Skinny Jeans: Love it or Hate it?

Recently, Style Democracy posted an article on the skinny and how many women have mixed feelings about them (Refinery 29 has even gone as far as announcing its death). I personally LOVE them (along with other forms of skinny pants), especially for winter. Living in a city that gets snow, I really hate it when the hems of my pants get dirty and being able to tuck pants into boots is a great thing.

I know that there are those who feel that skinnies just don’t work with their shape (I have met many stylists who disagree, and really, those who don’t look good in them just haven’t found the right pair and/or don’t know how to style them properly) or that they’re just tired of them. Personally, I feel that like the little black dress, the skinny jean or pants (though not necessarily leggings-as-pants) is here to stay, and is part of many women’s basic wardrobes, though extremely skinny, skin tight jeggings are more faddish (IMHO, anyway). And yes, there’s a difference. Sure, many stores are selling fewer skinnies, but it doesn’t mean that it’s gone for good. It’s just become one of the basics, as I noted earlier.

Of course, it’s good to have a variety of items in one’s closet (I have to admit that I’ve gone from next-to-no denim when I was an undergrad to two drawers filled with them, ranging from more budget-friendly pieces from places like LOFT to premium lines like Joe’s Jeans or 7 for All Mankind and even some emerging designers. They range in cut from skinny to straight-legged (another favourite of mine – the slightly slimmer straight legged jeans work almost as well as skinnies when you want to tuck them in) a couple of boot cut (another classic, as long as it isn’t too wide-legged) and even one wide-legged jean (hard to find for petite women, but I managed. It has a 29″ inseam).

What are your thoughts on skinnies? Do you love them or hate them? Do you think it’s time for them to be retired? Or do you think it’s something that should fall into the “classic” range? Or do you just not care?

First image by andyjibb/iStockphoto

About Cynthia Cheng Mintz

Cynthia Cheng Mintz is the founder and webitor-in-chief of this site and the petite-focused site, Shorty Stories. She has also written for other publications including the Toronto Star and has blogged for The Huffington Post. Her first novel, Aspirations, was published in 2007. Outside of writing, Cynthia researches and advises philanthropic ideas for family funds and foundations and also volunteers.