Could it be? Going off jeans? - YouLookFab Forum

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Could it be? Going off jeans?

Anonymous

Up until now I've worn jeans almost every day of my life for about 25 years.
Lately though, I'm finding TRACK PANTS way better for my casual life, and find that they are actually a little bit cooler than jeans for kid pickup, bike rides, sport sidelines, and to-from the gym. I'm also really into all the nice running shoes. There also seems to be a lot of innovation in fabrics on the sporty luxe side of things that kind of get me excited.

I still like jeans for city type activities like grocery shopping, casual restaurants, and walking around on concrete (sorry I dont have a better example of what I mean by this but it happens a lot!).

For work, I've been wearing white jeans and trousers exclusively and love the dressier feel of it. I want to ween myself off jeans for work. MsMary and others have inspired me to go the cropped trousers-plus-heels route and I'm loving the professional and put-together feel of these outfits.

I never thought I'd say this, but it's possible that there will be much less room in my closet for jeans going forward. Talk about major growth (although admittedly, growth into track pants might be considered regression ! I do consider it growth as I wouldn't have considered them in the past.)

What about you? Have you gone off jeans or another wardrobe staple recently? Do you find yourself moving to sportier looks or dressier looks?

Dressing

18 replies

Latest reply was from Aziraphale

jill58

Veteran

Yes! The fact of the matter is that while I still wear jeans for, as you said "city type activities" they're just not as comfortable as other options. I wear leggings with tunic/dresses much of the time. I still love jeans but for sheer comfort they're not always my first choice. I'm also thinking that I'd like a couple of comfortable summer skirts and maybe some new cropped pants in some sort of summer fabric. I do have some cropped pants from summers past in fatigue, off white and black--hoping they still look ok when I unearth them from the depths of my closet.

ma

Veteran

Me, too...although i guess i havent grown quite as much, i still wear jeans a lot. My life is super casual so they work for me, but I've just gotten bored with them. I am adding casual dresses and skirts for summer and I do have two pairs of track pants that I love, so comfy. I want a pair of old school Adidas ones but I think those wouldnt get much wear until fall.

Style Fan

Veteran

I love jeans but in our Canadian climate I probably don't wear them as much as I would like to. In the middle of winter I wear leggings with fleece lining or Lululemon dog walking pants that are fleece lined. Basically I live in fleece. In the heat of summer jeans are too hot and I struggle to find something to wear. Sometimes I wear shorts (mid thigh) or long loose pants. But my plan now is to move into skirts.
I have been on the hunt for some skirts. Not denim skirts. I would like skirts that cover my knees and even go mid calf. Not maxi skirts.
My new look for summer will be skirts and T shirts. I plan to add a belt. I am hoping for pockets in the skirt for dog supplies.

catgirl

Veteran

Interesting! My tween son hasn't worn jeans for a year now- it's all joggers and track pants. I definitely get the comfort level, and I have to wonder how arbitrary I'm being to see regular jeans as dressier than track pants.

Anonymous

I'm veering away from wearing jeans. I really like my white jeans, but they're styles more like trousers than jeans. I really love, love, love my NYDJ ponte trousers. A coworker of mine, who is new and into fashion like me, complimented me on them this week. I have purchased enough pairs to get me through a work week. My office is cold enough that the heavier weight fabric isn't bad.

Anonymous

I'm curious what is meant by joggers or track pants here on the forum - sort of a nitpicking question, but are they what I might refer to as "sweats" ? i.e fleece sweatpants with or without a cuffed bottom?

Track pants to me mean the traditional adidas 3 stripe soccer and running pants, and joggers - I don't even know what that really means. I'm not trying to be obnoxious - I just suspect this is a regional vernacular thing. I have lots of sweat pants in different weights and colours but wouldn't be caught dead outside of the house in them. My old-school adidas synthetic knit pants? Yes, those I wear around and about.

That aside - I'm thinking along the same lines as you, although I am not eliminating jeans from my wardrobe by any stretch of the imagination, rather just looking to get away from them for work. I haven't had a pair of cropped pencil leg pants (the true Audrey Hepburn look , you know?) for a few years, and I would like to find another pair to wear the heck out of for summer. I am a little trend fatigued by the released hem, fringy cropped jeans look, and am interested in classic, sophisticated pants for work.

always trying

Veteran

I posted just last week about wearing less blue denim jeans. still wear my black ones and white ones, but am substituting the blue denim for more track pants and joggers. As we get into hot weather I will not be wearing jeans at all. By the time it gets cool again it well probably be November.

