The return of the skinny jean.
Walking by Barneys New York a few weeks ago, I was reminded of that quest. A pair of $340 Acne jeans on a mannequin in the window were as snug as denim hosiery. Skinny jeans, as you may have heard, are back.
“After you wear them, you don’t ever want to put on boot-leg pants again,” the designer Mark Badgley had promised me. This spring Mr. Badgley and his partner, James Mischka, have been buying skinny jeans from labels with off-putting names like Acne and Nudie. The sudden popularity of those styles is most remarkable because they are skinny to an extreme. Some are even hard to put your foot through — or in my case, calves.
Okay. I know they’re talking about men’s fashion here, but I’ve seen telltale signs of a return to the aggressively-tapered late-80s look for women’s jeans. I’m talking jeans so tapered you had to have a zipper at the ankle so you could get your foot through them.
These look good only on people who are built like pipe cleaners. As Stacy & Clinton have drilled into all our heads, tapered pants are not flattering if you have any sort of hips or thighs. And yet within a year or two, mark my words, the SAME DAMN JEANS I WAS WEARING IN 1989 will be all that will be available in stores. Minus, one hopes, the bows atop the ankle zippers and the acid wash.
What’s next, ramie/cotton sweaters and paint-spattered big shirts?
Tight/slim is definitely back. I noticed that this year when even though I LOST a few pounds, I went up a size in pants. the reason is that they are making pants so much tighter, that I can’t get them up around my butt (or up at all, in some cases).
It’s true, the cigarette jean is back in a big way. But this is one of those trends that I’m not sure can really catch on outside of the skinny girls on the lower east side, since it’s hard to mass-market a clothing item that is universally unflattering and uncomfortable.
That said, there’s probably decent money in it for anyone who will try. I know girls who modify their own straight-leg or boot-cut jeans to make them as skinny and ankle-tight as possible. Hipster scum.
Oh, and my room mate’s boyfriend has a habit of wearing her jeans. She’s tiny, 5’2″ and 105 pounds. He’s not exactly large either, but still — he’s wearing the jeans of a little pixie of a person. And he loves them. So while I don’t expect these to be a big seller at the Mall of America, I think they’re probably a good call for Bloomingdale’s and the various over-priced boutiques downtown.
HAH!
You clearly missed the 80s.
and p.s. I hate the skinny jeans. I have short stubby legs, and big calves — I can’t eve get the damn things up to my knees. Plus, jeans that are so structured are guaranteed to show your ass crack when you sit down.
Damn, I’m having high school flashbacks. Somebody get me a shot, quick!! Make it a double…I need to dim the pain!
incredibly, i bought a pair of skinny jeans a couple of years ago because they were inexpensive. i guess they weren’t yet in fashion, but they seemed to go well with a pair of boots i have. unfortunately, i’ve since gained enough weight such that no matter how much i try, i just just can’t seem to get inside of them. but then, that’s to be expected, as i am fashionably challenged…
since it’s hard to mass-market a clothing item that is universally unflattering and uncomfortable.
Nah. If enough indie-rockers started wearing underwear made of steel wool, you can bet that steel wool undies would suddenly be all the rage for a while.
Skinny jeans drive me insane, too. Even with only mildly skinny ones (which happens, since I shop mainly at thrift stores and don’t get to be real picky), I can never get what I want out of my pocket — keys, lip balm, cigarettes (which without fail will also be crushed into little flattened smokable strips) .
That’s the line for me, and it is not to be crossed.
I won’t do it, I won’t do it. I was a small child in the 80′s, wore sweaters from grandman, had no clue, and am thankful for it.
I will not wear these jeans, feather my hair, date someone with feathered hair, wear socks with heels (whoever came up with that should be shot), wear plastic jewelry, shoulder pads – none of it, none of it. Everything about 80′s style, down to the manicures, was an embarrassing disaster.
