Ditch your skinnies – the bootcut is back ...
THERE are some clothes that, after years of service, suddenly fall out of favour and become the opposite of fashion.
Shirtwaisters. Twinsets. Stretch pant suits. And the trousers all of us once relied on: the bootcut.
We all remember bootcuts, the narrow flares we wore through the late 1990s and into the 2000s.
When skinny jeans arrived on the scene, we couldn’t believe they would catch on — who wants jeans that grip your knees and calves? But they did and we got used to it.
In between, we’ve done our best with ‘boyfriends’ (the ones that make you look fat), flares (the ones that make you look fab worn over four-inch wedges), wide-ish and straight, and cropped.
Still, when you look back, nothing has come close to the everywoman ease of bootcuts. Or the glamour. Think of Liz Hurley in her white bootcuts and espadrille wedges. Or Elle Macpherson on the school run (always bootcuts and a furry gilet).
Don’t we wish there was still something out there like a bootcut? Most of us don’t want to, or can’t, wear skinnies any more. The widelegged look relies on narrow hips and a pert bum. We want something in between, thigh-flattering and leg-lengthening.
And guess what? There is a new bootcut. It’s not the same as the 1990s style — it’s leaner in the flared part, higher in the waist and it’s not called a bootcut. We’ve christened them the skinny bootcut. This is the streamlined version of its predecessor with added support — in other words, made for grown-ups.
Meghan Markle made her first public appearance with Prince Harry wearing skinny blue ripped jeans and flat pumps. Fast-forward and now Meghan has upgraded to inky black skinny bootcuts and heels. Far more elegant.
Mango has a pair in dark blue that could do a similar job (€35.99,
mango.com); & Other Stories does high-rise kick flare jeans (€59
stories.com) in a paler wash that are a bit more casual. If you don’t wear jeans, the slimmer flare comes in suiting (green trousers, €49.99,
zara.com) with a matching jacket. The big difference with bootcuts is you have to wear a heel. Happily they have arrived when cropped cowboy boots and Cuban-heeled ankle boots are having a moment.
There are two ways you can wear your skinny bootcuts. Either with a chunky heel, a funnel-neck sweater and a teddy bear coat. Or dressed up with a sharp blazer, a silk shirt (lemon yellow, tucked in), and light, slim-heeled sandals.
Cropped bootcuts will be big news for summer (wear with mules) — fashion girls are already in Frame’s Le Crop Mini Boot jeans (from €119,
farfetch.com). We’ll never say: ‘So long skinnies, you’ve had your day’. But now there’s a new shape we can do business with.