Wider, bigger, roomier, relaxed, and slouchy jeans and pants silhouettes have dominated fashion trends for years. That said, skinny jeans and pants did not disappear. They simply took a back seat. They have been available at both first and second hand retail. 

Last year, slim straights were back as a fringe trend. Slim straights are also known as stovepipe, drainpipe, column, and cigarette pants, or simply “slim bottoms”. This year, slim straights are gaining momentum and I suspect they will go mainstream again soon. Interestingly, when skinnies resurfaced twenty years ago (and as I remember them back in the ’80s) they were slim straights with no stretch component as we know them today. As the skinny jeans and pants trend continued in the ‘00s, they became skinnier and stretchier. They were very tight and stretchy like leggings, and competed with leggings as a bottoms option.

To my eye, there are skinnies and super skinnies. Skinnies are slim straights, and super skinnies are even tighter. They are 100% body con like leggings with very narrow ankle openings, whereas slim straights have a bit of ease and a slightly wider ankle opening.

My preference is for wide, wider, flared, architectural, and relaxed bottom silhouettes. I wear relaxed straight rather than slim straight jeans and pants. That said, I have one very old pair of slim straight jeans. They are my least frequently worn pair of jeans because they’re very slim. I keep them because I love the dramatic blingy gold button trim and their high rise.

I will never again wear slim straights or super skinnies with a low rise. I will wear low rise, but with roomy and wide leg silhouettes. I will wear slim straights with a high rise but not super skinnies. That bit of ease with a high rise makes a remarkable difference to me visually and physically. As an ex-equestrian I have a soft spot for slim straights tucked into tall boots, and will re-visit the combination at some point.

Because slim straights count as skinnies in my style world, I’m wearing skinnies again. Very infrequently on this leg of my style journey, but I’m wearing them with specific stipulations. The jury is out as to whether skinnies of the slim straight variety will once again be a main player in my style. My guess is that they won’t, but who knows.

Over to you. Are you wearing slim straights or super skinnies? If not, do you think you will wear them again someday?