Think of what will happen now. We’ve all seen our share of muffin tops. Some of them are more like cake explosions. This will be more like trying to get a mushroom cloud back in the tube. Ughck. Just no.
Haven’t you guys ever seen the “girl pants” phenomenon?
I
I was a kid in the ’80′s too. So I wasn’t allowed to wear the to-the-eyebrows eyeshadow, black rings of Alice Cooper-like eyeliner, or frosty lipstick. But my parents and sister decided my straight hair was “too plain,” so I was required to have it feathered/curled to high heaven every morning. thus I had huge glasses, ugly braces, AND big 80′s hair. I like looking at my third, fourth, and fifth grade pictures–when I need to vomit. :P
Yes, I was but a wee child through most of the 80s. But from what I’ve seen in Molly Ringwald movies, the jeans are slightly different. They’re tapered and tight and ugly, but they aren’t the skin-tight low-rise variety that I see all the time now. The 80s jean, to me, looks more like the Mom Jean. But I was wearing pastel dresses and MaryJanes throughout the 80s (thanks, mom!), so I could be quite wrong.
However, I will admit, I love boys in skinny jeans. I think it’s really hot.
Actually, come to think of it, this development probably means the trend is about to enter its “slow death” phase — during which it explodes into semi-mainstream, but the very act of exploding in popularity dooms it in the long run.
Hmm… this sounds like me on a Friday night.
FYI, the Mall of America has not only a Bloomingdale’s, but a Nordstrom and Macy’s, as well as a large variety of branded stores that either feature (Lucky, Levi’s) or sell expensive jeans. Not that I shop there or anything.
Jill,
What, this?
:-)
No, if only I could get that much volume… but shockingly close.
Whatever, big 80s hair is hot, even if I do look like I should be auditioning for a porno in Texas.
Oh no. Yours looks much more natural and less sprayed/moussed to death. Not redneck. now about the porno….;-)
Can I also just point out how ridiculous it is to pay $340 for jeans? Jeans just broke the $100 mark, and now they just keep going up. It pains me to pay $100-$150, but I justify it by telling myself that I wear jeans all the time, and this is a clothing item that I’ll wear at least once or twice a week for at least a year. But $400? Sally Hirschberger jeans are $600 and climbing. For some denim sewn together, that just seems sick.
I hated skinny jeans then, and I hate skinny jeans now. But I can’t wait til they sell Aqua Net in those huge cans again. I’ll pick up a case of Extra Super Hold and shellac everything in sight like I did when I was 16.
I think they do still sell AquaNet, or at least they did five years ago when I was in high school. We used to use it during gymnastics meets to spray our leotards to our butts so that we wouldn’t get wedgies during routines.
If the 80s are coming back, I’ll be getting some Vavoom hair spray. And a Forenza shaker knit v-neck sweater.
Skinny jeans? I’ll stick to my Levis’ 501/505′s, thank you.
Oh, Jill. You’re an amateur.
I developed neck problems because my hair hit the roof of my car and the sensation made me duck.
And you have not lived until you have seen the glory that is the Jersey three-can ‘do.
Aaaahhhh!
And you have to spray it on upside-down.
Hahahaha… we want pictures!
I prefer the Grunge era of the early 90′s (I think it was then, unless I’m dating myself). Come as you are, comfortable flannels, casual hair…..much easier.
I do remember my sister taking about 30 minutes in the morning just to do her makeup. That might be worth it for going to high school (where everyone sees you and will judge you on your look), but to go work in a little back-office like I do now–not worth the time. Just look professional and presentable; neat, and not frumpy–I much prefer that. Although the very “liberal” Manhattan can give a woman a real beauty-standard complex.
I say “liberal” facetiously. :-) Sorry for the multiple posts; I keep having afterthoughts.
They totally still sell aqua net.
