Let’s accept it-whether you are a size zero or a size twelve, you have tried them and even felt good in them. There is something undeniably cool and sexy about skinny jeans, a rock-star attitude, which the classic straight legs and boot-cuts can only dream of matching.
It’s about time they be given their due as a modern classic. Ladies, just because they don’t look good on you don’t mean they aren’t classics!!
I know, with the classic pleated pants and billowing draped trousers doing the rounds, this might not seem like the best time to write about skinny bottoms, but that’s the whole point -I am saying the skinnies have moved beyond “trend” territory into “modern classic” territory
Want proof? Despite dire predictions that skinny jeans are “so over”, bad for health and anti curvy women and suchlike, and despite the imminent threat from boy-friend jeans, return of the flared 70s jeans, ripped and torn denim and what have you, they haven’t slowed in terms of sales figures and they still have the best shelves reserved in the closets of fashion icons.
Trust me, only a classic can surf the ups and downs with such grace.
And here’s the clincher- it’s become a bonafide menswear trend for the coming season. How can women traipse around in large, torn, elephantine jeans while the men run around looking all dressy in dark and tight, peel-off jeans? So here’s my conclusion- as long as “Rock Chic” is in, skinnies will always be in.
How did the skinnies burst on to the fashion scene, anyhow? Jeans were always relaxed and grungy casual wear right? Well, the “anti-fashion” tight Rock & Roll jeans of the 70s and 80s was always hot on the music scene and thus with rebellious youngsters, these tight jeans slowly mated with spandex and over time the modern skinnies were born.
By the early 2000s, they had gone mainstream, with the top designers showing them on the ramps and a lot of celebrities adopting them. By 2006 they had hit the top of every denim wearer’s wishlist and were the top selling style. Their popularity might be plateauing off right now, but like the story of every classic, the popularity waxes and wanes but never quite dies off.
Oh and nothing stops you from slapping a trend on to your classic plain skinnies right? Try torn, distressed, whatever- perfect Sunday afternoon DIY fashion project!
Personally, I am waiting for their next avatar, it’s just a matter of time before some young designer decides to reinvent them and they will be back with a vengeance. Btw, I find the picture with the steel plates sewn on to the knee area, quite striking.
I’m thinking of trying it with an older pair I have…maybe even studded leather patches, why not?
There are three grades of skinny- narrow straight cut/ drainpipes, and then, depending on the percentage of Lycra there is the skinny and the super-skinny (the super skinny jeans look painted on-definitely not for the plump).
Please choose the one that you can carry off with ease because if you look uncomfortable it will show and nervousness is not a rock start quality at all.
Just a couple of tips from me- if you aren’t blessed with endless, perfectly toned legs, stick to darker washes which are easier to carry. And if you are short, do not pair them with flats.
For more ideas on what to wear them with and so on, please check these links-
http://www.denimology.co.uk/skinny_jeans/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/fashion/trendspotting/3346989/How-to-do-skinny.html
http://misschrisssays.wordpress.com/2009/12/07/skinny-it-up-with-skinny-jeans/
http://www.edubook.com/how-to-wear-skinny-jeans-at-any-size/10786/
Skinny jeans, forsooth. Lycra, indeed.
ReplyDeleteFunny isn't it - what started out as utility trousers for rough-and-tough Californian miners has become a modern-day fashion 'classic'. And what's worse, jeans aren't even made of serge de Nimes anymore. Lycra jeans - what will they come up with next?
You're right - only a certain type of woman can carry off a pair of clingy jeans. Alas, such jeans are too often sported by women who are ...well...generously proportioned (as one recently discovered during an evening stroll down Brigade Road). Apart from wondering how such women can physically get into Lycra-enriched ultra-tight jeans, one worries about the effect they have on innocent passers-by!
Cheers!
SVR
svrchari-at-yahoo-dot-com
ha ha, how rude...but that is exactly what i am NOT saying...what i am saying is this- every shape can carry of a pair of skinny jeans provided they follow certain guidelines for styling !(Or so say the experts)
ReplyDelete