The Great Skinny Jean Debate

on February 27, 2009 at 7:00 AM

Photo from Shopbop

Skinny jeans. I was scared of them when I started hearing the term being thrown around a few years ago I thought, Great, another thing I cannot wear. I've had issues fitting into cool jeans because my booty is bootylicious and I have a small waist. And don't get me started on my calves. Ugh.

So hearing about skinny jeans just made me think that they probably won't fit beyond my calves and if they got that far, they certainly won't fit my thighs. But I was wrong!

My favorite "I love to look, but it's so expensive to buy" website, Shopbop, says it best:

Skinny jeans are cut slim; they aren't baggy and they are fitted and tapered down to the ankle. Kind of like cigarette pants.

I've even heard them being called ice-cream cone pants because they get smaller at the bottom. And you can eat an ice-cream cone and have your skinny jeans, too. Best fit: get ones with stretch. These work well if you want to tuck your jeans into your boots.

Anyone who likes to wear tight jeans can wear them -- they come in all sizes and sold in all kinds of stores. Mom jeans, of all kinds, can be cool.

But CafeMoms are split on skinny jeans. Some love, some think they should have stayed in the 80s.

angel_caramel wears them, and she says she's full figured -- she likes the way they lift her butt.

NovemberLove says: There are "full figured" women that can pull skinny jeans off. It just depends on their particular body shape.

Sure, they don't look good on every body type or aren't every one's style, but they aren't just for skinny people.

Do you wear skinny jeans?

About the author Michele Zipp

loves vintage and will defend skinny jeans to the death though she is highly superstitious and "death" is probably a bad word choice. She has a touch of the hoarding disease and enjoys sleuthing, the worst reality shows, and wearing high heels, even at the playground. She's an AP mom of twins, slightly crunchy but with a pedicure.

Filed Under: body, clothes, how to wear it, style

Comments (25)

BJoan

on Feb 27, 2009 at 7:26 AM

I don't think they are flattering on most people.....Very, very tiny people can get away with them, but I still think other cuts are more flattering. Oh well, styles come and go....they have been here before. I wore them when I was younger....I can't imagine wearing them now. Maybe some kind of modified version of them for us older people!

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cinvargas

on Feb 27, 2009 at 8:45 AM

Thats pretty much all i wear! I love them

sweetpeatexas21

on Feb 27, 2009 at 10:46 AM

i wear cowboy boots like 90% of the time and i'm definately not the type to put my jeans inside my boots so no i don't wear em. i stick mostly with....well boot cut lol

Nicki1015

on Feb 27, 2009 at 10:56 AM

I LOVE them! I have gone from a size 3 to a size 9 pre-pregnancy, and continued to wear skinny jeans and looked great in them both sizes! It all does depend on your body shape. You have to have curves OR be very very thin. My stepdaughter is 12 and she wears them because they are the current trend. She has a very boxy figure, no waist and legs that get thin at the calves, and they look horrible on her. She looks really good in flare jeans that add curves. You would think a 12 year old could pull off anything, and she's beautiful, but skinny jeans definitely take a special shape. I think they look better if you have a flat butt too! (like me!) I miss the nineties when it was prefered to have a small butt, cause I never fit the JLo type pants quite right that were so popular at the turn of the century!

rae_dawg

on Feb 27, 2009 at 11:59 AM

It depends on what you wear them with. They are super cute with a long blousy shirt.

If you are very curvy, and never fit into skinny jeans, go try the "Lapis Skinny" at Charlotte Russe (sz 0-13). It fits my booty at has a slightly higher waist to control that mommy tummy, and they're only $29.

AgentBrez

on Feb 27, 2009 at 5:28 PM

no way. i dont like the way they look on most people, definitely not on myself.

RanaAurora

on Feb 27, 2009 at 8:28 PM

I am anti-tapered jeans. Unless your legs are well-balanced or bone-thin, you just end up looking thicker at your thighs and waist.

emmasmama2007

on Feb 27, 2009 at 9:30 PM

I'm short, and i love to wear them with heels! They look good on me, so why not wear 'em.

cjbj08

on Feb 27, 2009 at 11:39 PM

Great, they've replaced a style that 90% of women can't wear with a style that 100% of us can't wear.

cmarielin

on Feb 28, 2009 at 1:52 AM

They don't look good on me. I'm going to have to drop at least 15 lbs. before I'd be brave enough to even try them. They look great on my skinny teen daughters, though.