Things could always be worse: at least stirrup pants and granny hats aren’t trying to come back. *shudder*
Now I did like stirrup pants and big bright shirts. Not sure why. I remember being upset when leggings and stirrups went out of style, and rebelliously wore them for about a year afterward until some fashion plates in my 8th grade class started to notice.
Maybe I’m just generally weird as far as fashion goes, heehee.
As a Jersey Girl myself, I have to agree with zuzu. And it never really went away, that affection for big hair in New Jersey, although my hair generally Rejects any attempts to enbiggen it. Oh, it’ll hold for a few hours, but then it goes on break.
When I was a bridesmaid in my sister’s wedding, my husband (native Californian) actually burst out laughing when I walked into the house after my hair was done. I was still in my tank top and jeans, you see, and apparently I looked “just like Peggy Bundy.” What’s adorable is that by Jersey standards, my hair was positively flat.
It’s all Bon Jovi’s fault.
Well take note, leggings are back in a big way. Though not stir-up pants.
Why don’t I see any leggings around Manhattan? maybe because I’m up at 53rd and Lex where it’s all suits and twill slacks? Odd.
Marian — given the apparent trajectory of the retro trends, it’s fairly likely that the early 90′s will have another go ’round at some point.
I did see somebody in an east german army jacket the other day, which took me right back to high school. The girl wearing it probably wasn’t old enough to remember such a thing as east germany.
Of course, when it’s trendy again, I’ll have to stop wearing flannel shirts. I’ll be priced right out of the market. Which will be sad, because I still have an affection for plaid even at the expense of mockery by my more-or-less hip friends..
Sienna Miller loves leggings. And I love Sienna Miller.
Does anyone else remember having this same conversation about 70s fashion, when grunge was dying? And here we are lamenting the demise of the flared ankle (or at least, I am, maybe the rest of all y’alls are sensibly pining for the classic straight cut).
I’ve already seen enough off-the-shoulder sweaters that I have no hope for the future, but since I shop at thrift stores, I figure I’ve got another year to stock up…
ahh Jersey hair. Just remember “The higher the hair, the closer to god.” This holds for televangelists, rockabilly musicians, Jersey girls, and (apparently) lunatics
stop feeding the fashionistas! thrift store, baby! i never pay more than $6 or $7 for a pair of jeans – designer, even.
skinny jeans are and always have been evil, but i hope they become all the rage. that way, all the clothes-horses will purge their wardrobes of their designer low-rise flare jeans, i will reap the benefits at goodwill! they’re already starting to show up in thrift stores.
it’s not often that my tastes actually come into fashion, but i love low-rise flare jeans. i’m petite, short-waisted, round-assed, big-hipped, stubby-legged and i’ve got thick calves. those jeans were made for me! weeee!
I wish I’d saved my stonewashed Chic and Jordaches now. They even had zippered ankles. Not that they would fit now, but darn.
I wonder if that’s what the early 90′s stuff was then? A return to the 70′s? And now that it’s the early 2000′s, we return to the 80′s. I wouldn’t know for sure though; as I was only around for 1 year in the 70′s. :-)
One of the joys of now being 50 is that I can cheerfully ignore the zombie return of fashion looks from my past. My rule of thumb? If I am old enough to have worn it the last time it was in fashion I am excused from having to wear it now.
Skinny jeans? Oh hell no. What with the five workouts a week and the being in better physical shape than I have in thirty years I have acquired not just buns but CALVES of steel. I’ve been thinner in my lifetime, but never as fit. The low rise skinny jean which will fit me has not been designed, thank the Deity.
Thrift stores, baby. Thrift stores and not giving a damn what’s ‘In’, that’s what I’m talking about.
Of course. Aqua net still has at least one practical purpose: stripping ink stains out of fabric.
You clearly missed the 80s.
Yeah – this is a bad fashion flash back. I’ve even seen some jeans with ankle zippers.
