel leg and wide legs?
I'm not a slavish follower of fashion and old enough to know styles change. I don't really like being dictated to by fashion but I don't want to look very dated.
I'm a short size 10 and have to be careful not to be swamped.

I wear Levi 501 jeans - button fly and no stretch.

I’m 5’2” size 8 age 71.

I personally think barrel leg trousers look better in softer fabrics than denim. I’m a big fan of the Halara wide legs because again the fabric is softer. They come in different lengths and colours and look great with a pair of chunky trainers.

I’m the exact opposite! I like my barrel legs in a structured fabric like denim or a cotton canvas. Otherwise I think they lose their shape.

https://www.cos.com/en-gb/women/womenswear/jeans/straightleg/product/facade-straight-leg-jeans-blue-1205065023

OP, I got these Cos jeans recently which are a wide straight leg - might something like that work for you? I bought the brown pair then liked them so much I got the light blue. (I’m a 12 bottom and 5ft 6, the blue come up bigger and slightly longer despite being the same size, and putting them in to get shortened is on my list of things to do.)

I love barrels because my top half is slightly disproportionate to my bottom half, and they offer the illusion of a smaller waist, more hourglass shape, and balance to my broad shoulders and large bust.

I also love wide legs (I have the Levi’s Ribcage Wide jeans) but I find them harder to wear in rain/ winter because they tend to get wet at the hems (and I did the whole jeans-wet-to-the-knee thing enough in my twenties 🤣). I don’t like wide trousers that don’t fall properly over my shoes or which flap around my ankles.

Straight legs like 501s used to be my favourite jeans but somehow they don’t look quite right on me at the moment- maybe because I’m carrying my weight slightly differently.

I just bought some lovely kick flare jeans, as I hear they’re making a comeback, which is music to my ears as they’ve always been my favourite. It took me a long time to give them up in favour of skinnies - now skinnies are firmly out, but I won’t be giving them up either, as like another poster I still need them to throw my wellies over for winter dog walks. I finally caved and bought a pair of barrel jeans recently, which have a kind of tonal, bleached effect that seems to temper the shape a little, and I’m surprised how much they suit me (short 8-10). I have some wide leg jeans too, which look really good, but they’re not the comfiest. I tried straight as a way to wean me off skinny, but they don’t really do it for me.

Might just be where I live (Edinburgh) but I am seeing skinnies out in the wild more, now that we've hit slightly cooler temps. And I mean skinnies as part of a styled, intentional outfit, not "I never got round to buying new jeans." (I am in the camp of "never threw mine away", but I also wear lots of other styles, including some quite exaggerated horseshoe ones and some vintage straight leg Gap and Levi's pairs).

What to wear with wide legs - I like them with slim loafers, pointed flats, or heeled boots, but sometimes wear mine with platform trainers for a more casual look.

As for what's in fashion - I still mostly see wide leg jeans out and about, but I suspect they're past the point of "cool" (if you care about that!) and into "accepted default". Barrel/horseshoe styles a close second but they're more divisive. I'm not sure what's coming next; there are lots of articles insisting skinnies are making a comeback, and certainly slim cut jeans have been sent down plenty of catwalks, so maybe the proportions are about to swing again. And straight legs were never "in" enough to truly be "out", or vice versa, IMO.

Right now I feel like we're in the "anything goes" space, which as a denim fiend is great - I think it's more about pulling together interesting looks and playing with all the elements of your outfit, rather than worrying about which style of jeans are fashionable.

Whats “in”?
whatever is comfy

For those saying barrel leg jeans look great on you can I ask what height, shape, size you are? Is there a shape that makes barrel leg anything look good because for the life of me I can not look good in them. I'm 5'6" and a size 10, slim and fairly rectangular shaped but look like I'm in circus school training, they look comical and ridiculous on me and tbh I've not yet seen many women who do look good in them but maybe they just aren't for me!?

What tops and footwear makes them look good? They seem passable with flat summer shoes and flip flops but what about autumn/winter?

I love jeans and only wear Levi's.

I have everything from 90s 501s, ribcage bells, one pair of skinnies, 2 pairs of super baggy barrels and 4 pairs of 725 bootcuts. I wear them all regularly. Different jeans suits different tops. I wear the bootcuts mainly with button down shirts, whereas the baggier jeans look better with slim fitting tops like Henley's.

