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Introduction
I should probably preface this piece by saying that I’m not talking about having a skinny body vs. that of a Greek god; that is another subject entirely. This is actually something of a reboot of an article I penned right around the time I first started writing for FashionBeans.
Back then I asked whether skinny jeans had any place in a man’s wardrobe. I think the definitive answer to that is yes, yes they do, but now I want to question just how skinny our skinny jeans can get. I want fresh eyes, fresh minds and vocal opinions to consider the question: how skinny is too skinny?
The Debate: How Skinny Is Too Skinny?
This was a question I asked myself the other day after one of my work colleagues commented on how tight my jeans were. He was of the opinion that they were just too tight and looked a bit immature. Admittedly, these were exceedingly tight jeans that I only ever wear casually, but it did throw up some rather interesting issues.
Considering the point raised above, is there an age limit to skinny jeans? I would say immediately that there isn’t, you can wear skinny jeans for as long as you want so long as they suit your frame. The thing here is perhaps just how skinny your skinny jeans are – do they err on the skinny side of slim or do you have to jump up and down to pull them on?
Common sense would dictate that an older gent would be better off with the wider end of the scale, but should that prevent you from experimenting? As with anything in fashion, you buy the clothes that suit you: your body, your style and your look. Skinny jeans shouldn’t necessarily be excluded from that.
Despite this I think there is definitely a time, a place and an age limit for the tightest of skinny jeans. I don’t anticipate it really being appropriate to wear my skin tight jeans after perhaps the age of twenty four/five but I certainly won’t be chucking them all in immediately. Skinny jeans (albeit slightly wider) will still have a place in my wardrobe for many years to come.
I have found that the tighter I go, the more casual my look has to become. I wouldn’t dream of wearing anything but trainers with my skinniest jeans simply because boots or brogues would look ridiculous. This however is just my opinion – for others, skin tight could be just the style they need. This is a question that isn’t as black and white as you might imagine, it varies from person to person and whilst the readership of this website has a very definite style, that doesn’t mean it is the same for everyone, we don’t all dress the same.
Skinny jeans have certainly thrown off the stigma of years gone by. As the masses have joined in they have become much more accepted; the feminine connotations are no longer a big problem, we no longer have to go into the women’s section to buy the perfect pair and we can leave the house knowing full well that our slimmer choice of trouser will be free from ridicule.
The onus now is perhaps more on us, the wearers of skinny jeans, rather than on the jeans themselves. We must choose the fit that is the most appropriate for our bodies. As the old saying goes, you can’t polish a turd and if something doesn’t suit you then there isn’t any sense in forcing the issue. Skinny jeans have earned their place in our wardrobes, they are most definitely here to stay and it is up to us to treat them with respect.
Men’s Skinny Jeans Lookbook
So from skin tight to ultra slim, how skinny is too skinny?
Current Men’s Skinny Jeans
To help you form your opinions and to perhaps give you some inspiration, here is a selection of current season skinny jeans, ranging from the widest to the tightest.
- Allsaints Sodium Cigarette
- Allsaints Stamp Cigarette Jeans
- Asos Super Skinny Blue Jean
- Paul Smith – Jeans 201m-300r Drainpipe Rinse Denim Jeans
- Cheap Monday Dark Used Broken Jeans
- Asos Super Skinny Jean
- Nudie Jeans Thin Finn Organic Dry Twill Skinny Jeans
- Nudie Jeans Grim Tim Slim-fit Distressed Jeans
- Uniqlo Men Skinny Fit Tapered Jeans
- Asos Super Skinny Jeans In Grey
- Neuw Jeans Iggy Skinny Red Stretch
- Topman Washed Grey Stretch Skinny Jeans
- Uniqlo Men Skinny Fit Tapered Jeans
- Cheap Monday Tight Favourite Jeans
- Natural Selection Smith Skinny Gee Gee Jeans
- Dsquared2 Mens Distressed 5 Pocket Pants
- Acne Mens Max Man Ray Jeans
- Lanvin Slim-fit Denim Jeans
Final Word
Regardless of whether they are an accepted part of the modern man’s wardrobe or not, skinny jeans will always divide opinion. Personally, I don’t feel that there is an issue with the jeans themselves but more with the way they are worn and the poor choices some people make.