This is such a bad idea. They don’t look good & they’ve got such an 80′s fashion feel. NOooooooo……
Renee, I’m also round-assed, stubbed legged and have what my friends used to call “man calves” from a very athletic youth. I miss flared jeans, I’ve been unable to track any down in a while down, thrift stores included. I think that’s because they’re so awesome people wear them till they fall apart.
I believe one also uses Aqua Net to spray poufy plant seedheads so they don’t fall apart. Beehiving them, however, is outside the bounds.
THESE tight jeans, (called “skinny jeans” or “cigarette pants”) FYI, would freak out if you called them “tapered” — well, okay not the jeans themselves, obviously, but whatever. The jeans sometimes still have a flap part that goes over the shoe — at the very least, they don’t stop at (or above) the ankle, which would make them too 80′s. Also, skinny jeans HAVE to be dark — otherwise, again, too stone-or-acid-wash 80′s. And no zippers!
Leggings may be back, but they’re worn under shorts or skirts or dresses, not generally alone. And they’re usually only acceptable in black, and calf-length, not to the shoe (the opposite of the skinny jeans look). Oh, and of course, NEVER with stirrup!
I like living in LA and being able to help in regards to fashion discussions, heh.
Most of my jeans are “skinny” women’s jeans that generally fit well. I’m especially fond of “Sacred Blue” and Lucky. But the fact that they work on my body doesn’t mean they’re a good idea. And I dread the return of preppy pleated front khakis. I never feel like I look decent in those.
ok, slightly off-topic, but as someone who has struggled with stubborn breakouts for 25+ years now – i’m 40 ferchrissakes! – i could never bring myself to spend $340 on something with a tag that reads ‘acne,’ no matter how beautiful, trendy, whatever. just couldn’t.
Damn. $340 for a pair of jeans?! It’s times like these when I am glad to live in the midwest, where you can still find Levis for under $50, and what’s more, find a cut that fits. With that said, I’ve never seen a pair of women’s jeans in a thrift store; out here we wear them until they’re threadbare, then make cutoffs. When they’re too worn out to be cutoffs, you wash the car with ‘em.
I remember when flares became exciting again. Actually, the whole 70′s-revival bit in the 90′s. Since I was in elementary school and subject to the cutesy-est of that madness. And then flares stayed for a while but are gradually getting skinnier. I miss my almost-bell-bottom flares that I had in 6th grade. Those things were kickass.
Note: leggings have been around since then. It was big in 2nd-5th grade for us to wear giant sweatshirts and patterned leggings to match. I just don’t think they were that cool. I remember the DAY I stopped wearing them, some 7th grade girls I didn’t know told 6th grade me that I was “tacky”.
I find it awesome (tubular? gnarly?) that there are over fifty comments on skinny jeans and Aquanet.
I like the straight leg, bootcut, or slightly flared jeans. Skinny jeans don’t look good on anyone. I guess I’m going to have to shop sometime in the near future before they become impossible to fine.
But the late 70s/early 80s are coming back in a big way. I teach high school and my kids all look like they should be starring in Three’s Company. It’s scary.
A friend just bought skinny jeans and didn’t pay 350 but did spend around 175 I think. I didn’t ask – she’d sent several emails trying to find the damn things and I stopped paying attention to the details. I think the most I pay is around 50.00 at Express, can’t bring myself to break the 100.00 mark. I am going to try and be supportive of her jeans purchase b/c she’s very sensitive, but it won’t be easy.
American Eagle has the flared/ low rise jeans. I got a pair for 29 dollars on sale the other day. They are comfy and affordable.
I had never shopped there before, when my younger sister brought me to the store and pointed the jeans out. (She’s kind of my personal shopper as I am fashion-stupid.)
Heh. Here on OZ they’ve been the big thing for about six months now. All the skinny little hipster girls and boys wear ‘em. With their stripey shirts and their floppy haircuts. It makes me feel sooooo old.
