14 DAY TRIAL // Skinny jeans are perhaps one of the most infamous fashion revivals of the past seasons and although most of us believed that this summer, we have finally seen the end of them, it looks like that may be more along the lines of wishful thinking than actual hard fact. Under the circumstances, perhaps the best possible philosophy would be to embrace the madness rather than fight it, and rather than keep saying "don't wear skinny jeans, they're only flattering for a very small number of women", it's probably wiser to mention the basic rules and the major do's and don'ts of wearing skinny jeans.
First things first - there are several types and cuts of skinny jeans that we should all be familiar with before embarking on any kind of jeans shopping expedition. The first type is also the most sensible of its brand - I'm talking here about the cigarette or straight leg cut jeans, which round off your curves without clinging to them or adding too much emphasis on your hips, and also create the impression of longer, more slender legs. The "real" skinny jeans are the slightly stretchy, tapered ones, while the ultimate skinny jeans are the ones with the highest amount of stretch fiber mixed with the traditional cotton and will give you that infamous 80s style sprayed-on look.
A word of caution: the last two types of jeans are the ones that have to be treated with extreme caution by all jeans fanatics. As I was telling you a few days ago, all varieties of tapered pants can be a woman's worst enemies, as they emphasize the waist and the length of the hips and give you that cone-shaped, inverted pyramid look that doesn't exactly scream "fashion-forward". However, if you're still determined to wear at least some form of skinny jeans, better couple them with a long top that stops at hip level, or (even better) with an empire waist top that covers the hips and a more ample bottom.
As far as shoes go, unless you've got very long legs and not an ounce of fat in sight, avoid pairing skinny jeans with flats. A great trick for ladies with shorter legs and wider hips is to wear such jeans with very high heels, whether we're talking peep toes or even strappy stilettos. This look will balance out your figure and create the illusion that you have much longer legs. One last word of caution - although this summer we're allowed to go color-crazy, it's best if you keep it neutral and dark when it comes to jeans colors - so go for indigo, dark grays, even black, as they're both trendy and slimming.
