I’m sure everyone is aware that the vintage mom jeans trend took over a few years ago and has remained in place ever since, even increasing in popularity as the months go by. We have vintage Levi’s to thank for that and brands like RE/DONE Levi’s as well. They have been making old jeans fashionable again by reconstructing the fits and making them cool. This is of course helped by the celebs who just can’t get enough of them! I’m sure you’ve seen Alessandra Ambrosio, Gigi Hadid, Bella Hadid, Kendall Jenner, Karlie Kloss, Kourtney Kardashian… the list is literally endless as every time we see a celebrity or model out in denim, 90% of the time it’s Levi’s.
For me though, this is such sad news. I’ve never got on with rigid denim, not even back in the mid 2000’s when I was getting into my premium denim. I had some 100% cotton pairs which I could hardly move in at all – forget trying to climb over something and even walking the stairs was a challenge. If you wanted jeans to fit tight and look good, you had to suffer for that. That’s why when brands brought in the super stretch, it was literally like I had died and gone to heaven with this news! Super skinny jeans that were actually comfortable? What sorcery was this?!
So now, with super stretch skinny jeans almost becoming ‘un-trendy’ and now basically a classic, you can only imagine my disappointment (along with so many others). I really don’t like rigid, restrictive, thick denim. Sure I love to admire the beauty in a vintage wash and wear them if they’re baggy, but trying to wear denim that thick and stiff from decades ago in a new skinny fit is pure torture. Yes, I’m looking at you Levi’s Wedgie Jeans and RE/DONE Levi’s! I’m not sure who thought it would be a good idea to make jeans so tight and so restrictive, and then make them cool, because my days of suffering for fashion are over. I’m almost 30 and I enjoy comfort these days when it comes to my denim. So I thought it would be fun to list 10 reasons why I personally hate vintage rigid skinny jeans and why I wont wear them.
1 – You get that awful wedgie feeling!
Now this is one that I hate! Especially with the Levi’s Wedgie jeans. Who wants a really rigid, stiff pair of jeans riding up between their cheeks? And you can forget sitting down unless you want to do yourself an injury and burst something! (See Kylie Jenner here).
2 – The dreaded painful camels toe!
Much like the wedgie from the back, pretty much all the vintage skinny jeans with 100% cotton come with added camels toe. The way the crotch sits against your lady parts (see here) is incredibly uncomfortable! I’ve tried and it’s just so irritating and sore – it almost burns.
3 – Watch you don’t do some damage!
Because of the camels toe and wedgie situation, if you sit down (especially too quickly), you almost tear yourself a new one! Sorry, it had to be said.
4 – You can get cystitis and ingrown hairs.
Because of the camels toe issue and the incredibly tight fabric against your womanhood, this can actually cause cystitis pains from the friction and can actually cause ingrown hairs as well as there’s not much breathing room and too much pressure.
5 – They make you angry.
Well they do me anyway. When I’m walking around and attempting to sit down in these monsters I just start getting agitated and angry because I’m uncomfortable. You can forget it being that time of the month too, these are a no no!
6 – They show off all your flaws!
Now that the painful aspects are out the way, can we touch on how much they show off all your flaws? With the seams riding up in private places and the fits not being tailored to your body with some stretch, it can be terrible for showing off things you want to leave to the imagination.
7 – They have an unflattering fit that doesn’t contour your body.
Unless you’re 6ft tall and a size 0, these jeans really don’t flatter anyone. I’ve never seen anyone in real life out and about (especially uni students) in these rigid vintage jeans and thought they looked good. They’re usually making the butt look wider (with some exceptions), showing off the camels toe, making your thighs look chunky, or making you look short. I think they’re jeans you can only pull off if you’re not curvy or above model size.
8 – The unbelievable tight waist band that creates muffin top!
I really question who thought it was good to have rigid denim worn tight around the waistband. There’s no give, there’s no stretch… When you sit down your hip and stomach area expands, but the jeans don’t at all, so that’s incredibly tight and painful on your bladder. And like I mentioned above, if you do have any curves, you can say hello to muffin top – it’s your new friend now.
9 – Navigating stairs
I touched on that briefly in my introduction, but how exactly do you go up steep stairs in these jeans? I have no idea. As soon as you start lifting your leg up, the fabric creases on the top of your thigh and digs in, then the denim on the butt becomes really tight and you have to do some sort of waddle to get up to the top. Uncomfortable and looks ridiculous.
10 – Why do the washes have to be so much better?
Lastly, this isn’t a dig at the fit, but it’s an annoyance because the washes are better on vintage or rigid denim. Super stretch jeans can never replicate the washes that rigid denim have because of the other fabric blends in the denim itself. So I don’t like the fact that if you want a really pretty and authentic wash, you have to suffer for it.
So these are my 10 reasons that I hate 100% cotton skinny vintage jeans that are so popular amongst everyone right now. This picture of Hailey Baldwin below just shows how tight they look around the crotch and fly and she’s super thin. I read an article on Elite Daily about their experience, and there’s a lot about the pain in her nether regions too, but for her, they looked good on her bum. It really depends what jeans you pick. This does stand for mom jeans too, they are always tight in the crotch region, but looser everywhere else so not as suffocating as the re-designed skinny. Let me know what your thoughts are on this! I’d love to know!
P.S. – If you want a good laugh about these jeans, read this article on Huffington Post!