But now it’s time for your say, I’ve no doubt that a lot of you have a great deal to say with regards to this topic, so let me know what you’re thinking in the comments below.
- What do you consider to be skinny jeans?
- Are you a fan of them?
- In your opinion, how skinny is too skinny?
- Is there an age limit for skinny jeans? If yes, why?
- Would you consider wearing any other fit?
Until next time.
Will
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I am 5’9″ and weigh 130 pounds. ( = the heaviest I have ever been). I have a 36-inch chest and a 30-inch waist. Should it matter that I am 38? Only a little.
First, although I have dimensions to qualify me as skinny even in Taiwan or the Philippines, there are models who are 6’1″ with a 30-inch waist and a 36-inch chest. I am that far from an extreme body type.
Most skinny jeans — even super skinny — are not actually tight on me, or barely hug the leg (e. g. Levi’s 510). I have several brands now, including CCS, H&M, ZARA, Monkee Genes, and Topman. The Topman skinny stretch I have are the tightest fit (along with a pair of Superdrain from H&M that I’ve only worn out once).
I tried skinny jeans with some trepidation a couple years ago, at the age of 35. I considered it a youth fad that had hung on for a while and was perhaps on its way out (not sure; these things are hard to know). At first, I didn’t care to create the skintight or Goth look, but now I’ve been emboldened to try tighter fits (such as the Levi’s 510 and Topman examples), and that’s how any new additions will be.
I recently poked gentle fun at my 30-year-old brother for getting a Justin Bieber haircut (he works in a corporate setting). I would consider that age-inappropriate, although not terribly wrong. If there is an age boundary for tightness on jeans and chinos, I’m pushing it now, and plan to for the foreseeable future.
I am extraordinarily clean-cut, so I’m not a punk: no piercings, no tattoos, no facial hair EVER. I listen primarily to classical music, so I’m not emulating boy bands or the hard rock lifestyle. But still, I’m exploring not only skinnies, but colors, too.
I have tight chinos in red, burgundy, and bright blue and jeans that are yellow and orange; soon I hope to add denim in emerald green and a rich purple-blue. I plan to tone them down with a plain black shirt or by creating ensembles with a patterned blazer I hope to get. The ensembles would lean towards neutrals — esp. gray & black — to balance the pants.
I live in a college town in mid-USA, but I don’t often see guys in skinny jeans other than the subcultures (skater/punk/Goth). Mostly it’s baggy pants for the twentysomething crowd and 30-somethings. I don’t know anyone my age or older who wears them.
Would you wrinkle your nose if you saw me? If we were standing in line, would you tell your friend that I’m dressing too young?
Todd, I echo your sentiments entirely. I am older than you (48) and have had no fear in doing more or less what you are doing on tight jeans and thier colour. I am also shorter and heavier, I live in South Africa so like you, I do not get to see many exponents of this trend. I recently went on a weightloss drive and found a motivating factor was that I could try on and acquire ever tighter jeans and feel more and more confident about wearing them age notwithstanding. I don’t think it is possible to ‘dress too young’. If this were the case then it would be seen to be OK for a fat teenager to squeeze himself into tight jeans. It’s about being able to carry it off. Like beauty being in the eye of the beholder, being accused of dressing to young would therefore be more a comment on the beholder being too old fashioned.
What bothers me about skinny jeans is that they alienate anyone with bulk. I don’t live at the gym or work at having a muscular body; I was born that way and have ridiculously large calf muscles. To hear men act like anything besides skinny jeans is a fashion Faux Pas, reminds me of skinny girls who give dirty looks to thick woman (not fat, actually bigger born woman). I think they look ridiculous on anyone over 30, but even if I did like them I physically can’t wear them.
