Irina - I am not into cropped wide legs at the moment even though I do own a few pair. They don't look right . But I recently bought a pair of full length wide legs and wore them all weekend, and LOVED them. They have movement and are quite soft but aren't so wide that they got in the way. I wouldn't be going for a walk in them but they were great for a day of running errands. I wore them with suede Sambas and a cotton sweater and quilted jacket. Maybe it's in my head, but I felt more elegant/sophisticated than I would in barrel or straight jeans. Relatively speaking, that is. This long length actually feels more modern and current than barrels to me too. I'm also diving deep into the 3 style word "system" right now and wider, longer pants fit into this .

I see basically every sort of jeans except barrels in my area. Lots of denim shorts on teens especially, but even distressed jeans are back around here. I stick to full length trouser, bootcut, and slim straights.
The closest thing to barrels I'll wear is rayon harem pants.

On Saturday, we attended a music event that attracted a crowd of people around our age. The event was called a Coffee House, and the musicians played folk music from the 60s and 70s. I wore wide-legged jeans, a burnt orange cashmere sweater, cognac boots, and a wide silver cuff bracelet. I noticed many women wearing skinny jeans and straight-legged jeans. I don't think I have ever seen anyone wear barrel jeans, except me, and rarely wide-legged jeans.
When I was in Montreal this winter, I saw lots of wide-legged pants and some barrel pants. As Dee said, people in Montreal seem interested in fashion and like to experiment with their style.
I love wearing wide-legged and barrel jeans. I never wore skinnies and found jean shopping in that era torture. Now, I am excited to look for jeans.

LJP - whatever works
For me, a certain level of sophistication in an outfit comes from shoes, bags and outwear (if any worn). Also, of course, dark denim looks dressier than light wash. But I don’t see it in any particular style of jeans more than the others. Hmmm…

I see barrels in my small town.
Like LisaP a woman at our local grocery was rocking them with a boho white topper and a super cropped pixie...she looked FAB.

So interesting! To be honest, I still see a LOT of skinnies on the street, particularly on millennial and up aged women (and men!). Younger tends to wear wide and baggy styles. I wear whatever I want (but not skinnies in a long time) but my best is a slouchy straight/boyfriend style jean. I think I saw a barrel legged jeans once .

Fun to see the array of responses.

In my area of the mid Atlantic, especially in the more eclectic city environments, I see a bit of everything. Barrels are definitely in the mix, but I don’t see a lot of them on my age and older. Long wide legs, and some really baggy roomy styles, are popular on college campuses and with young people in town. Straight legs and mom jeans are out there too, as are roomy boyfriend cuts. I see some skinnies, but it seems here they are mostly on people who are styling them the same way they did years ago and really just don’t pay a lot of attention to fashion. Bootcuts are around too, for sure. Mine feel most current when I wear them with sneakers rather than heeled boots, but I’m wearing them both ways. I would maintain that a moderate bootcut remains my most flattering style.

I’m enjoying the variety — it allows me to explore different silhouettes in tops as well as bottoms, which was hard to do when all the jeans were skinny and low rise.

Irina - it took me a while to adjust to wide legs but I’m totally on the team now. I like them because:
They look good on me! I’m quite small-boned (though wider through the waist than I’d like), and short waisted with longer legs - somehow a hip skimming, not massively voluminous A line wide leg just looks right on me. I think they balance me out somehow.
Like LJP, I feel stylish in them. I think they look sophisticated and cool.
They’re comfortable. I don’t mind a little fabric swishing around the ankles. I do avoid the really hugely wide ones.
I like how they look with little sleek sneakers (like Adidas) which is mostly what I wear these days. I like a cropped version in summer with sandals.

Of course so much has to do with proportions - wide legs seem to be the best cut I’ve ever found for my particular proportions. And you have such a good eye for what works for you, and if they don’t work for you, they don’t.

