Last week I had some Old Navy Super Cash to redeem, so I headed to the store, as I've found ON is one of the places whose quality varies wildly. Nothing really grabbed me, but I tried on a pair of distressed boyfriend jeans that were almost right. They were the 'boyfriend skinny ankle' (a label which I think is a bit deceiving, but more on that later). The regular length wasn't long enough for me, so I went home and ordered the tall online, in the distressed and a dark wash, to use up my discount. They arrived today and I think I like them.

I've not had much success with boyfriend jeans so far, as if they're big enough for the hip and butt, they are way too loose at the waist but still snug through the thigh.

The ON pairs fit me quite well, though (they wouldn't work if you're super-narrow at the waist compared to hip, as I do have a tiny bit of gapping at the back, but not anything that can't be remedied by a belt or a small dart or two). They do remind me of 90s tapered jeans a bit, mainly because they're loose through the thigh. For so long all the skinnies were tight through the thigh, and even the bootcuts and flares were snug through the thigh and then get loose below the knee. These are semi-fitted at the waist/hip and then loose through the thigh and semi-fitted through the lower leg.

My only hesitation is that they do lean a little classic-mom-jeans-like, so I'm not sure how to style them. They definitely need a shorter, more fitted top to balance out the looseness - probably not something super-fitted, because that would look dated, but something with a strong shoulder-line and some visual structure.

Would love to hear what you think: absolutely no, or sure, why not?

Next up: the Spice Girls get back together. (Just kidding.)