For more dressy casual things this spring and summer I will be wearing my 100% cotton chambray pants, the cotton crops, cotton joggers, and cotton chino type pants. Jeans with all that spandex are just too hot! also have white linen and linen cotton blend that have not been worn in a while. I lost a little weight and they fit and look better now, so they will come out to play when it gets hot.

Sal

Veteran

Smittie, it sounds like you are enjoying having three different looks - smart work, smart casual, sporty casual, with blue jeans fitting best into the middle category. I think that make sense. I think doing active play with younger children sporty gear makes a lot of sense - and it washes and wears so brilliantly. I love the colours and patterns available now too.

I fell out of love with denim from about 1997-2002. I had worn so much of it travelling, as a student, as a teenager, I experimented with velvet jeans, moleskins, cargo pants and avoided them until I had a baby when I came back with a veangence.

Right now I am not wearing many skirts - I wore a lot of skirts casually from 2005-2011 and have gone more to either dresses or pants now.

I am veering both more sporty and more dressy - like yourself, I split my wardrobe into different sections, all quite small. But it works for me.

It is funny how dress codes or self imposed dress codes work. Some of them don't make much sense. And I am also confused around the terminology surrounding the following terms, and where it is appropriate, or inappropriate to wear them..

Here is my guide to these items (relevant only to me)

Joggers (not a term I use)

Track pants are the typical sports brand athletic pants - maybe with a zip at the bottom so you can take them off while wearing sportshoes. Casual only for sports or occasional errands.

Sweatpants - made of fleecy fabric and worn for lounging at home or to the gym. I don't wear.

Harem Pants - dressy pants, loose, cropped or full length, usually with some sort of dropped crotch, and fitting at the ankle. Made of knit or woven fabric. Can be dressy- casual.

Ponte pants - thick knit pants, often with pockets or a fake fly. I don't have any.

Leggings - to be worn as a layering item, made from knit or leather, can be dressy or casual.

Yoga pants -

have a long leg and a flare at the bottom, but are fitting at the top. Casual/exercise only. I only have one pair which are for heavy duty cleaning, gardening etc..

Running tights- basically leggings that look like you wear them to the gym or running (stripes, mesh, logos etc). To be worn exercising or to and from exercising. But I do go to the cafe or supermarket in them.

And there are a range of pieces that blur the line between them. I just added some Lululemon cropped black pants (made from a technical fabric) to my wardrobe, and I swear I could wear them with heels and a glam top out to dinner. I also have leggings made of ponte - very thick, no panty line can be seen - are these leggings or ponte pants?

To me most of it is down to the fit, fabrication, quality, flattery-level, and what you wear them with. And I guess where you live.

I have gone off topic here Smittie, oops!

Brooklyn

Veteran

Oh Smittie. Say it isn't so! Gone off jeans? Noooooo.
I actually don't own any sweat pants or joggers or track pants or harem pants or yoga pants etc. (And I very much enjoyed Sally's deconstruction of all the relevant trends.) I do have one pair of Ponte pants which I wear very occasionally in winter. I actually have the opposite experience to you in that sporty pants feel too hot for me in the warmer months and too cold in winter. Also, it seems that blue jeans can virtually walk by themselves before they need washing. Not so for joggers etc.
So I will remain a jeans devotee. For now...Never say never

Ledonna N.

Veteran

This is such an interesting thread and your reasoning behind why you have "gone off" jeans. I have 2 choices at work either wear dockers or jeans no in between. no slacks. I could be working in ceilings or manholes or telecom rooms or a meeting with clients. I have to say I pretty much hate them now after 13 years of uniform wear. I would rather wear them than dockers tho.
Away from work you will not catch me in them. My after work life is much different. I will not touch the.

anne

Veteran

Yes, an interesting read. I'm not that into jeans myself. I refused to wear them until I was 9 and even now, since I can't wear them at work (except on casual Fri), don't want to wear them after work for comfort reasons, and it is too hot to wear them in the summer here, my wearing them is somewhat restricted.
I'd love to see some pictures of how you wear the track pants!

Eliza

Veteran

I wear a wide range of pants/crops: jeans in denim shades and white, ponte pants for the cold, linen for summer. I also have "fashionable" sporty pants from a couple of years ago. They have not been in active rotation quite as much in the last year. While they may mimic track pants, they were easy to dress up, yet super comfortable in silk and nice fabrics. I am looking forward to wearing my cropped jeans in the warm, but not hot, spring weather, yet I only wear denim about 2 days a week in the cold. Give up jeans? Not in the foreseeable future.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I still can't get around the elasticized waist band and tie up part of "track pant" style pants - I don't feel right wearing them out of the house because I associate them very closely with jogging, yoga, pajamas, etc. That's the difference (to me) between jeans or other pants and track pants. The latter (track pants) can be slightly "dressy" if they are in silky fabrications or have other styling points I guess - and paired with dressier shoes, but they still feel too much like "non clothes" for me at this point. My eye may eventually adjust - or maybe my waist will adjust and I'll want to wear them.

