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Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

Popping in for a quick question

Aziraphale

Veteran

I haven't had much time or enthusiasm for shopping lately, but today I had to drop some work off downtown and I happened to emerge from the underground parking near Aritzia (trendy Canadian retailer aimed at 20- and 30-somethings who wear a lot of grey and black), so I went in to see if they had a hooded plaid shirt I could wear with my new moto jacket. I noticed while I was in there that literally ALL the flared and wide-leg jeans appeared to be on sale. There were slim and skinny jeans on sale too, but all of the new, full-price stock seemed to be slim-fit or straight jeans, some of them cropped.

Surely the flared denim trend can't have burnt itself out already? Usually this retailer has its finger on the fashion pulse of the city, so if they're marking down all their voluminous jeans, what does it mean? That the trend is dying before it even got started, or just that there isn't a local market for flares?

Shopping

26 replies

Latest reply was from Aziraphale

rachylou

Veteran

Well I feel surprised they had flared and wide legs already... Maybe some stock they got in just for the sales?

Sal

Veteran

I feel like flares have not properly arrived here. They are here but not fully embraced or mainstream. I am planning to get a pair this year. Of course I am not sure if we ahead of you trend wise or not!!

Gigi

Veteran

Hmm, I was just shopping today, and although I didn't see a lot of flares, they weren't on sale and there weren't a whole lot of them. Like Kiwigal, I feel that flares haven't really gotten up and running here yet (upper Midwest). But I do see more of them at online retailers. I wonder if the Aritzia sale section is because people might not want to wear flares with cold, wet weather, because they can't stuff them into boots very well?

Brooklyn

Veteran

I am not seeing many people wearing them here. Early days. But then again the BF Jean trend never seemed to take off here. But in our sales I saw all kinds of jeans marked down including flares, skinnies (which I think are still the most popular here), straight and cropped. So who knows!

shaz

Have not seen them here yet but this is Ireland and I don't think people as keen to part with the skinny jeans just yet think they just have not started yet

Glory

Veteran

I haven't seen any being worn here at all however we have loads of snow and they simply are not practical. I am seeing pants that can go in boots. Also loads of fabulous boots avail this year!

Elizabeth P

Veteran

I was thinking the same as Glory and Gigi. I think they are great in Canadian weather in the fall, but not practical at all for winter. So maybe they are discounting them just to move them off the racks because they aren't selling NOW, rather than any trend reasons. Maybe?

Anonymous

I noticed a few new dramatic flare styles at GAP yesterday - for their early Spring collection. It's interesting though - I have yet to see anyone , anywhere wearing flared jeans here. Even last summer/fall when the trend seemed to be peaking (or so I thought) .

I'll bet you found your hooded plaid shirt at Airitzia though There are a million of them every time I'm in there - seems to be one of their staples.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Rachy -- possibly, but I'm sure I saw some of these jeans in this particular store in the fall. I remember thinking, Ah, here come the big jeans, it's what they predicted.

Glory, Gigi, Elizabeth -- it's very true that it's not the weather for flared jeans yet. We don't have snow, just loads of rain, and wet pant hems are annoying. The last time the flares were in style, I was living in California and it was a lot more practical.

Brooklyn, Shaz, Sally -- I don't see them on a lot of people either. But a few. I felt like the trend was just getting started here. I guess we'll see.

Aziraphale

Veteran

LisaP -- yes indeed I did! They had about seventeen choices.

always trying

Veteran

I see very few flares here. I do not see them becoming big here or replacing skinnies any time soon. One big problem with them is length. for so many of us they either are hard to find long enough or have to be hemmed. so much easier to just roll or cuff or wear as they are!

Gaylene

Veteran

I wonder if dramatic swings in jean styles like skinnies to wide flares have a jagged introduction to the mass market. The stores, bloggers, editors, and celebs whose reputations depend on knowing what's trending start the cycle by buying the new look while the rest of the population take notice. A small segment of the mass population eagerly snap up the new look when it starts to show up in stores while the masses are still absorbing the change. Once that first blip is over, the new silhouette often is marked down which leads a few more people to give it a try. To me, this is the critical stage. If those sales racks dwindle fairly quickly, the trend likely has staying power. If the new look sits, unsold, at a 60% markdown, it doesn't bode well for mass acceptance unless the the trendsetters who started the cycle keep wearing the look.

And, I also think, if you live in an area where most of the population is oblivious to the trendsetters, and where stores are reluctant to stock anything that might be a difficult sell, the trend will take a very long time to show its face and an even longer time to leave once it has become an established look.

