Skinny Jeans

Cafe Society
1

Allright. Though this is an opinion thread, it seemed to fit within the guidelines of Cafe Society… fashion is part of that, no?

So, in the thread about Christina Hendricks, skinny jeans have come up a few times and I wanted to give them their own thread. Some people are against them on curvier girls, some for.

I’m very much in the crowd of pro-skinny-jeans for nearly all women, IF THEY FIT PROPERLY. Obviously that’s always the case, but oh so important for jean-type pants. Muffin top is always, always bad. But the argument against seems to be that they make you look larger because of the taper. Well, the thing is, that’s pretty much as large as you *do *look. Naked, you do taper down from your thighs to your ankles. Unless, again, they’re way too tight and are bunching and cutting into flesh, of course that’s bad. A properly fitted pair of skinny jeans shows off curves flatteringly. I think women think that really flared jeans “balance out” their shape and perhaps are a bit more slimming. But I never see that - I want to see it, I wish it was happening, but when I wear flared jeans, but my thighs are still the same size and now I’ve got some mermaid things going on with a flared base.

In the last few years, my size has changed back and forth a little. But when I buy well-fitting, non-skin-tight skinny jeans, they flatter everything. They make shape more important than size, I think.

However, denim leggings (or, shudder, jeggings) should rot in hell forever. I hope we can all agree on that.

So, Dopers, skinny jeans. Are they really a “right, not a privilege”?

2

I’d like an actual explanation of “skinny jeans”. The first time I heard the term, years and years ago, it seemed to mean “that one pair of jeans in my wardrobe that I can only wear when I’m not feeling bloated” or “that pair of jeans I can only wear when I’m ten pounds lighter than I am right now”.

Judging by context, it appears the term now describes a specific style of jeans, but I’ve never seen it defined.

3

Skinny jeans aren’t just tight; they are fitted so that they are snug throughout, including around the calf and the foot opening. Sure, everyone should feel free to wear whatever they like, but they do not look good on everyone, especially those who have extra weight on them.

4

I know what you’re talking about, Mister Rik, and usually you hear more about “fat jeans” in that context than “skinny jeans”. But yes, it is said.

What I’m talking about are the fitted jeans that MeanOldLady is referring to. The style you sometimes see referred to as a cigarette pant. Not skin-tight, again, but fitted.

I feel I should clarify - I’m not talking about skin-tight pants, and I’m not saying they look good on obese people. I have these pants, and that’s what I base my notion of “skinny jeans” on.

5

I’m going to have to disagree. I don’t think they show curves flatteringly for the most part. I think they look very good on narrow hipped women, and quite often on tall, moderately curvy, women; they look particularly bad on short curvy women. And by curvy, I mean your hips are at least 10 inches wider than your waist. Because they visually narrow to a point, they set off your hips as the widest part of you – which of course they are, but it doesn’t mean that making your hips look like the broad side of a barn set atop little pointy stubs of legs is considered attractive.

OP, that doesn’t mean YOUR skinny jeans don’t flatter YOU. They don’t flatter ME. and they never ever will. Nor do they flatter Christina Hendricks, not even slightly. They look so horrible on her, I have to assume it’s intentional.

ETA: of course proper fit is key. However, I am particularly unlikely to find skinny-style jeans than fit properly. My “typical” pair of jeans is at least 2 inches too big in the waist, because I can’t get a smaller size over my hips. I once tried on EVERY style of jeans at LUCKY, before the salesgirl admitted that they did not have one pair in the store that wouldn’t gap on me, and I don’t pay $80 for jeans that gap at the waist.

6

For the most part I don’t think they look good on anyone. I work at a CC and see a lot of pretty girls (and guys) wearing them, but it’s very rare that I think they look good–even the very slim girls look poochy somewhere, unless they look like they’re about to break in half which is even worse. Usually I think they would benefit from a different look.

I might be thinking of the wrong kind of jeans–these are very tight but also long so they bag up a bit. Certainly I, a pudgy woman of 36, would never wear anything cut that way, it would be a disaster.

7

I don’t think they look good one most people. If you are actually really skinny and have narrow hips, it might look okay. But I have a real issue with balance- It looks really odd to me when people have a lot on top (shirts, jackets, whatever) and not a lot on the bottom. Sure, that may be more like what you look like naked- but short of the hottest women on the planet the truth is that people look kind of funny naked. I want the top half and bottom half of an outfit to look proportional.