I for one look forward to the 90s revival as I have a pair of Docs I am dying to start wearing again…
I think it’s safe to say that pleated pants don’t look good on anyone. Just say no to pleated pants, kids!
I like the leggings and oversized sweatshirt look. I frequently wear it to sleep when it’s cold, to lounge around the house, and to do my laundry. I don’t think I’d actually wear it in public, though. Same with scrunchies. I guess that, for me, ’80s fashion is for housework. I don’t wear electric-blue mascara, cascading bangs, or rubber bangles, though, even when I’m cleaning house.
Actually, I live in Germany, and among the young women here, especially in the secular Turkish minority, retro-80′s fashion is now very much en vogue. Tight, acid-washed jeans, either tucked into or rolled up over high-heeled go-go boots, in addition to tight, sequined t-shirts and iridescent eye-shadow, are all common sights in the streets of German cities. Young men, as well, often sport euro-mullets, sometimes mullet-hawks. For a time, I rested easy, thinking that such trends had not returned to the American sartorial consciousness. But apparently I was wrong.
Jersey three-can do.
pleats.
stirrups pants.
My brain… the images… the horror!
I know grunge wasn’t flattering either, but it wasn’t supposed to be. All this other crap was supposed to make people look good – and it was oh so bad.
And I agree – American Eagle jeans are the best.
Oh wow. I upgraded from Aqua Net to Vavoom in the late 80′s when I started making full-time pay. So classy. Wasn’t that the one where they designed the bottle so that it would keep spraying even upside down? I think they even had the label printed upside down for full marketing effect. Even knocking the back of my head on the sick flipping my hair back up after a spray session didn’t deter me from using it because it made my hair so big.
I have to admit, I am still a big hair girl. Glad to see it coming back ’round. It was getting hard to keep hiding my hot rollers. The shame was eating away at me.
Hey, and remember the stirrup stretchy pants? That we wore with skinny pointy toed boots? With big oversized sweaters? And the shoulder-duster earrings. Good times.
I am reeling over the price of jeans you guys have to pay! Damn… I buy Old Navy or Gap because they are the only things that fit, I have never spent over 50 on a pair of jeans. I think I would have a heart attack spending 100 on one pair, much less 340. I would die.
I was actually pretty young in the 80′s myself, but I do remember crimped side pony tails with lots and lots of hairspray (I used salon selectives, because it smelled like apples), legwarmers, big shirts over those stirrup leggings. Fun times! I even had a pair of gold hoop earrings that reached my shoulders. I think I had hightop cpnverse sneakers too. I think it would be fun to dress like that for a night, but after that, I’ll stick to my jeans and non-tapered jeans. I have way too much hip and butt flesh to be wearing anything that clings to my body. I even do maternity flare leg jeans.
Oops, that’s supposed to say t-shirts and untapered jeans.
Well, nobody really *has* to pay that much; the article was in the NYT Style section, and the jeans at Barney’s. So keep that in mind.
From the looks of things, I’m suspecting that the ’50′s are coming back too. I just saw a woman at the office wearing one of those house skirts with a blouse like I see in those 1950′s ads. Scary!
I am impressed by the rapid jeans-price inflation. I’ve still been reeling over the $160 Citizens of Humanity ones that my sister-in-law bought a few years ago. And now you can pay twice that!
According to the above-mentioned sister-in-law, the explanation for the very expensive jeans is that the current New York dress code allows many women to wear jeans to work, as long as they’re nice, trendy jeans. So the expensive jeans are work clothes, not bumming around on the weekend clothes, and a lot of women are used to spending that much money on work clothes.
I am not used to spending that much money on anything but rent. But then, I’m not a New York fashionista.
Sally–I refuse to spend more than about $50 on jeans (or any clothes for that matter), and even that’s a stretch. I buy them from the Limited or Express so I get quality, but I always hold out until the 50-75% off sale.
