Straight legs can be skinny
July 22nd, 2008There is a slight difference between “straight-leg” and “skinny” jeans. It’s all in the width of the leg opening. Straight-leg jeans are a little wider at the hem than skinnies, and often more flattering because they create balance between the top and bottom part of your body.
- Skinny jeans have leg openings of 12 -13 inches
- Straight–leg jeans have leg openings of 14 - 15 inches
These hem width measurements are representative of the smallest size (24 or 25 inch waist). They increase as the size of the denim increases, but not by as much as you’d expect. Straight-leg jeans can run as wide as 16 inches on a larger size hem width. But go beyond 15 and 16 inches and you’re in boot cuts or flares.
Straight-leg jeans are generally better than skinnies for gals with wider calves, or pear and inverted triangle body types. Curvy hourglasses also do a pair of straight-legs justice. In these instances, straight-legs are a great substitute for skinnies. They’ll offer a similar sleek profile with the advantage of balancing out your silhouette. It’s a win.
The styles on the left and in the middle are straight leg jeans. The hem width is the same as the width at the knee, thereby creating a “straight leg”. The style on the far right is skinny because the hem width at the ankle is narrower than at the knee.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:32 am
Angie, I was just thinking this morning of asking about this. Some strange telepathy thing going on. Thanks for clarifying!
I know that the rules for PPL are different with straights and skinnies than with other pants, but are the pants on the far left PPL?
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:33 am
Thanks for the clarification Angie! I have very skinny calves and I prefer the look of 14″ the best, though I have and like some 15 ” as well. Anything below 14″, unless tucked in boots, tends to emphasize the difference between my thighs and calves, and even the difference between my knees and calves. Not a good look
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:04 am
I have both now - they are all hemmed and waiting for cooler weather. It’s been too hot and humid here to want to wear full-length jeans. I am not sure which I look better in. Guess we’ll find out in the fall!
I followed the links above and noticed that Nordies’ is now giving both the front rise and the back rise measurements in their descriptions. Makes me think somebody must be reading the forums here and listening. Yeah!
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:32 am
14 is my number. I find that anything less fits more like leggings (except at the ankle) and is less flattering. 12-13″ are perfect for tucking and tunics though. Anything more is closer to a bootcut which bunches on my foot. My guess is that all the pictures are PPL although I’ve discovered with sandals, I have to go a little shorter or my bare heels will catch the hem in a permanent way.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:39 am
Christie, we are connected! Perhaps these entries will help.
http://www.youlookfab.com/2006.....he-skinny/
http://www.youlookfab.com/2007.....-the-rule/
Quite right, Tanya. If you’re proportionally a little curvier on the thigh compared to the calf, a straight leg evens out the silhouette effectively. I wear both 12 to 14 inch widths and enjoy each profile for different reasons.
Good point, Patience. You need to find YOUR skinny length and width. But when it comes to tucking jeans into boots, you need very tapered skinny jeans despite your body type. You’ll even out your silhouette with the shape of the boot.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:46 am
Now I’m curious. I grabbed a pair of what I assumed to be skinnies at a consignment store a few months back, and was AMAZED how great they looked on my curvy figure. Maybe they’re straight-legs instead.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:56 am
They might be, Sal. Can you measure the hem widths for us? Remember this blog post:
http://www.youlookfab.com/2006.....r-curvies/
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:05 am
My “skinny” jeans are definitely straight legs. 14″-15″ looks best on me, because I have muscular thighs and calves, so getting my legs into 12″ or 13″ is physically impossible. But the straight leg style suits my curvy figure better, too, so I’m happy.
Thanks for posting this Angie, now I know exactly what to look for when I buy denim this fall!
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:21 am
I have been substituting straight legs for skinnies because I have always thought that skinnies for some reason make me look fatter even if I try on a size or two larger. Your post explains why this is so. The larger leg opening width of straight legs balances me out because I tend towards an apple shape. Thank you for clearing that up!
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
I think skinny jeans look adorable on others, even bigger/curvier women, but my calves and even knees are too big.
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:52 am
I had always shied away from straight legs and skinny jeans before this forum, and now I am really eager to try them. Now that I have found boots I can tuck into, I want a pair of inexpensive skinnies for sure. I also really want to get a pair of straight to see how they look. It’s much harder to find these styles in larger styles, though, which is frustrating! Now I am on the HUNT!! And thanks to Angie, I am armed with the right leg openings to try!
For some reason I didn’t receive the email today. Did anyone else have that problem?
July 22nd, 2008 at 11:03 am
Well, I ordered those exact IT! Skinny jeans you have pictured up there, because they are currently on sale at Nordstroms. I’m a bit curvy, though, so I’m curious to see if they work or if I’ll be heading to the return counter. I’ll keep you posted.
July 22nd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
Angie: Any guidance, or have you posted before, about how to determine the best rise?
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Kyle, I think rise is sort of a personal preference issue, but if you have a bit of a belly (I know I do) than a mid rise is probably most flattering.
July 22nd, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Your instincts were great, Joelle and Ana. And I’m tickled you’re going to give the straight legs a bash Rosie.
Kyle, Ana is spot on. Determining ones best back and front rise measurement is trial and error to begin with. You’ve got to happen upon the right style and go from there. Most women look best in a mid to slightly higher rise. If the waistband doesn’t fit snugly enough around the waist, get it altered. Short-waisted women tend to look better in a slightly lower rise while pear-shaped women welcome a short from rise and high back rise.
July 23rd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
I’m a pear and I love both straight leg amd skinny jeans, they even look better on me than the bootcut ones, which is quite weird.
July 29th, 2008 at 8:05 am
[…] is the next big denim trend. I highly recommend the look if you love skinny (or straight-leg) jeans. Trend setting YLF forum members Ana, Patience and Tanya are ahead of me. They’ve been […]
September 14th, 2008 at 10:18 am
The problem with skinny jeans is that if you have any kind of a butt or thighs, you will not look very good.
I’ve seen ample examples of women on campus who should not wear these jeans.
I think if you are over a size 8 or 10 you should seriously reconsider, and even then think twice.
Notice the models have no shape, and when you see the ones that do, they just look terrible. Some of even the skinniest models looks stuffed into these jeans, even though they aren’t
Even well-fitting ones don’t enhance the width as they go up your leg.
I saw a woman last night who was about 5′4″ and built pretty voluptipuously. Wow. The jeans did nothing but make her look like about 20 pounds heavier. These were not tight. It was the cut.
I don’t like wide leg, but do like a fairly straight leg. there was a reason in the 80’s women wore blousey tops over their tight, tight jeans: they wanted to hide their buns. These jeans made you look like you were packing extra pounds.
They still do, even on tiny size 0 and 2 girls. It’s pretty depressing when a size 0 girl looks like she’s hiding a pair of bowling balls in her pockets.
I can’t wait until the super skinny trend passes. I have a pair that is moderate, it’s a nice pair, but no way will I go back to my punk roots. Even though back then I was a UK size 4.
European women tend to have longer legs and shorter torsos. In the states we tend to be the opposite. These jeans do little to help that. They only serve up your hips as the focal point, making your legs look a bit shorter, especially if they end above your shoe, like a zipper pant. I’ve seen those, they are alarming on shapely women. With our tendency to be a bit overweight as a country, especially more so than the 1980’s, it’s just astonishing to see so many “don’ts” walking around campus.
I am kind of glad that at least there are alternatives. Though boot cut can be horrible on short women with short wide legs, especially buns and thighs of a woman.
While I don’t mind body conscious clothing, I think the correct fit appears to be a large “missing” in some of the equation.