What did you wear in bad weather before Skinnies & Straightlegs?

Angie

i got soggy hems in bootcuts (because I refused to wear them shorter than just skimming the surface of the ground), and wore skirts/dresses with tall boots - the latter being the better solution.

What did you do?

9 years ago

Dressing

62 replies

Latest reply was from trekkiegirl

Diana

Veteran

Skirts with tall boots, or else I just stuffed my bootcuts bunchily into the tops of snow boots (in those days I wore timberland hiking boots so they were not so tall) and pulled them out once I got indoors. Or, more often than not, soggy hems.

9 years ago

trekkiegirl

Veteran

Regardless of what type of pants I had on, I always tucked my pants into my boots. I hate soggy hems!! I live in Chicago, where the weather is as fickle as - well, the weather can be! So if I have to gear up for any kind of inclement weather, I'm going to be PREPARED, fashion be damned.

9 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Yeah, Diana. How did we EVER live without the practical tapered jean? It's quite remarkable.

9 years ago

Joy

Veteran

I wore wool skirts and heavy semi-opaque stockings but ruined lots of nice shoes. Oh, and sweatsuits with banded bottoms on legs usually with sneakers...a horrible look , but warm. I even had a set in velour.
It took me a long time to discover fashion boots.

9 years ago

Helena

Veteran

Like a true Toronto girl, I froze to death in improper boots, skirts, whatever pants dragged on the ground, an unlined leather jacket ... whatever was stylish at the time but completely silly to wear in winter, that's what I wore. Now that I am older and more sensible, I am thankful for skinnies every day!!!

9 years ago

approprio

(website)

Veteran

Platform shoes! Avoiding mucky streets since the 18th century!
It certainly works for me

9 years ago

Anonymous

In rain I would sometimes wear a skirt and boots or ordinary shoes (which got spoiled) In snow I would wrap bootcuts around my calf (sometimes secured with an elastic band :)) and shove them into wellies, then they bunched up.

9 years ago

shiny

Veteran

Well, my boot cuts weren't hemmed correctly, so they were on the too-short side.

Rarely wore dresses & skirts.

Footwear: either a pair of heeled pleather booties VERY similar to my favorite pair now, or Uggs with swap into heels at the office. I adopted Uggs after years of suffering in fashionable "snow boots" that weren't warm at all.

9 years ago

Tanya

Veteran

I also rarely wore skirts/dresses, so it was bootcuts all the way, all the time, regardless of the weather. It was pretty much the only thing in my wardrobe.

9 years ago

sarah

Veteran

Like Shiny, my pants were not PPL. I shudder to think back...

9 years ago

amiable

Veteran

I wore my pants too short. *cringe*

9 years ago

Carole

Veteran

High water boot cuts:(

9 years ago

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

HAH. Thanks, ladies.

Can you believe we did this? Wearing bootcuts in bad weather might take the cake for the most impractical way of dressing ever.

9 years ago

trekkiegirl

Veteran

I will say, it was often very frustrating to take my (very warm, practical, leaning toward ugly but fully functional) boots off at work only to reveal rumpled pant hems. So I did eventually get into the habit of wearing more dresses and skirts with tights, sometimes layering 2 pairs, one of which I might or might not take off once at work. I also used leg warmers a lot. Still do in fact, because my knees get stiff and sore if they are too cold.

9 years ago

Laurinda

Veteran

Way way back in the '70s we wore flared jeans or cords (or 'elephant bells') that touched the ground or even curled a bit under our back heels until they frayed with wear to the (then) proper length. Wearing those in the slush meant having pant legs wet up to your knees for the first hour or two of school, followed by a salt stain at the high water mark.

I'm still off flared pants :-/.

9 years ago

Diana

Veteran

By the way, what do the men in your life do? J. just gets soggy hems all the time with his work trousers and jeans. He has snow boots, obviously, but they are ankle length and he wears the pants over them. This is what I see most men around here wearing too. I guess their pants are usually straight legs so not quite floor skimming but it still seems impractical. But I think most men would suffer through soggy hems rather than tuck their pants or wear skinnies!

9 years ago

Marlene

Veteran

I crammed my bootcuts into boots while outside in the weather. Then attempted to flatten out the wrinkles when I got to my destination.

9 years ago

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Longer skirts - riding style - with tights and boots for times when I needed to look professional right away. When not or it was so cold that pants were mandatory, tucked my pants into snow boots. Slush was more of a problem when things were thawing, not when things were cold, you know? When it's cold the snow is still frozen and you can knock off the bulk of it before you come indoors and you don't get that bad of a damp hem effect.

9 years ago

Marilyn

Veteran

Bootcuts with soggy bottoms. If I was walking the dog I would wrap the bottoms around as best I could and tuck them into my snow boots. I was a slow adapter to skinnies but there's no looking back now.

9 years ago

Eliza

Veteran

I hope this issue alone is enough to keep the skinnies and straight legs going. The lack of them was the bane of my pants loving existence in this cold, wet climate. I did the skirt and boot thing and also remember performing the "parking lot tuck" when I arrived at work, pausing to pull the hems out in the entry. Ridiculous!

9 years ago

abc

Veteran

Funny, I skimmed the skinny jeans article today and thought to myself, what did we do before skinny jeans when we had bad weather? Great minds think alike

I avoid going out in the rain (we don't have snow here) but it will probably become necessary this year. I'll be sporting tapered hems for sure!

9 years ago

Ruth M

Active Member

Tall boots - either with a skirt & tights (brrr!) or with bootcuts folded over inside the boots, which was uncomfortable, and didn't do the boots or the bootcuts much good either.

9 years ago

Janet

(website)

Veteran

I lived with messy jean hems.

9 years ago

Suz

(website)

Veteran

Ugh. All of the above.

Flares and wide legs that dragged on the ground and stayed wet for hours. Check.

Platform boots/ shoes. Check. (I liked this except it could be slippy, and wide legs get wet/ mucky anyway if the proper length.)

Skirts and tall boots (if I could find them) with tights. Check. A much better solution, except my boots didn't fit properly since I could never find any that fit my calves.

Shorter snow boots with pants tucked in and feeling totally, totally frumpy. Quick furtive change in the bathroom at my destination to put on proper shoes. Check.

Skinnies and slim leg trousers will never, ever leave my closet as long as I live in a winter climate!!

9 years ago

Inge

(website)

Moderator

I honestly can't remember very clearly:-)
I guess, for the most part: skirts or dresses with tights and boots, or trying to half-heartedly tuck bootcut trousers into boots, or just grin and bear it and suffer soggy hems in bootcuts.

9 years ago

Anonymous

You'd wonder.

9 years ago

trekkiegirl

Veteran

My husband has the same mentality I do: Health and practicality take precedence over fashion. He would never wear skinny pants, but he will tuck his pants into boots when necessary.

9 years ago

gradfashionista

(website)

Veteran

Life before skinny jeans? Hmm, as I recall, I never wear boots, which meant that I always had wet hems from my bootleg jeans, and from my maxi skirts. So far, this has been a winter with clean and dry hems, for which I am grateful!

9 years ago

lyn67

Veteran

Highwater bootcuts:-), but mostly skirts and dresses with tall boots - the later is what I do it up to date, as other than a taupe suede one, I don't have the right pair of waterproof boots to pair with my only one pair of distressed jeans:-(..

9 years ago

12 3

Category