What Happened to Wide Leg Jeans?

The big news in jeans last year was the wide leg jean. (See justjared.com, thefashionablehousewife.com, and stylelist.com.)

What happened??

It seems to have virtually disappeared. The Gap is now highlighting three options for jeans: Long & Lean, Curvy, and Low Rise Boot Cut.

Their Long and Lean jean is flared. Curvy and Low Rise Boot Cut are boot cut. They have backed off completely from the wide leg jean.

It stands to reason, since boot cut and flared jeans are so figure-flattering, slimming the thighs like no other cut can do.

As a children's clothing designer, I have to keep two factors balanced: the jeans cut that works best for kids, and the adult trends which inevitably predict kids' trends.

Fortunately for both adults and kids, flared and boot-cut jeans seem to be here to stay for awhile.

Full Belted Skirts are Only for the Few

Have you noticed the growing popularity of the belted full skirt?

I was on a discussion board (Body Type and Body Image) recently, where someone was asking whether this type of skirt would work for her body type. My question is, who does it work for??

OK, it looks great on these models. But it seems to me it is not for most women. It is so waist-conscious, and the fuller styles require slender hips as well!

One thing is for sure: It is not a style for my children's clothing line. Toddler girls' waists go out, not in. Anything belted ends up sitting down at the hips. As much as little girls would love the fullness of the skirt, I think the belted look will have to be saved for the willow-thin grown-up models, and very few of the rest of us.

(Pictures from Neiman Marcus website.)

Also Posted at Pixyworld Blog