Despite numerous attempts to cancel them (some blame Gen Z - others the pandemic) skinny jeans are back. For some of us, they were never out.
Hannah Jackson writing for vogue.com on Kate Moss and skinny jeans
To trace the origin of the skinny jean I take you back to the 50s. James Dean and Marlon Brando were lighting up the silver screen, literally, thanks to their Marlboro cigarettes and some eye watering denim. Rock’n’roll had arrived and Elvis Presley was crowned kind of the scandalous new jean trend.
Fast forward to the 60s and skinny jeans, thanks to the likes of Doris Day, entered their golden age. This, followed by a brief resurgence in the 80s, leads us on to the early 2000s when supermodel Kate Moss cemented their status in fashion history.
No other woman has done more for skinny jean sales than Kate Moss. Teamed with her favourite Repetto flats the queen of cool was rarely seen in anything other than a pair of second skin denims. And where she led, we all followed.
Sadly, after nearly two strong solid decades of allegiance to this trend, the skinny jean was declared ‘over’. Dead in fact. Along with the low-rise waistlines we adored. Mom jeans, dad jeans, baggy jeans, flared jeans ensued. None of them resonated with me.
So, it’s with some smugness that I can report skinny jeans are not only back…and according to Vogue’s Hannah Jackson, we have none other than Kate Moss to thank. Photographed ‘out and about’ by Joan Wakeham today the 50-year-old was photographed wearing a pair of pale denim skinny jeans, stripy top and ballet flats. Needless to say, it’s feeling a lot like Christmas in my house.
With the likes of Bella Haid and Emily Ratajkowski in on the action, I think it’s safe to bust out the old Rag & Bones. With a little bit of luck and some positive thinking I’m confident I can still get into them.