Jenn

(website)

Veteran

I am loving my jeans right now, but I don't think I wore any at all last summer. Skirts and lighter fabrications just feel so much better on the hottest days! The comfort factor is a biggie too. When you're trying to live an active lifestyle, rather than a work-and-workout setup, it's nice to have a go-to option that lets you straight from, say, shopping to playing frisbee in the park.

Lisa, my new, go-to jogger pants aren't a sweatpants material, which is why I like them so much. They're a lightweight cotton twill, with a tiny bit of stretch. I consider joggers to be just about any relaxed, lightweight pant with an elastic waist and cuff, and standard crotch (unlike harems).

Women's Kickback Twill Jogger Pants

View Info

Top Pick

5

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

(You're joining the ranks of the Millennial Athleisure Army).

YES. I can go off jeans, Smittie - which is why I have lots of alternatives: skirts, dresses, harem pants, and trousers.

I also wear white jeans VERY frequently, because they are dressier and crisper than blue. They do a good job of changing things up.

Anonymous

Jill58: I'm with you that jrans are often not comfortable for outdoor use, and sometimes a little less functional than other options.

Stylefan: Those fleece lined leggings are on my fashion bucket list. (Available at Costco too. Why do I keep bringing up Costco with you? ;))

Alaskagirl: I might be inadvertently copying the young kids around me by wearing track pants. I admit that I do sometimes take style inspiration from teens. They're often the first ones wearing a trend.

BC: I bet the Ponte pants look very professional and are perfect for work. I love how they don't wrinkle.

Lisap: To me sweatpants are like sweat shorts in pants format. I have a pair, and wear these only for baseball. Joggers I tend to think of as the fashion version of sweatpants. Track pants are the knot ones like you have, or the nylon ones. They have to have elastic or ribb knit ankles to qualify. Nice to know that you are dressing up more for work too. I will have to copy some of your non-jeans looks!

Always trying: It looks like you and I are headed in the same direction for casual outfits. Linen pants are something I'd love to try--I love the easy look.

Kiwifgal/sally: You were one of my inspirations for splitting my wardrobe more distinctly into sporty vs. Dressy modules. I'm thinking of the picture you posted of you near a waterfall, and that your gear look suited the environment much better than jeans. Now I'm trying to wear things that are perfect for the occasion, as opposed to things that are only adequate for the occasion.

I also enjoyed your breakdown of pant types (you need to blog about this, lol!). I share mist of your views but would categorize running pants in the yoga pants category if they're not too flashy.

Brooklyn: I know, it feels a bit crazy that I'm wearing jeans less and less. I do feel like a bit of a traitor. Maybe I'm just going through a phase and this track-pants thing will blow over

Lodonna L. : Dockers are just cruel. O would never have guessed you wore jeans all the time from your fabulous OOTD pics!

Anne: I think we're in the same lifestyle boat of not really needing jeans. I will post a pic when I get the chance.

Eliza: It IS nice to hang on to some denim. It's a great way to add a current element if the jean is in a trendy cut or wash. Also, practical in many ways.

Texstyle: I agree that track pants feel like non-clothes, but I DO think they are appropriate in many instances. I guess for me, a gear look is becoming more acceptable for me in public.

Jenn: REALLY good point about having clothes that work from grocery store to playing Frisbee. Of course jeans fit the bill in this regard. At this point, I actually try to change for these different activities.

Angie: Lol, well even though I'm on Team Millenial Athleisure Army, I'm also in team White Pants Forevah!

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

YAY. Go Team White Jeans FOREVER.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I went through a phase where I wore LuLuLuemon yoga pants a lot -- back when my kids were babes -- but not the butt-clingy kind, more the low-rise drawstring kind. By the time yoga styles were moving in the skintight direction, I went back to jeans. Plus, by then I was quite put off by LuLuLemon because the employees behaved like brain damaged cult members, lol.

I do make an effort to wear more skirts these days, now that my kids are older and I'm not on the floor so much, but really I'm a jeans girl at heart, and suspect this will always be so.

If you like the feeling of being dressier, then it's not surprising you're going off jeans. Nothing wrong with that! I know there's a lot of love for white jeans on this forum.