हर किसी के लिए फिट इंस्पिरेशन बन चुकीं बॉलीवुड एक्ट्रेस मलाइका अरोड़ा (Malaika Arora) न केवल अपने टोंड फिगर को लेकर चर्चा में बनी रहती हैं बल्कि एक्ट्रेस का स्टाइल स्टेटमेंट भी हमेशा गजब का होता है।
Much like the year that preceded it, little about 2021 so far has felt expected. Never could I have predicted that the U.K. would still be locked down nearly a year after the first coronavirus restrictions went into place, or that Donald Trump would get permanently banned from Twitter. Even more shocking has been Gen Z’s declaration that skinny jeans are dead (along with side partings and the laugh-cry emoji). Yes, barely two months into the new year, Zoomers on TikTok have proclaimed precisely this — signaling the end of an era that began when this (apparently) ancient millennial entered high school 16 years ago.
As a fat woman and former fat teen, skinny jeans have been much more than a trend to me. When stretchy, skin-tight denim first hit the scene, my comfort in my own body was practically non-existent. I took every effort possible to hide my lumps and bumps in tent-like dresses and baggy, olive-colored trousers. I told myself that I wore garments like the latter so that I might look like a plus-size version of Lindsay Lohan circa the 2003 classic Freaky Friday. Deep down, I knew that it was shame surrounding the nuances of my body that made me want to drown it in excess fabric.
When the skinny jeans look hit the fashion industry, I finally gave myself permission to dress my body in a form-fitting item. I remember shopping for my first pair in the goth shop at our local mall. They were black with subtle red pinstripe detailing; I even bought myself a studded belt to complete the look. I still recall how different I felt in those jeans. The stretch factor made them unlike any stiff, bootcut denim I’d ever purchased from the “husky” section at my mom’s go-to department stores. The softness was entirely new as well. My big legs felt luxurious underneath this fresh type of denim. I was almost, sort of, comfortable.
What I have learned in the days following Gen Z’s announcement that skinny jeans are on their way “out” is that a lot of plus-size women associate the style with a turning point in their body image and sartorial journeys. To Zoomers, skinny jeans may not be as cool as mom denim or ‘70s-style flares, but, to many of us, they will forever remain precious, as a tool through which we embraced our figures like never before.
Not everyone may agree, but I reckon the popularization of skinnies actually began with alternative communities. At our school, it was the emos, goths, punks, and general weirdos who embraced skin-tight denim before the popular kids did. This is probably why I felt comfortable dabbling in the trend myself. I was already considered an outcast, so I might as well experiment with the clothes that would signal to other outcasts that I was a friend rather than a foe.
Rebecca McGowan — who is based in the Greater Manchester town of Wigan in the U.K. — agrees, telling Refinery29: “I think [skinny jeans] were just part of the scene I grew up in and what I wanted to show the world about myself.” Her staple ensembles once skinny jeans hit the market were much like mine: skintight denim, band T-shirts, and hoodies. “I don’t care if a fashion is ‘out.’ I’m still going to wear it,” she adds. “My body type has never been fashionable, so why should I now care what is being said?”
For Carolyn Hesketh, from the Lancashire town of Bacup, it was the way skinny jeans stretched that felt most groundbreaking. “That hadn’t really been done in denim before, to my recollection,” she says. “Fat bodies move in a completely different way and regular denim just doesn’t flex in a way that accommodates that.”
“Skinny jeans felt (and feel) really liberating to me because although they’re everyday fashion, I can pair them with an outfit that’s on either end of the smart/casual spectrum,” she adds. “Before they became a thing, I always felt I had to be drastically overdressed in order to feel just presentable. With skinny jeans and a sweater, I can easily and comfortably be dressed and ready to leave the house in five minutes in an outfit that anyone would be wearing. I feel less visible, and that’s important for someone that has spent over 30 years being scrutinized by people on how I dress my fat body.”
For London-based L May, dabbling in skinny jeans definitely correlated with a shift in her self-image. “Wearing more form-fitting clothing allowed me to appreciate the way my body felt and dress more unapologetically,” she explains.
“When I was younger, I did like how I dressed and felt my clothes were expressive, [but] in hindsight, I don’t think I felt like I could wear truly form-fitting clothes,” she adds. “While I was always a confident person in my fashion sense, I did still conventionally follow the ‘rules’ for plus-size bodies. The skinny jean became a bit of a gateway to wearing other more form-fitting clothing.”
