There was a period of time when I thought you’d be able to pry my skinny jeans off my cold, dead body. Of course, I quickly flipped the script when Abercrombie & Fitch and other brands started making wide-legged jeans in petite sizes. Still, as a millennial woman I’ve hung onto some of my skinnies, you know, just in case. Apparently this was something Jennifer Lawrence did for a while, too. Until what I’ll call “the skincident” occurred.
Every generation has differences in tastes, but it’s only been over the last few years that Gen Z has started treating Millennials like we’re old that's to things like skinny jeans and pumpkin spice lattes. It’s been humbling to be sure, and it’s humbling even when it’s happened to Millennials who are a-listers, like the aforementioned Lawrence. During an appearance on Amy Poehler’s podcast, where she revealed she was not having a “Good Hang” one time with her assistant.
My assistant is 23, and so I was doing like a closet clean out [sic] and she was like, ‘Oh my god, these are like real skinny jeans.’ She was like, ‘Wow, they really do go in at the bottom!’ And I’m like [shakes head].
I mean, this was brutal for her, but it's also giving me my own set of millennial flashbacks. I can remember still wearing flared jeans when I went to college and my roommate and I (being from Southern Indiana before fashion trends rolled around quickly) and everyone else in our dorm was already wearing skinny jeans. I felt deeply uncool then and I feel deeply uncool about how much I miss my skinny jeans now. The only thing that gives me solace is the fact the actress’ assistant is going to be feeling the same things about her baggy jeans in just a few years' time.
Amy Poehler went on to talk to Jennifer Lawrence about knowing exactly how she must feel given she’s in her mid-thirties right now. (The actress just turned 36 in August.) The comedian’s hypothesis was that the Silver Linings Playbook star is dealing with the phenomenon of feeling “old” for the first time. She confirmed.
We were talking about Baby Mama. I’m like, ‘So funny, so funny.’ She was like, ‘That was probably like the first comedy I ever saw.’ I was like, ‘How old were you?’ ‘Seven.’
Denim trends have run the gamut from barrel jeans (as rocked by JLo) to low-rise jeans (as rocked by it girls like Sydney Sweeney). Let’s also not forget the sweatpants that look exactly like jeans that have been around recently. Lawrence herself has ditched the skinny jeans now, so it’s not as if she’s an unfashionable lady just because she's over thirty now.
Lawrence was even cool with giving Poehler, who at 55 has seen more celebrity fashion trends come and go, her own personal life advice: You can’t go tight-tight or baggy-baggy. Still, I see how things in your closet linger that you once were obsessed with. Give it 20 years and I’m sure skinny jeans will roll back around. Just please don't bring back the dress over jeans trend (again).
