I spent a good four years telling anyone who’d listen that skinny jeans were finished, done, over, ever since a pair from about 2013 gave up completely at the knee on a train platform in Leeds and I had to walk the rest of the day like I’d forgotten how legs work. So consider this a formal apology to blue skinny jeans specifically. You were never the problem. The problem was denim with no proper stretch recovery, sold to me at nineteen for eighteen quid, and I blamed the wrong thing for years.
A good pair now is a completely different animal. What I’m actually looking for is denim with some give that snaps back, a rise that sits where you put it and stays there through a full day of sitting, walking, getting in and out of a car without doing that awkward hop, and a colour of blue that reads as proper jeans rather than a washed out memory of them.
My colleague Priya tried a pair on in the office loos, came out, turned round twice and just said “right, these are staying on, I’m not putting my other trousers back on,” which is about the strongest review denim can get from someone who hates trying clothes on at work.
Styling wise, this is the one shape that doesn’t ask much of you and still looks like you tried. Tucked into boots with an oversized jumper and they do the whole autumn thing without effort. A blazer and trainers and they go straight into “actually quite smart, didn’t spend long on this” territory, which is the best kind of smart.
Heeled boots and a proper coat and you’re dressed for dinner without anyone clocking that the bottom half is just jeans. They’re forgiving of a big jumper on top because the leg stays neat, which is the whole trick of the silhouette really.
Occasion wise I’d wear these for a Sunday that has both a walk and a pub involved, for the school run, for a first date where you want to look like you made an effort without looking like you spent four hours on it, and for travelling, because good stretch denim survives a long train journey in a way structured trousers simply don’t. Basically any day where you need one pair of trousers to do several different jobs without complaining.
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