Are Bootcut Jeans Making a Comeback?

AD. Bootcut jeans are defined by their absolutely classic cut. Slightly flaring below the knee, they get their name from the fact that they allow wearers to slide them over their boots. 

If you’ve kept even one eye on contemporary fashion movements, you may have noticed that they’ve been popping up a little more, both on the high street and on larger stages. 

For those who are wondering if that’s indicative of a broader comeback, we reckon you’re on to something - let’s take a closer look.

_{[Photo by Hawk i i ]}

Their initial rise: the 1960s

While bootcut jeans are thought to have originated in the early to mid-1800s, in British and American naval outfits, they didn’t see their first major rise to fame until the 1960s. 

Bootcut jeans - along with more accentuated flare styles - become almost synonymous with the counterculture movement of the time, and can be seen in most pictures of that period.

While lots of us may think of massive flares in the late '60s and ‘70s, straighter cuts and more subtle flares got there first. When flares hit the scene, people would often sew extra bits into their bootcut jeans, to create their own flare.

Skinny jeans out: loose cuts in

Skipping forward quite a few decades, towards the end of the 2010s, a long period of skinny jean dominance started to come to an end. People started to move towards looser jeans cuts, and one of those was - you guessed it - bootcut jeans.

This transition may have started off slow, but as time went by, it became more and more noticeable. Bootcut jeans have really shot up in popularity over the past few years, coming to a peak perhaps with Kendrick Lamar’s much-spoken-about pair of Celine bootcut jeans at his Superbowl performance. 

Styling bootcut jeans

One of the reasons why they’re making a comeback is how versatile bootcut jeans can be. You can match them with a nice leather jacket, some plain white tees from Screen Textiles, a thick flannel shirt, or pretty much anything else you can imagine.

You can go even more extreme and try something like a Texas tuxedo, or dial it back a bit, for a more smart casual look (albeit one that’s exceptionally stylish). The options are there, and it’s your job to get experimenting and see what works. 

Who suits bootcut jeans?

Unlike skinny jeans - which were difficult to size correctly, suited a very singular body type, and weren’t at all comfortable - bootcut jeans are far more flexible and forgiving. They fit pretty much everyone with legs, and look amazing as well. We really welcome their comeback, and reckon that this style of jeans should be here for a long time to come. 

Of course, you don’t have to follow strict fashion trends when choosing your next pair of jeans, but it’s nice to know what other people are doing sometimes. Take these broad trends as inspiration, and then forge your own, personal interpretation that you can make your own.