For over 15 years now, the skinny jean has enjoyed one heck of a ride as the go-to denim style for millions. What is it about the skinny jean that makes it so appealing? During my clubbing days, I remember seeing hip, cool New Yorkers pairing skinny jeans with driving mocs and sneakers around 2004-05 and thinking wow, now that’s a fresh take!
It’s pretty easy to summarize my denim phases throughout my life: in the ’80s, it was acid wash straight fit jeans when I was a kid, then super baggy Abercrombie and Old Navy jeans in high school leading into college. Around 2001-02, I started wearing slightly slimmer bootcut jeans. And then around ’03-’04, I remember starting to see the skinny jean start to take off.
I feel like I played a part to help fuel the movement, in a way. After all, I was working at J.Crew as a manager in the Menlo Park Mall location in New Jersey and worked with some cool kids that were wearing skinny jeans before J.Crew even started making them. Trying to fit in, I bought my first pair of skinny jeans at Lucky Brand, and then another two pairs at Levi’s.
By 2007-08, everyone in the fashion world was wearing skinny jeans. I was promoted to the J.Crew corporate office in New York, and saw first hand what folks like Jenna Lyons and Todd Snyder were wearing. Not only were the jeans skinny for men, but everything was slimming down – from shirts to coats to suits. It was a bold transition from the baggy ’90s we were used to, and it felt great.
J.Crew began educating the consumer on terms like “selvedge” and “raw” denim. They worked with Cone Mills to bring higher levels of denim to their stores. I was intrigued. I loved the higher quality and the way the denim faded. I remember one employee at a J.Crew store telling me to try a pair of selvedge denim from the Gap first. Apparently their’s were made better and also had a lower price point. I bought a pair for just $29.99 and immediately fell in love with them. I loved the dark blue color, the red stripe at the cuff when I folded them up, and the way they wore in and got softer over time. If the Gap was making something this cool for this cheap, I wonder what the good stuff was like.
Over the last decade, I have been on a journey searching for the perfect skinny jeans – a pair that fit great from the waist to my ankles. A pair that had character. A pair that wore in over time and told a story. I have bought and worn many pairs over the years, and can say that it’s really difficult to pick a favorite. I’d say my Blue Owl Workshop x Momotaro are the best fit with the most character, but they are difficult to style with my sneakers. I have a pair of black Acne denim that is slowly fading to grey which goes better with sneakers, but in my opinion is slightly too skinny for me.
The appeal of the skinny jean has become apparent in the sneaker community because of the way the tight taper shows off a pair of shoes. Back in the ’90s and early ’00s, half your shoe was covered by the baggy jeans. This is not an issue with the skinny jean, and has played a large role in the success of sneaker social media. We’ve also seen the jogger pant become popular for the same reasons.
My then-girlfriend/now-wife Nancy was hesitant to join the skinny jean movement. After all, she’s a petite 5’2″ and feared a super-tapered fit jean would make her look shorter. But J.Crew catered to these fears by branding them as “cigarette” jeans – meant to help women feel as skinny and smoking as a Marlboro Menthol Light.
Like all trends, they come to an end at some point. I have to give the skinny jean a lot of credit for surviving this long – 15 years is a great run. However, I’m starting to see the baggy pant come back in a big way, especially in the sneaker community on accounts like @what.you.wearing. The old baggy pant fit I suppose is a rebellion from the restrictive, tapered nature of the skinny jean.
I’m sure I will fully embrace this look at some point down the road, but I still have about 7 or 8 pairs of skinny jeans I’m still working on fading in, so it’s probably going to be a few more years – let’s say 2 or 3. That means I’ll have worn skinny jeans over half my life, and for basically my entire adulthood. I’d say that’s a pretty impressive run for a trend. Or maybe I’m just getting old and set in my ways. Most likely the latter.
