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Every Question You Could Ever Want to Know About Skinny Jeans, Answered

4 points by cmogni1 6y ago

cmogni1 6y ago
Hey everybody. A little bit about this. I've been measuring hundreds (looks like over a thousand by now) jeans with my partner over the past year. We've become a bit obsessed with turning clothes shopping into more of a science, mostly because we've found clothes shopping incredibly opaque and frustrating. I've taken a bunch of the measurements and other data I've collected and turned it into a fairly comprehensive write-up. Hope you enjoy, and let me know if you have any more technical questions I couldn't cover in the post!
- eesmith 6y ago
  I'm far from your target audience as I rarely wear jeans. I was curious about the origin. You wrote "Elio Fiorucci invented the modern skinny jean in the 1970s". What makes something a "modern skinny jean"? That is, I did a quick (and non-exhaustive) search of archive.org and found an advertisement in the UCLA Daily Bruin from January 15, 1971, on the bottom left corner of page 16, at https://archive.org/details/ucladailybruin55losa/page/n89/mode/2up/search/%22skinny+jeans%22?q=%22skinny+jeans%22 https://archive.org/details/ucladailybruin55losa/page/n89/mo... . """Newest body decorations. Skinny jeans with just the right flare. Low-rise. Scoop-front pockets. Sharp, multi-color stripes in a bunch of different widths for whatever is in your head. Permanent press Fortrel® polyester and cotton. $9""" These are not made of elastane. OTOH, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim-fit_pants#The_1960s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim-fit_pants#The_1960s says that in the 1960s, "By 1962, Sears were selling tight jeans made from "stretch" denim that incorporated elastane." So, what defines the modern skinny jean different from pre-Fiorucci skinny jeans?
  - cmogni1 6y ago
    Great question! The term skinny jean has changed over time. What I could have been more careful in defining is what a "modern skinny jean" is: it is designed to be form fitting throughout the seat and leg. That means a tapered leg opening: the knee is larger than the hem. That also means the garment measurements are smaller than your own body measurements everywhere, except possibly at the leg opening. Lycra/spandex/elastane had been incorporated in jeans in the 60s (I checked the Sear's catalogue to verify material composition when I was researching this), but the jean silhouette of the pants they sold were closer to what we'd call a "slim fit" today. Same with denim in the early 1970's: it hugged the body, but wasn't skin tight everywhere, and often was boot cut at the leg opening. Fiorucci was the first to add stretch to denim with the purpose of making the jeans skin tight and tapered at the leg.
    - eesmith 6y ago
      Thanks!

4 points by cmogni1 6y ago

Hey everybody. A little bit about this. I've been measuring hundreds (looks like over a thousand by now) jeans with my partner over the past year. We've become a bit obsessed with turning clothes shopping into more of a science, mostly because we've found clothes shopping incredibly opaque and frustrating. I've taken a bunch of the measurements and other data I've collected and turned it into a fairly comprehensive write-up. Hope you enjoy, and let me know if you have any more technical questions I couldn't cover in the post!

eesmith 6y ago
I'm far from your target audience as I rarely wear jeans. I was curious about the origin. You wrote "Elio Fiorucci invented the modern skinny jean in the 1970s". What makes something a "modern skinny jean"? That is, I did a quick (and non-exhaustive) search of archive.org and found an advertisement in the UCLA Daily Bruin from January 15, 1971, on the bottom left corner of page 16, at https://archive.org/details/ucladailybruin55losa/page/n89/mode/2up/search/%22skinny+jeans%22?q=%22skinny+jeans%22 https://archive.org/details/ucladailybruin55losa/page/n89/mo... . """Newest body decorations. Skinny jeans with just the right flare. Low-rise. Scoop-front pockets. Sharp, multi-color stripes in a bunch of different widths for whatever is in your head. Permanent press Fortrel® polyester and cotton. $9""" These are not made of elastane. OTOH, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim-fit_pants#The_1960s https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slim-fit_pants#The_1960s says that in the 1960s, "By 1962, Sears were selling tight jeans made from "stretch" denim that incorporated elastane." So, what defines the modern skinny jean different from pre-Fiorucci skinny jeans?
- cmogni1 6y ago
  Great question! The term skinny jean has changed over time. What I could have been more careful in defining is what a "modern skinny jean" is: it is designed to be form fitting throughout the seat and leg. That means a tapered leg opening: the knee is larger than the hem. That also means the garment measurements are smaller than your own body measurements everywhere, except possibly at the leg opening. Lycra/spandex/elastane had been incorporated in jeans in the 60s (I checked the Sear's catalogue to verify material composition when I was researching this), but the jean silhouette of the pants they sold were closer to what we'd call a "slim fit" today. Same with denim in the early 1970's: it hugged the body, but wasn't skin tight everywhere, and often was boot cut at the leg opening. Fiorucci was the first to add stretch to denim with the purpose of making the jeans skin tight and tapered at the leg.
  - eesmith 6y ago
    Thanks!