Slim jeans or wide-leg? The denim trends for the new season

Last winter the slim came back with a vengeance — that close-fitting style from waist to ankle that we saw striding through our high streets all season. Best worn with a cropped or mid-length jacket, ballet flats for the tall ones, stilettos for petite or curvier frames, or even boots for the die-hards — and yes, boots had their own moment too, but that's another story.

This summer, though, the slim was hardly the star of the show. No surprise, you might say — summer belongs to short hems. So where does that leave the new season?

The slim may still be in the running, but if the big fashion names are to be believed, it's about to be upstaged by the latest crush of the stars and the designers: wide-leg jeans. High-waisted or only modestly low, it doesn't matter — the point is that you float inside them. Always generously flared at the hem, sometimes fitted through the thigh and waist, sometimes loose all over: take your pick.

Wide-leg jeans are instant comfort. They float, they breathe, they don't dig into your waist when you sit down. They often flatter A-line or rounded silhouettes, and more prominent hips, because they balance without squeezing.

The fallout from this new obsession? No need to spell it out: with jeans like these, it's all about playing with the hippie trend without… falling into it. So the key is how you handle everything else — the rest of the outfit and the accessories. For example? A short, fitted jacket, stilettos and wide-leg jeans: yes.

Wide-leg jeans + a coat (we mean a proper coat or a long jacket)… not so much. And wide-leg jeans + trainers… hmm, watch out for the schoolgirl look, or the leg-shrinking effect.

Second obvious point: wide-leg jeans will make plenty of women happy. Easier to pair with a fuller bottom and feminine curves than the slim, they're comfortable too — that goes without saying.

The slim, meanwhile, has changed status. No longer the default cut, it's now a deliberate choice: it streamlines the leg and lengthens the silhouette when the fabric contains a little elastane, because the denim then follows your movement instead of fighting it.

Between the two, there's room for everyone: the wide leg, which breathes and works with long legs and cropped tops; the straight leg, an all-rounder that neither squeezes nor floats; the slim, kept for the moments when you want a clean line. Together, the three make a small capsule wardrobe that covers almost anything, from the office to the coffee shop.

That said, on recent catwalks the fitted leg is reappearing, worn with structured pieces: a sharp-shouldered blazer, a tucked-in shirt, slim ankle boots. Fashion isn't taking sides — it's offering options. It's over to you.

And if you're still unsure, there's one fail-safe method: pull every pair of jeans out of your wardrobe, try them on one by one with the shoes you actually wear every day, and note the pair that makes you forget you're wearing jeans. That's usually the one to keep — and possibly to have altered rather than replaced.

So: wide-leg or slim? Well… we suspect it comes down to body shape. Some women admit they're hooked on their slims, which we completely understand… and you?

On the brand front, two names kept cropping up in the fashion pages at the time: JBrand and Notify, cited for their cuts and their luxury denim.

Worn, raw, low-rise, faded… Jeans come one after another and never look the same, trends follow trends, and we — devoted to trends and to dressing well — give it a go. Sometimes we get it wrong — and yes, a slim or a low-rise won't suit everyone — and sometimes we strike gold and find the pair our bottom was waiting for, the one that, by a kindly optical illusion, gives us endless legs and streamlined thighs. Ah, dear jeans, centrepiece and absolute must-have of our wardrobes: what should we do this season — take you slim or take you wide?

Budget

Expect to pay around £25 to £55 for wide-leg or slim jeans from the supermarkets and high-street chains, often in mid-weight denim.

Mid-market, at the denim brands, you're looking at more like £70 to £130: the cloth is denser, the cut better worked, and it holds up better in the wash.

Beyond that, premium labels and denim ateliers run from £160 to £260, sometimes more — without the difference always being visible to the naked eye, and trying them on remains the best judge.

Also budget for a hem or waist alteration, usually charged at £10 to £20 at a dry cleaner's or an alterations tailor — and it changes everything on a pair that's a little long.

What moves the price: the weight and origin of the denim, the addition of elastane or linen, European manufacturing, and when you buy — end of season is often the best value.