Irina, I like the A-line wide legs because they tend to fit me better (i.e. they are more comfortble) and (I think) flatter as well. I wear them cropped and full length and walk everywhere all the time and am never bothered by the fabric. I also ride my bike in them sans problem (I do have a chain guard, of course.) For footwear - -I wear everything from booties (in cold weather) to sandals (in hot.) Oxfords, loafers, Mary-Janes -- you name it -- though of course if full length I have to have them hemmed for the shoes I will mostly wear with them. Mostly I hem them so I have some options -- they will be "old" full length (i.e. nearly floor skimming) with some shoes and "new" full length (i.e. showing more of the shoe) with others.

My A-lines are mostly quite fitted at waist and hip. (The new Levis are baggier but still relatively fitted up top.) They are loose on thighs, which is key for comfort, for me.

What can I say? I feel great and confident in them. But it is so personal -- jeans especially! What fits and feels good to one will not to another.

I relate to what Elena and Suz say about wide legs! I have thick hips and thighs, and I like the way wide-legs skim over them and create a long line, emphasizing the length of my legs and disguising their shape. I have to be in the right mood to wear the widest ones — they’re pretty dramatic — but I notice that the more I wear these styles, the more my eye adjusts. I also don’t mind the excess fabric unless it’s windy and/or rainy when it’s not ideal.

Those styles feel good to me. Always have! I had a pair of wide leg trouser jeans in the 80s that I adored.

I wear full length wide leg wool pants and the same cut but cropped linen and cotton summer pants. I like that softer fabric drapes at the bottom and moves with my body. It’s with more rigid denim I struggle. Maybe I haven’t met a right for me pair.

To me the most dressy or elevated jean style is dark denim with minimal stitching, in any style (wide, straight, barrel, bootcut) but probably with a more tailored waist fit. Or cream/white denim.

Wide leg, straight, bootcut, boyfriend, athleisure, shorts, and capris are the most common bottoms I see in my area. I rarely see skinny jeans and I never see barrels, horseshoes, or cropped wide legs. I am also seeing raw or unfinished hems less and less.

Wide legs are the most common of the three in my neck of the woods, followed by skinnies, followed by barrels/lanterns/horseshoes (which I can’t tell apart from a distance). I think they are each being worn among different fashion subcultures who are aiming for different looks. Interestingly a lot of the skinnies that I’m seeing are worn by men, and are in soft and stretchy fabrications.

Lots of other bottoms styles are seen here besides those three, of course.

I see mostly full length and cropped wide leg, barrel and baggy jeans on younger people. Mostly skinny, straight leg and cropped wide leg jeans on older people. I don’t see flares or boot cuts much. Still plenty of leggings everywhere!

I said on Janet’s thread that I thought there was a market saturation of barrels. I meant at retail not in real life. So many retailers seem to be pushing them. I’ve even seen buses with ads for Target or maybe KMart, saying, “yes, we have barrel jeans!!” in huge letters. It feels like a retailer push. So a bit of pushback is unsurprising.

Personally, I don’t feel like barrels suit my body type. (But I’m perfectly happy for those who enjoy them!) Luckily for me they haven’t completely taken over retail like skinnies. I’m a wide leg fan. Flares too. They balance out my shape better. I also prefer full length. I just prefer long, relaxed silhouettes. Slouchy vibe. Barrels have a bit more of an architectural vibe, or a gamine vibe, which is not really me.

I realized the other day that one of the only denim styles that looks truly dated, to the point where it is a little shock to see it now, is the extremely-distressed with big holes look. I definitely don’t miss it.

Thanks for all the thoughts and sharing, everyone! Much enjoyed your perspectives and "eyes on the street""

BIGGEST surprises to me: Lots of leggings and skinnies on the street in your neck of the woods.

I'm with Team Wide Legs ALL THE WAY! High five Suz, Janet, Sal, Brooklyn and LJP! Full length is my fave. Wide crops a close second. I find that wide widths of pants at the hem looks elegant. I LOVE the swoosh as I walk my fast walk. Like BIG skirts that swoosh! My best!