May does note that even though she loves the way skinny jeans look, she doesn’t find them especially comfortable or practical. Thankfully, the recent rise of plus-size clothing options means she can experiment with other garments that tick the form-fitting and comfy boxes.
Like May, it’s worth mentioning that not all plus-size babes have some kind of fairytale romance with skinny jeans. Yorkshire-based Kaomi Murty explains her own personal history with denim: “I used to wear baggy jeans and flared jeans when I was a teenager and was finding my style. I always hid my chunky thighs with my baggy jeans. Then, in my early 20s, I dared myself to try skinny jeans and never looked back.” They became an item she could rock to clubs and restaurants, on walks, or even just to chill in.
“I loved the fit and the way they felt but I still burned through them with my thighs,” she adds, noting that most jeans — regardless of cut or fit — end up worn through at the upper thighs. “I find women’s jeans need better sizing, maybe with three measurements for leg length, waist, and hips (and also reinforced thighs!). This would be a game-changer for us bigger girls.”
There’s also something to be said for the name of the style. “Skinny” jeans imply a certain target customer base — one that doesn’t include us fats. “I definitely felt some kind of way about the name ‘skinny’ that I didn’t really even recognize and certainly couldn’t have articulated,” Hesketh explains. “In retrospect, there was an element of being a fat imposter, wearing something that so obviously wasn’t meant for me, and I’m sure there were one or two articles in magazines at the time sort of discreetly mocking and steering fat folks away from them. But if you make comfortable jeans in my size, damn right I’m going to wear them.”
Despite her hopes for a future in which plus-size skinny jeans (and all denim) are reinforced in places where our bodies could do with a little more support, Murty feels much the same. She’s also confident that the cyclical nature of trends will mean that even if skinnies aren’t as widely available for a few years, they’ll always make a comeback.
In the meantime, Yorkshire-based style blogger and model Em Smyth remains committed to the look. Despite her initial avoidance of the trend — “I assumed that the form-fitting squeeze of a Lycra mix would make me look and feel like a denim-clad sausage roll,” she says. “That the areas I’d spent decades hiding — thighs, hips, bum — would be on show for the world to comment on” — she is now a devotee.
“Here I am in 2021, [with] a wardrobe full of skinny jeans in every color — for every occasion,” Smyth says. “Part of this shift was due to a development in self-confidence and appreciation that I dress for myself, not for the strangers I pass in the street. The other part is that skinny jeans are just the most useful, versatile item in my wardrobe. Plus, I genuinely look great in them. If I am a sausage roll, I’m a really sexy one.”
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
In spite of all the different ways our world has shifted, we’re finding ourselves as busy as ever — which is why we need outfits designed for a full day in which we might go from the office (the breakfast table) to the gym (the rectangular space on your living room floor that’s just barely big enough to do a burpee) to after-work activities (walking to pick up takeaway bibimbap from a semi-out-of-the-way spot so you can get more steps — and another true-crime podcast episode — in).
With the modern woman’s go-go-go lifestyle in mind, Banana Republic Factory has launched its first-ever active collection, in which performance meets comfort and versatility. Because today, wellness doesn’t just equal how long you can hold a plank or how many bicycle crunches you can do without collapsing — the past year has taught many of us that keeping mentally and emotionally strong is just as important as doing so physically.
Consisting of leggings, tees, tanks, and sweatshirts, the collection was created with a very “exactly how we want to dress now” ethos: simple, elevated-yet-effortless pieces cut from quick-drying, breathable fabrics with four-way stretch that moves with you. Take this sleek look, for example, which we’d WFH in, then wear to the grocery store to shop for ingredients to make a viral orecchiette recipe. Bonus: Pockets mean you can skip bringing a purse, while the material moves sweat away from your skin if you do break a sweat in the cheese aisle (because finding feta is in itself a competitive sport now, isn’t it?).
For another highly adaptable ‘fit idea, we’d put on this muscle-tank-and-leggings combo one day to stay breezy while doing a HIIT sequence, then another to sip vin chaud while joining a Zoom movie-trivia night. Note the pin-my-screen-worthy colors here, which continue throughout the range with shades from a soft lilac to a teal that’ll have your fellow film buffs turning up their screen brightness.
Whatever definition of “wellness” suits you, these wear-anywhere pieces are here to support your goals, whether that’s starting (and keeping) a meditation practice, or just pausing for a few shoulder rolls during the day to relieve nonstop-computer-usage-induced poor posture. Explore more of the collection here.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
In an exciting turn of events, Vice President Kamala Harris’ stepdaughter Ella Emhoff was spotted walking in Proenza Schouler’s pre-recorded New York Fashion Week show on Thursday. In January, the Brooklyn-based fashion student and knit designer was signed by IMG Models, just eight days after her Miu Miu coat and Batsheva dress turned 33.8 million heads on Inauguration Day. Now, just under a month later, she’s the finale star at one of NYFW’s most prominent shows.