My job doesn’t require fancy professional clothes–I sit in a back office with 3 guys who wouldn’t even notice if I picked my nose all day (I don’t but still!). But my husband has been known to spend a couple hundred on a suit, and I’d imagine women’s suits are similar. Some of his coworkers (male Manhattan fashionistas!) spend up to $2000 on suits.
Me in 1988:
Mullet a la Jo from “Facts of Life.”
Chopped t shirts.
Stone washed jeans.
Orange Converse Hi tops.
What a fashion victim.
I believe a male fashionista may be a fashionisto.
That’s true Zuzu. I certainly couldn’t afford to pay that, even if I wanted to. I’m with Marian, I usually wait for the sales. My job is pretty casual too, most days I wear jeans and a shirt. Occasionally a skirt or khaki’s, but almost always jeans and a t-shirt or a button down shirt.
I’m trying to imagine a world in which I’d willingly pay $349 for jeans, but I can’t get past the bomb craters, glowing children, neofascist street gangs, and nameless tentacled things from beyond K’raath.
80′s- I think I wore a She-Ra costume for the first half of that decade, when I could get away with it. Sigh. I’ll hang onto my flares until they pry them from my chilly, nearly lifeless fingers. Skinny jeans make me look like a big-chested radish.
I don’t know, maybe having hippie parents helped me avoid the big hair and leggings. Was it that way for anyone else ? Any moms with no hairspray ?
Wake me when I can dress like Kim Deal again.
Note to self: stock up on boot-cuts now.
Any moms with no hairspray ?
Yeah, but when you’re Sicilian, there’s no avoiding the big hair!
Oh, Marian. Am I awful to love the 1950s style? Updated, of course.
Check my hair, my skirts, my kitten heels, you name it. When the 1950s thing happened a few years ago I was in heaven. Now I hardly shop at all.
I love the 1950s thing too. The clothes are just so flattering! Cinched waisted, a-line skirts, I love them. Thank God for Anthropologie.
Tapered-ankle jeans do not look good on skinny people with long legs. Long legs = big feet. Hence, tapered jeans make me look like Olive Oil from Popyeye. I will gladly remain stuck in the 90′s with my bootcuts.
I also love 50s styles, since they actually work with my shape.
Heh. What I’m seeing here about cigarette jeans is what I’ve been feeling for the past few years about low-rise everything. You know how old-fashioned and just wrong those pants that come up to one’s actual waist look to you now? That’s how low-rise (hiphugger) pants look to me, just a little less. Mostly because I remember going through several of these cycles already. Does wonders for one’s critical eye.
Since I’ve lived through ’50s styles too, I guess I’m off the hook for shirtwaist dresses — that’s what we called them; actually, I didn’t mind those much as dresses go, but I’m longwaisted and they always hit me wrong. I remember one I liked that had three yards of material in the skirt.
I can skip poodle skirts, too, and twinsets. I can’t believe I’m seeing twinsets again. What now? Plastic hairbands with teeth? Penny loafers? Saddle shoes? Toni home permanents? Is everybody going to end up dressing like Terri Schiavo? Hmm, now there’s a sinister set of implications.
Sometimes I’m glad to be an old fart and wear standard-model Carhartts. Which I’ve been wearing for something like 30 years now, since I found them in white with all those handy pockets and wore them as half of my nurse drag.
Ack. That is all I can say. Ack.
I thought I saw hints of this a few months ago, but I did not want to face it then, and I certainly don’t now.
Man, low-waisted pants are the most comfortable thing possible if you have a huge belly. For me, anyway.
Also, I feel so very young. In the 80s I was wearing whatever my mom dressed me in. Which usually meant a Hanna Anderson dress with thick tights underneath. And hair ribbons.
Tapered-ankle jeans do not look good on skinny people with long legs. Long legs = big feet. Hence, tapered jeans make me look like Olive Oil from Popyeye. I will gladly remain stuck in the 90’s with my bootcuts.
Redneck Feminist, you took the words right out of my keyboard.