Men's Style Conundrums: Skinny Pants
Many people in men's fashion are now telling you to stop making everything skinny
. Skinny neckties, skinny shirts and even skinny jeans seem to have become the height of faux pas. Yet you probably see at least a few of those denims walking down the street everyday, and the guy wearing it still looks pretty cool. Should you follow what the style rags say, or go with what the cool kids on the street are doing?Slim vs. Skinny
One distinction that must be made in this discussion is that very crucial one between slim and skinny fits. As skinny pants have been ridiculed and lambasted by the fashion press, slim fits continue to be hailed as the pinnacle of men's style. To the average guy who goes to the department store for his clothes, there might not be that much of a difference.
At their most absolute, a slim fit is a cut that skims over certain parts of your body, like your hips, thighs and knees. That is, there's still a minimum allowance of space in all the aforementioned areas. Skinny fits, meanwhile, hug those areas; they cling to your hips, grip your thighs and rub against your knees. If you've ever heard the description "as if the denim was painted on," you've heard how a skinny fit is best described.
But it's not as simple as merely looking at the label and then returning the jeans if they're branded as 'skinny'. Like skinny ties and skinny shirts, skinny pants can actually work on some men because both wearer and garment are rake thin.
Plea for Proportion
To definitively answer the question in the opening paragraph, it's okay to wear skinny jeans. They're not as much of a bad rocker wannabe fashion statement as the men's fashion media tends to portray. If you must wear a pair, however, proportion is the crucial element that will separate the style savvy from the rocker wannabe.
First and foremost, you have to be at least somewhere within the limits of thin or skinny in order to wear skinny jeans. This isn't to say that this is the kind of body you should be aiming for; rather, skinny jeans are a style option if you've got this kind of physique. It's how most of men's fashion works anyway: given a figure that's less than ideal, you work with it and give it clothes that complement its shape.
You can find out if you fall into the skinny category - from the jeans manufacturers' point of view, at least - in the fitting room. You qualify if you try on a pair of skinny jeans in your usual size, yet experience a slim fit like the one described above. Try putting your mobile phone or handkerchief in one of the pockets to see if it's skin-tight; the item may bulge, but it shouldn't be clearly outlined by the fabric of the pocket.
Consistency Counts
Another thing you should know about skinny jeans is that any outfit having that item has to be consistent. If you're zipping up a pair of skinnies for the day, then everything else in your outfit has to be similarly skinny. That means a slim or skinny fit shirt and an equally rail thin necktie to go with it. You can't have skinny pants with regular-sized or even big tops and accessories; you're going to look like a huge popsicle on a very thin stick.
Keeping everything skinny is also the best way to make your outfit as office-appropriate as possible. While many men wouldn't really equate the skinny look with an office desk, maintaining a single proportion throughout your outfit brings it closer to the traditional suit and tie ensemble that everyone else wears - only thinner.
Even when there are big names in men's fashion speaking out against all of the skinny, it's no command to stop your getting any of those styles. If you've got the body for it and an outfit that'll match, then full steam ahead.
by: Hendrik Pohl