Irina, interestingly, my favourite way to wear sneakers is with FULL length wide legs! Jeans, dressy pants, or casual pants. I like the covered sneaker. Only the nose pokes out. I also love my barrels with you!! Another high five! I find them very easy to wear, and practical in wet weather.

High fling Lisa, who also wears it ALL

Pants observations on a Tuesday in Ronda and Malaga, Spain:
The people who look the most fashionable are wearing wide leg jeans or trousers. There are a lot of people in straight jeans but with outfits that seem more basic. The wide leg look skews a little younger than then straight but there’s a lot of overlap. I saw one person (besides myself) in barrel pants today. I did see some balloon pants in a few of the shops but didn’t bite. As for skinny jeans - men are the primary wearers, with a few women here and there. (I see skinnies back in the village but let’s say the look doesn’t hit as intentional).

I'm with Janet - wide legs are actually skimming over my hips and thighs. I got some "extra" wide from Lands' End that are actually wide enough to not be tight on my thighs. I'm not sure I've had that feeling since I was a little kid. They're still not crazy wide, but the hem doesn't feel wider than standard bootcuts.

Speaking of, those are my other pair. I am pretty unobservant out and about - well, I watch faces and hair, not jeans! - but I do see bootcuts around here.

I have some "straight legs" which are of course pretty tapered on me; snug on the thighs (everything is) but fairly loose on the calves. But I haven't reached for them this winter. I've enjoyed the super wide legs and occasionally the bootcuts when I want to feel more fitted.

I love the look of barrel jeans, but haven’t found the right ones for me - but, there are piles of them (and wide legs) in the shops in the big mall. What I see where I live is wide leg denim or wide leg sweat pants on the youth, and leggings, joggers, and straight legged denim fits with ease, but not width on 40-50 yo. Jogger style bottoms popular as well. We are experiencing a prolonged cool and wet spring, so that factors into what people are wearing.

Last night I stood behind a sharply dressed woman, whose age I could not determine until she turned around. It was a rainy day and she wore wide leg cropped jeans in medium-pale blue with black higher shaft boots with a low heel and heavier sole, a black turtleneck sweater, and a black quilted longer length (below hip) vest. She had shoulder length wavy dark hair, carried a black leather tote, and a white umbrella with wide stripes of black, navy, medium blue, pale blue - all colours from her outfit. I figured she might be a fashionable late 20-early 30 yo from behind, but when she turned around I gauged her age as late 40’s-early 50’s.

Not seeing barrels out & about. But as noted, retail is saturated.

I’ve tried a number of barrel pants ( not jeans) styles, including ones called “ barely barrel” ( not so much) and need to basically swear off. I tried them mostly because of looking for trouser-type pants, so screening for fabric type, tailored waist, belt loops. All looked no good on me.

I think one of the reasons is that most ( maybe not all of course) are cut so as to fit slimmer through the hip. As are many wide- leg jeans, BTW. This fit is the worst for me, as I prefer much more skimming hip fit falling down to leg line. Sizing up ( to tailor down) doesn’t seem to help much since then the barrel is overwhelming.

I think it’s just more helpful for me to try more classic trousers in the vest fabrics, drape, waist- to-hip fits.

I do have one pair of barrels— sweatpants from their Simone Byles line, which came in a dusky purple that I love, and which is in a just heavenly soft fleece fabric blend. Not conventionally flattering on me but so yummy to wear. I tried the matching pieces but styles were all wrong for me ( too cropped of that big- arms style).

I wanted to get more use than just comfy at-home wear, so actually wore them to several casual gatherings by pairing with slightly more more tailored or less-casual tops—still more of an Athleisure look than Sports Luxe, but fit the environmental norm.

About the only place I see barrel jeans is when I look in the mirror - and I love them! I like them better than wide legs, actually. Around here people are wearing straights and skinny jeans.