“She represents the story we wanted to tell with the collection,” Lazaro Hernandez, one-half of the design duo behind the brand, told WWD prior to the show. “It’s the beginning of a whole new chapter in American history, in the kind of clothes we’re wearing and are attracted to. She’s the breath of fresh air.” The other half, Jack McCollough, added, “She’s new-gen, she goes to Parsons, which is our alma mater, she’s a fine arts major interested in knitwear, and she’s very much someone we’d hang out with.”
Emhoff wore three outfits during the 36-look show: (1) a gray, fur-collared coat, which was paired with matching trousers, fuzzy slippers, and an extra-large bag, (2) a tie-dye turtleneck worn underneath a belted, leather trench coat, and (3) a ‘90s-inspired suit — not unlike the pinstriped one she wore to watch her stepmother’s acceptance speech on November 7 — which was styled sans undershirt and featured a peek-a-boo waistband.
Alongside Inauguration Day’s breakout fashion star, were a handful of other models, each wearing equally minimal, yet tailored and modern looks. Standouts from the brand’s fall ‘21 collection included a lime green-and-black, tie-dyed frock with fringe details that was paired with lace-up white sandals and leather tights, as well as oversized, chocolate-colored suits and slouchy knitwear sets that we’d love to be wearing on this snowy day in New York (and elsewhere). Pillow bags and house slippers only added to the cozy, yet high fashion aesthetic of the show.
Given that both Emhoff and Proenza Schouler are known for their effortlessly cool fashion aesthetic, we should’ve expected this would happen. Who’s next? Natalie Biden walking for Markarian spring ‘22? Amanda Gorman for Prada? In the meantime, you can find me basking in these photos (and saving up for those furry slippers).
Watch the show below.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Though almost nothing about Fashion Month looks like it did pre-COVID, one thing has remained constant about the biannual event: the arrival of new fashion trends. There are almost no in-person shows, and many presentations were taped long before official calendars commenced, and yet, just as they did a year ago — before the pandemic firmly took hold — this season’s collections were full of pieces for us to covet and copy come fall ‘21.
According to some designers, autumn’s fashion landscape will remain steadfast in its pursuit of comfort, with brands like Staud, Sandy Liang, and Bevza debuting cloud-like pieces that look to be the sartorial equivalent of a hug. On the other end of the spectrum, designers are looking ahead, to a time when we have a reason to dress up again. Glamorous looks, ranging from bedazzled accoutrements to ‘80s-esque mini dresses in vibrant shades and bold prints, appeared on runways at Claudia Li, Alice + Olivia, and Prabal Gurung.
Other statement-making extras arrived in the form of stockings of all types, from knee-high socks at Sandy Liang to tie-dye tights at Maisie Wilen; oversized scarves at The Row, Ganni, and Ka Wa Key; and matching sets that are perfect for both lockdown and non-lockdown activities. But we’ve already given too much away.
Click ahead to find out which trends we’ll be wearing next fall.
'80s Glam
Though many look down upon the ‘80s and its sometimes-puzzling trends — belts over cable knit sweaters paired with stirrup leggings, anyone? — there’s something to be said about the era's party aesthetic. Knowing that we can't wait to dress up in glamorous nighttime looks again, designers showcased bejeweled mini dresses at Alice + Olivia and polka dot frocks paired with elbow-length gloves at Prabal Gurung.
Prabal Gurung Bronx And BancoPhoto: Courtesy of Getty.MarkarianPhoto: Courtesy of Markarian.
Puffers
In 2021, we miss hugs. Unfortunately, given the whole six-feet-apart rule, receiving one from someone who isn't in your pod isn’t as easy (or safe) as it once was. That’s where puffers come in. Sure, they’ll keep you warm on a cold day, but this season’s jacket selection — which comes with pillow-like bags, scarves, and more — will also cradle you in a tight embrace of style and comfort. Photo: Courtesy of Staud.AknvasPhoto: Courtesy of Aknvas.AmbushPhoto: Courtesy of Ambush.
DIY
Blame it on all the time we’ve been spending at home, sitting at our makeshift craft tables, and slowly making our way through Pinterest, but designers are bringing DIY to the runway — and not just in the form of tie-dye (though there is plenty of that, too, this season). Rather, it's crystal detailing, crochet work, quilted fabrics, and more that popped up during Fashion Month, where Claudia Li added gemstone bows to duvet outerwear and SoCal designer Stan upcycled quilts to create jackets and trousers.