That said, maybe I’m just grumpy because I can’t wear them. I’m skinny but I have hips, and in skinny jeans I’d look terrible.

8

I think skinny jeans only look good on slender women with relatively narrow hips and long legs. They don’t look good at all on the average woman, and definitely not on the “above average” woman.

And men, slender or not, should never, ever wear skinny jeans.

9

Hideous. My daughter is in to them now. With high top chucks. All black. Ugh.

10

I think they’re ghastly and in a few years most of the people who wear them now will shudder at the memory.

(They’re not as bad as the cropped harem pants trend, but that is a topic for another thread.)

11

I love fitted/tapered ‘skinny’ jeans on nearly everyone, but then, I am 25. :wink: I am not a fan of bulky and baggy/loose clothing, on anyone of either sex, any age, and any weight.

I think any article of clothing that clearly shows the shape of the female body is by nature flattering. I don’t understand all you women who don’t want their hips to look ‘broad’ compared to the rest of them, or display the fact that their full thighs taper down to smaller calves and ankles. I hate flared pants precisely because they ‘balance’ me - they make me look like more of a rectangle, rather than a woman who goes out at the shoulder and hips/thighs, and dramatically in at the waist and lower legs. Anyone who thinks women look bad in fitted jeans must think they look bad in bathing suits.

Weight makes little difference to me here. This lovely lady and I have almost exactly the same proportions from neck to ankles, although I am a size 00 and she is a size 12 in that pic. Why would she look any worse wearing what I do, as long as it fits properly?

12

I’m a guy, and I think skinny jeans look like crap. Don’t get me wrong, ladies, I love looking at the shape of your ass… but I’d rather you wore something that let me see the shape of your ass, and not the shape that the skinny jeans molded your ass into.

Don’t even get me started on how stupid guys in skinny jeans (with a fauxhawk) look. Leave that emo shit at home.

JNCO! JNCO! JNCO! HOOOOOOOAH!

13

If that were true you wouldn’t have the Jonas Brothers :smiley:

I am no fan of skinny jeans on men, but I’d rather have that, than the oversized jeans guys where that come up to their mid thigh, while showing their boxers.

14

I am short, and kind of thinnish (size 4). I got some Levi’s curvy skinny jeans and they fit perfectly, meaning the pockets don’t sag down the ass, they actually leave a crease under my butt when I stand, so they don’t look or feel skin tight. Here is the link, I totally recommend:

I say that if you find the right fit for your shape, they look good. (there is a curvy skinny pant also)

The problem with pants is that I am short (5’1"). Those wide leg jeans make me look wider overall, and if they are long (which they will need to be if you don’t just want to look wide), then I have to wear heels. It seems like using too many tricks to fix an overall, not horrible body problem.

15

‘Skinny jeans’ refers to the cut of the lower leg, so I think your complaint is with all stretchy, low-rise jeans that are tight around the hips, Snowboarder Bo.

16

I’m a guy who is not a fan. Low-rise boot-cut is the best style of jeans.

17

There are about three non celeb adult women that look good in skinny jeans - everyone else looks like crap.

And this has nothing to do with disliking form fitting clothing - it’s fine. But skinny jeans smoosh a curvy ass into a really unflattering shape - like a square almost. I think the issue is that they’re supposed to emphase straightness and I’m not straight - I go in in the middle and skinny jeans lose that on me and every other woman over age 24 that actually has hips.

18

I think skinny jeans are not a right. Only those of a specific body type can get away with it. Like empire cut tops (some people look pregnant when wearing them; even just a small belly can look like a baby bump in those), not everyone should wear them.

19

shrug

I’m a fat girl who wears them sometimes. They’re good tucked into boots and make a lot more sense than trying to jam a bootcut or flare into my already snug boot shafts. I’m hourglass shaped and don’t mind that the style makes my hips look bigger- I like my hips and it’s not like I look like I’m a size 4 in flare jeans either.

I apologize for offending everyone’s sensibilities with my fat ass in tight jeans.

If your jeans are squashing your ass, the leg cut has nothing to do with that. I buy the same brand of jeans in every cut-- so my ass looks exactly the same in skinny, bootcut, and flares (the answer is, btw: fabulous).

20

Not a good look on anyone over 12.