Violet Revolution

Q: Is there a difference between skinny jeans, cigarette jeans, and straight jeans?  I don’t get what’s different about each, and why you would buy one over the other?

A:  Yes, there is a difference.  While skinny jeans are ultra-form fitting through the ankle, cigarette is a little less fitted from the calf down.  Both are form fitting though through the butt and thigh.  Straight jeans are straight from the thigh down.  In technical terms, skinny has a leg opening of 11″, cigarette 12″, and straight 15″-17″, typically.  Straight gives you a slim fit and are most likely still too fitted at the bottom to fit a boot underneath, but aren’t as tight through the butt and thigh as the other two.  If you want to fit the pants inside a pair of boots, it will be more difficult to do so with straight leg.  You might be able to pull it off if it’s a slouchy boot, and there’s ample room inside.  Also if you’re looking for the pant leg to not cover your pumps or sandals, stick with skinny or cigarette.  As shown below, straight will hang down over them, although not cover the front of the shoe (where your toes are) as much as a bootcut.

Why you would buy one over the other depends on the look you want to achieve and to some extent, on your body type.  Skinny and cigarette will hug your butt and thighs more, so if you don’t want that to happen, stick with straight which is less form fitting on the upper leg.  If you’re looking for that scrunched up fit at the ankle, almost like a legging, then skinny is the way to go.  Cigarette gives you the same fitted look, but doesn’t taper in as much at the ankle so if you hate the legging look or have thicker ankles, give cigarette a try.

Here’s some examples. I love that the Honey jean by Joe’s comes in a skinny (far left). The Honey is known for curvy girls, so you can have a complimentary fit and still wear skinny jeans.  J Brand also makes a curvy fit cigarette jean (middle), and a higher waisted straight leg.   You can see how cigarette is similar to skinny but not as fitted in the ankle, and how straight covers some of the shoe.