Claudia LiPhotography by: Benn Jae.StanPhoto: Courtesy of Stan.LibertinePhoto: Courtesy of Libertine.
Matching Sets
Matching sets have become a quarantine fashion mainstay — and they're only getting more stylish. Easy to throw on, put-together, and effortlessly chic, co-ords make an obvious choice for designers trying to predict what our wardrobes will look like six months on. Expect knitwear (Victor Glemaud), fleece (Staud), and leather at (Ganni).
Victor GlemaudPhoto: Courtesy of Victor GlemaudGanniPhotography by: Lana Ohrimenko.StaudPhoto: Courtesy of Staud.
Tights
With the Gossip Girlreboot on the way, we should’ve expected that hosiery in all fabric- and colorways would make it to runways during Fashion Month. At Maisie Wilen, tie-dye and mismatched tights were combined with skirt sets and pastel-colored lace-up sandals, adding up to optimistic looks capable of saving us from even the grayest of fall days. Knee-length, sheer socks adorned the legs of models at Sandy Liang, who finished off the prep-school look with Mary-Janes and patent leather clogs. Ulla Johnson, Bronx and Banco, and Dirty Pineapple, too, added tights to the mix for fall ‘21.
Maisie WilenPhotography by: Zev SchmidtzSandy LiangPhoto: Courtesy of Sandy Liang.Ulla JohnsonPhoto: Courtesy of Ulla Johnson.
Big Shoes
Only in quarantine, when shoes don’t have to be practical, would bulbous footwear — the kind that will almost certainly give you shin splints if you wear them too often — be trending on runways. For Ambush’s menswear show, models were decked out in Puddle Boot-like rainboots that looked more like clown shoes (in a chic way) than Wellies. PH5 saw models clomping on an all-white set in matching clogs with epic proportions. Similarly-sized clogs were also spotted at Area’s first “couture” show in January, though theirs were metallic and included gemstones. Suffice to say, if spring ‘21 saw the rise of the big bag, fall ‘21 will bring about its successor: the big shoe.
PH5Photography by: Lee Kun Seok.
Statement Scarves
Lenny Kravitz called, he wants his scarf back. At Y/Project’s menswear collection in January, oversized scarves hid the models' faces completely. At Ganni and The Row, fashion’s favorite designers turned the standard winter accessory into even more of a statement, creating sweater-scarf hybrids that will have you asking, Where does my scarf end and my sweater begin? London-based designer Ka Wa Key followed suit, attaching rainbow, fuzzy scarves around the necks, heads, and bodies of its fall ‘21 lineup of models. Photo: Courtesy of The Row.Ka Wa KeyPhoto: Courtesy of Ka Wa Key.GanniPhotography by: Lana Ohrimenko.
Tranquil Fashion
While the maximalist aesthetic is currently trending, designers at Bevza, The Row, and Rosetta Getty envisioned a more tranquil wardrobe of essentials for fall. The result? Soft, cozy fabrics — in the form of knit hoods, sweater dresses, and coats — in visually calming, monochrome color palettes — from cool grays to warm oatmeals.
BevzaPhoto: Courtesy of Bevza.The RowPhoto: Courtesy of The Row.Rosetta GettyPhoto: Courtesy of Rosetta Getty.
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Despite being the biggest e-tailer known to man (with something like 300 million users), Amazon isn't exactly easy to navigate. Anyone who's spent hours scouring pages of padded headbands can attest to that. We get it, there's no simple way to organize 3 billion products on a single website. But c'mon, Bezos. Help a girl (and her search for the perfect $3 headband) out.
Since we might be waiting a while for the tech team over at Amazon to solve our shopping woes, a temporary solution will have to do — that solution being us scrolling through a blinding number of product pages until we find a treasure trove of stylish, affordable gems. Ahead, check out 53 of this season's biggest trends, from mock croc baguette bags to the under-$30 version of that leopard faux fur bag, that you can score on Amazon for next to nothing.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff—and, while we do receive commission from Amazon, all of the goods linked to on our site are independently curated by our Shopping team editors.
Kalkehay Detachable Dickey Collar (2-Pack), $, available at Amazon
WDIRARA Cow Print High Waist Jeans, $, available at Amazon
New Balance N990 V5 Sneaker, $, available at Amazon
Heathyoga Bootcut Yoga Pants, $, available at Amazon