I have dodgy feets and orthotics so can't wear lots of types if shoes. I mostly wear high top platform converse in various colours and also have a few pairs of gazelles/NB/Nike's.

I am so pleased that anything goes with jeans now and get great pleasure out of putting together outfits based on what I am doing, how I am feeling, what I particularly want to wear, be it a top, pair of trainers etc .

So, anything goes and Levis are great, at least for me.

Anything with a flared bottom I catch my toes on and I fall especially when walking on stairs.

I agree it’s pretty much anything goes with denim which is great as it’s hard to go wrong!
if anything is less fashionable I’d say it’s the ripped denim look.

Shorter tops for sure, and/or fitted and tucked in. If the legs can be rolled (like my Levi Baggy Dad Barrel) I wear ankle boots- 1417 DMs and some yard boots a bit like Blundstones- in winter. Otherwise flat and low rise shoes like adidas gazelles, Birkenstocks, that sort of profile.

5’5 here and size 12 legs, 14-16 waist and 16+ bust/shoulders! So you can see I need the extra volume at the bottom to balance my top half. In skinnies I would look like Tenniel’s drawings of Humpty Dumpty 😬😂

@MagentaRaindrops i’m about 5ft 6, a 29” waist, size 12 bottom. I think it’s partly about getting past the idea of “flattering” which generally means “makes you look thin” in fashion speak, and leaning into interesting shapes tbh. I’m just back from a reformer Pilates class and still kicking about in gym leggings and a tight vest top. I definitely look “slimmer” in this outfit (I know I am not thin at a size 12 before someone jumps in to say that!) than I do in barrel leg jeans because you can clearly see my figure. I would never wear this type of outfit beyond classes, it’s not my vibe - barrel leg jeans may just not be yours!

The fact that you think people who are size 12 are "carrying weight" or that people's main considerations should be what size they look says a lot about you.

I think barell leg look cool and to me that's more important than if I look "dumpy"

I tried my barrel leg jeans on and I love them. I'm a size 14/16 hour glass, so big boobs, small waist, large bum and thighs. They in my opinion suit my figure as the legs aren't tight they skim over mine and they accentuate my waist. They aren't overly balloony like some you see

Won’t anybody post a pic of themselves looking great in barrel legs? Or wide legs for that matter.

I’m not interested in trying to persuade you @PuppyMonkey.If you don’t like wide or barrel leg that’s fine. The great thing about jeans now is that we can choose the shape (or shapes) we like. I assume you agree that’s a good thing, and infinitely better than when skinnies dominated the high street?

I have M&S barrel leg cotton trousers (chocolate brown) , I wouldn't wear these in denim though , I think they'd be too much fabric.

I'm hanging onto my jeggings - they'll need prised from my cold dead hands .

And I'm staying out of the shops till the Wide Leg trend goes

Hello ! I am much shorter (5'1) and fatter than you and I think barrels look good on me so I'm sure they will look fab on you. Part of it is adjusting your eye to a different silhouette which may look weird at the moment but is actually perfectly flattering. You may want to see rethink your tops to something more waist length if you are keen on tunic shapes .
In terms of shoes / boots I wear trainers or slides in the summer and monkey boots or any other low cut ankle boot in the autumn and winter. The trick is to keep a narrow ankle to balance the volume of the jeans. Hope that helps!

Totally agree with puppylucky - it’s partly that you get used to seeing a particular silhouette so something very different stands out as odd. I’m 5ft 4 and very hourglass shaped with a short torso (measurements 38-27-39) and I like both wide legs and barrels. I’m not particularly bothered if they make me look slimmer, I like the shape.

They certainly are

Personally I wear either true vintage 90s flares, skinny or occasionally straight cut jeans. I have short legs so those barrel jeans do nothing for me at all. I don't care if I'm not in fashion 😀

Cords are perfect for autumn.

Im back in bootcuts me. I tried some on last year and it was like “ hello old friends”.
I did wide leg for ages, until I saw a photo of myself.. bootcut definitely the most flattering on me. And since I got them I’ve seen quite a few out and about.