Tapered pants vs. skinny?

Oneirix

I'm a little confused. I hear all over the place (The Pocket Stylist, What Not to Wear, The Lucky Guide to Shopping, etc.) that jeans that taper at the ankle are the most unflattering style of pant and that every woman should burn them if she has them. What is the difference between these and the ubiquitous skinny jean? Is there a difference at all and it's just a matter of opinion?

16 years ago

Body Type

10 replies

Latest reply was from Antje

Maya

Veteran

There is definitely a difference. Tapered pants are relaxed at the hips and thigh area which creates a lot of awkward volume and a very poor fit. They go from being very voluminous at the top to very narrow at the ankle, while skinnies are cut slim throughout.

16 years ago

Nicole

Veteran

Back in the late 80's early 90's The Gap referred to tapered jeans as "reverse fit". I had a co worker who was the epitome of a perfect pear and she LOVED her Gap Reverse Fit jeans. Finally, her 6 year old daughter saw an episode of Oprah where some fashion expert talked about this cut of pants. Her daughter said..."Mommy! Those are just like you pants!"

She never wore them again.

16 years ago

Maya

Veteran

Yes, reverse fit! I was trying to remember what those hideous jeans were called so I could google them as an example. They only very recently stopped selling them, well past their expiration date. When I used to look at the Gap online (which was pretty rare), they were always on sale. Finally they seem to have discontinued them.

16 years ago

Oneirix

(website)

Active Member

HAHAHA! Nicole, your story is fantastic. XD

Thanks Maya! Now that I have a better description of them I can recall them from memory (and from the street, unfortunately). That is indeed a huge difference!

Thanks again you two!

16 years ago

Ariadne

Veteran

I found some of the Reverse Fit jeans online! They're even worse than I remembered, ha.
http://www.clothesandthings.co.....prod=11361

16 years ago

Anonymous

OMG what horrible memories those jeans bring back.

16 years ago

Becky

Veteran

These are what I call "mom jeans," and since I didn't add anything to the "Confessions" discussion, here's mine: I wore this style of jeans until my "makeover" two years ago. *cringe*

16 years ago

Maya

Veteran

OMG, I absolutely love how they are described: "...with fading already built-in!"

They have a 12" rise! That's too high even for me. I am with you Brianna--even worse than I remembered. Even the models looked dumpy in them, and about 4 sizes bigger than they really are. All they're missing is the elastic waistband.

16 years ago

shana

Veteran

I was at my local GAP this Sunday (yes, Sunday 1/25 in 2009) and to my horror there were a pair of Reverse Fit jeans in the womens clearance section. I wonder where the heck they came from - surely, Gap is still not selling these, are they? Well, I guess if they just recently stopped selling them as Maya is saying, that might be why they were in clearance....

16 years ago

Antje

Veteran

In Germany, the reverse jeans style was called "Karotte", which translates to "carrot". I still call them "carrot jeans" in my mind and think the term fits perfectly. Yeah, pretty cringe-worthy. But honestly, I rarely dare to cringe too much about a previous fashion trend, cause you never know when it comes back... I remember many of us cringing at skinny jeans a couple years ago. And now look at us pulling them off so stylishly. Just saying...
It never ceases to amaze me how much we adapt to trends.

16 years ago

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