If you can pull these off, shop the Wedgie Jeans here & RE/DONE Levi’s here
Image Credit: Manrepeller & AKM / GSI
Haha! Different strokes for different folks I guess! 🙂 I am not a fan of stretch denim at all. Then again, I never wear skinny jeans so I can see how rigid skinnies would be painful. Also, being a guy I’m sure my experience with fits, etc, is quite different. In any case, interesting read!
Author
Ha ha, you should try the skinny rigid ones! Painful 😀
Haha! Different strokes for different folks I guess! 🙂 I am not a fan of stretch denim at all. Then again, I never wear skinny jeans so I can see how rigid skinnies would be painful. Also, being a guy I’m sure my experience with fits, etc, is quite different. In any case, interesting read!
As a guy that wears women’s skinny jeans, the reason I abandon men’s skinny jeans, is because even the ones that offers ‘stretch’, stretch way less compared to women. I know these vintage jeans are the rage right now, but I don’t think it will last forever. As a guy that wears ‘juniors’ sized jeans, Levi’s might be taking that vintage direction, but luckily most popular junior jeans are still skinny stretch jeans, so hopefully they will continue doing that. And I do agree that the vintage wash jeans look more authentic.
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Hopefully it doesn’t stick!
I love this article, I agree! However I am finding that stretch skinny jeans, even with just 1 or 2% elastine, with the mid- or low-rise, end up giving me a saggy jean butt. It seems like my thighs are just pulling the entire waist down as I walk. Even with a belt! So if you have any recommendations for a 100% cotton, high-waist, straight-leg instead of skinny pair, please let us know! Thank you!!!!
Author
Hi Faith, that could be to do with the material blend and what jeans they are. Which ones are they?
I am getting saggy jean butt with:
J Brand Petite Lovestory, a flare jean, Mayflower wash
7 for all Mankind Skinny jean, released-hem in La Palma wash
7 for all Mankind Kimmie crop jean b(air) in black – these will stay up if I wear my belt tight enough!
All of these have stretch and fit tight after I wash them (cold, with air dry until damp), but eventually start riding down.
Author
That’s really, really strange! I know jeans slide down, mine do that if they’re a bit on the looser side, so they slip down a lot when I walk. Are yours fitting a bit loose after wear?
Yes after I wear them once they are looser. So I am looking for some high-waist straight leg jeans, either without elastine or with just a touch. I’ll keep my current jeans but wash them after I wear them once. I don’t like to do that, but they always fit nicer right after I wash them!
Thanks for responding to me!
Author
I would probably recommend some jeans which have the 4 way multi stretch, so they never bag out or lose their shape. They don’t sag. They stay the same size. I listed some here: https://thejeansblog.com/jeans-advice/how-to-shrink-jeans-expert-advice-for-safe-shrinking/
But the constant washing is probably making the situation worse as it strains the fabrics. The best thing to do would be to buy them really tight to begin with (if you don’t want the 4 way stretch) and then wait for them to stretch out.
Buying rigid denim isn’t ideal as rigid denim stretches out even more than stretch denim, often a full size. So they would still be slipping down all the time unfortunately. And I don’t have any I could recommend exactly, but I know some GRLFRND are slim straight and 100% cotton if you want to take a look there: http://rstyle.me/n/ctrv7rmype
I don’t see many people here in nyc wearing those jeans…and I’m glad I can still find super stretchy skinny jeans lol..even on Levi’s website ….I agree with your whole take on this trend though
Lorna, I have question, I already registered in your forum, but i’m not able to reply in forum topics
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Hi! I just checked the moderation and your account seemed to have been marked as spam (possibly because it says ‘anon’ in the name) so I’ve accepted it now, you’re free to post!
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It’s definitely a crazy one!
Nice reading this article! Yeah going back to material that has no stretch seems like a step in the wrong direction and less comfortable. The style doesn’t look as flattering either.
Hi Lorna! I think I agree with you. I have tried countless pairs of vintage Levi’s, Re/Dones and the CofH Liya, and I’m ready to go back to skinnies, particularly since I just got a pair of those tall Stuart Weitzman scrunch boots. I just ordered some Paige Hoxton skinny jeans because I have a pair of their Verdugos with that Transcend fabric and they are so comfortable and flattering.
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I think a lot do agree, but because it’s on trend right now and all the celebs are wearing it, I think many feel they have to like it and don’t want to speak out of turn. I bet your skinnies look great with the SW boots!
For an opinion from the other side of the gender divide? Tight jeans are hot, and and much as they’re considered a fashion faux pas to women, so is cameltoe.
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Tight jeans are hot, tight skinny ones with stretch that is. Not the ones that are rigid and stiff that I was referring to.
Lorna – the loud voice of reason in denim fashion – apparently Levi’s heard you and have now introduced a true stretch version of the Wedgie – – – https://www.zappos.com/p/levis-womens-wedgie-skinny-wedgie-from-the-block/product/9032890/color/746295
Well done,
Tim
Author
Oh that’s awesome!! How cool is that? I’m guessing maybe they already had that one in the making though since it takes many months from start to finish for jeans, so maybe I was just zoning in on what was already happening, ha ha.
Those Levi’s look great! I wouldn’t mind wearing them! I’d wait a little so they can drop that price a bit, but even so, for Levi’s that’s a good starting price.