Practical issues, like wet hems, to my mind, are a minor issue. Otherwise who would wear ripped and shredded denim, minis, 6" heels, and cold-shoulder tops in the depths of winter?

Helena

Veteran

Interesting, and it's true, I also have yet to see even the fashion-forward in my area wear flares, and definitely anyone young around here is in skinnies all the time ... I think they are just way too practical for any boot-wearing climate! Perhaps flares will get some leverage in the spring, or maybe more of a downtown look where people are dressing up their jeans more ...

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

Most things are on sale at the moment - full stop. I wouldn't read too much into that, Elisabeth.

That said, wide legs are hard to wear - flares are easier. Not nearly as practical as tapered hems though. That's a fact, and an important one when our fashion era values practical comfort above all else.

Anonymous

re: "

Practical issues, like wet hems, to my mind, are a minor issue" --> This is sort of what I was thinking too, given that we all wore bootcuts in the 1990's despite the snow and muck.

But also, Angie's point about our fashion era valuing practical comfort also seems to ring true. I'm certainly less willing to have a wet hem nowadays...but I'm not sure if that's a function of the fashion era I'm living in or of my advancing age.

I'm still right into the bootcut/flares with a big belt for summer! Especially in faded denim. A dramatic flare seems trend-resistant, to me.

Aziraphale

Veteran

I guess we shall see! I'm not opposed to flared jeans -- I like most denim styles -- but it definitely hasn't taken off as quickly as I had expected. Gaylene, you make some good points about how new silhouettes are adopted. I don't think my area is oblivious to trendsetters, though. Angie, you also make an interesting point about how the current mindset values practical comfort more highly. I think this could be true.

I will watch with interest of the next year to see what happens.

texstyle

(website)

Veteran

I think most everything is on sale right now - end of year, financial markets being scared, retailers closing, etc. It's probably a good time to invest in a few pieces if you've been wanting things though.

Beth Ann

Veteran

I'm not seeing much in the way of flares or wide legs, and bootcuts are being worn mostly by people who never stopped wearing them. I did purchase a new pair myself, but I did have to search for a pair that seemed fresh and flattering.

Colette

Veteran

Now that I think about it, don't think I saw anyone wearing flares last year. But I'm with Angie, I wouldn't read into it.

Anonymous

re:

bootcuts are being worn mostly by people who never stopped wearing them.

Yah...See, doesn't the look have to die completely before it comes back?

Aziraphale

Veteran

Smittie: good point. Bootcuts never totally went away -- however, flares and wide-leg jeans pretty much did. Bootcuts are kind of a "middle territory" that never seems to totally die, but it hasn't seemed mainstream for a long time now.

I simply don't know what's going to happen. I did some google searching out of curiosity yesterday, and all the fashion magazines are screaming about the return of 70s-style flared jeans, but I'm having a hard time believing that these are going to dominate the streets like they did in the early 2000s. Especially because I can't picture the guys wearing them.

unfrumped

Veteran

Not seeing flares out and about here, either.

I think Angie's "practical" aspect is dead on. That's why I think ankle pants are so popular even though to me they are often not the most flattering of styles.
Here, no one seems very pedantic about actual length (that is good for me, because I may stray from PPP!) but I think people don't like dealing with hemming and different heel heights, plus they like to show their shoes! So that is my gestalt on pants that sometimes just look too short but they still "work" somehow as a version of ankle pants.

Carla

Veteran

Toronto hasn't had much snow, but skinnies still seem to reign supreme. I feel like I'm the only one wearing a fuller legged trouser (the Express sailor pant and my Halogen navy wide leg) - but I love the silhouette (and tend my hems every evening! LOL! ). I AM definitely seeing cropped flared jeans with high shaft booties, and jeans rolled higher than ankle - again with high shaft booties - JUST LIKE Angie is styling them! Not at work, nor in the financial district, but on Queen St. and at the Eton Centre, by folks who are possibly off duty?!

anna

we sell loads of flares and all money goes to charity!

flares will endure for sure

Gaylene

Veteran

Well, I almost sucumbed to these flares when I wandered through Kit and Ace this afternoon. The drape and fabric was gorgeous--and machine washable! As comfortable as a yoga pant, but so much more elegant.
http://shop.kitandace.com/genevieve-trouser-s-w15

Maybe flares are going to have some staying power. Kit and Ace had a couple of other full-legged styles on the mannequins as well, and they all looked so fresh and interesting compared to the predictable skinnies.

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Aziraphale

Veteran

I guess we'll see