When something is so fashionable that every other person is wearing it, I tend to feel like it is just about to become ridiculously unfashionable.
aptly put, skinny jeans are jeans that are closely cut to your legs, and usually harder to pull off than regular jeans. I’m a fan. I look better in them than any other fit at the moment because i’m slim. How skinny is too skinny? Personally, i hate it when a guy’s skinny’s are too tight that the calves and thighs become prominent now making him look like he’s wearing leggins…that’s too tight. Secondly, if you sweat like you just ran a marathon when trying to remove them for 30mins, they’re probably too tight. As for age, as long as they fit your stature, rock ‘em. Goes without saying, a 55 year old man with a pot belly would do better not wearing skinny’s justin bieber would wear. I’d wear any other fit as long as it goes with the style i’m trying to portray. But i’ll be wearing skinny jeans for a long time.
Skintight skinnies are I believe the only true skinny jeans. It’s all in the name really. Living in the tropics I mostly wear shorts but especially when going to the city for a couple of days I pull my skinny out of the closet. In Asia skinny is practically normal these days. The foreigners with their baggy pants and shorts really stand out from the crowd.
There is definitely no age limit. I am approaching my mid thirties and still have a skinny body type. My 6’2″ also helps of course. But I do believe something strongly. Either go for the skinny look entirely or don’t go skinny at all. Don’t mix styles here. Skinny jeans, skinny t, skinny shoes. Best shoes in my opinion are high Converse. Personally I love black so it’s black jeans with all-black (canvas) Allstars for me. From a bit of a distance this makes the shoes and pants blend totally together.
Can it be too skinny? Well, bluntly put: if you have fat to conceal don’t wear ‘em. Muscled legs in my opinion are not a problem, unless maybe you look like a bodybuilder. I’ve seen guys with bigger legs and their skinnies were no problem at all.
If you’re not sure about going skinny do what I did. Start with slightly slimmer jeans than what you’re used to and over the weeks or months keep slimming down until the point that you still feel comfortable. After a while it really does become normal and not a challenge at all anymore to walk outside wearing the skinniest pair. That is also the point where you start wondering what the fuss is all about. If you’re skinny you might as well enjoy it all the way.
They are always terrible. No matter the person wearing them.
If you’re a dude and you like skinny jeans WEAR THEM!!!
Don’t swell on all of those Nay-sayers who think your gay and blah blah blah
Never LIVE your life for the satisfaction of other people. Just because there are people who don;t like them doesn’t mean you have to stop or not wear them.
If you like them wear them. Some ppl like it and some don’t. That’s just the way it is. (Especially here in America…get strange looks. SOme area are more accepting gepgraphically. I tend to be around there since people are more open minded to it and accepting).
If SKinny jeans is your style..then stick to it.
You’re better of having someone like you for being you(If you like skinny jeans) rather than someone being attracted to you for something you’re pretending to be(Wear baggy/loose/Very loose jeans).
Baggy pants look sloppy, IMHO.
I do feel that there is a certain distinction between the different types of skinny jeans, there are the skin tight and the slimmer fit. I personally prefer the slimmer style rathe than the skin tight. The slimmer fit is a bit more comfortable and in my opinion looks better for all occasions whether it be smart or casual. I strongly reccommend Abercrombie and Fitch jeans. In my opinion they are the best jeans out there. I have a skinny body frame which probably mkaes the style more suited to me personally.
49! yes 49 love skinny jeans to bits. Very slim and still in shape. OK and gay but most of my mates are not. Jacket over a white shirt and skinny jeans with any of my over 100 shoes and boots look great . Not ready for M&S yet lol
it’s a confidence thing with me, If i leave the house in straight cut baggy jeans i will literally want to hide my face, skinny jeans just feel so right with me and they make me feel good, i wear them 100% of the time and i am always looking for tighter and tighter jeans to wear.