Why I Am Actually Pumped That JNCO Jeans are Coming Back
Images via Buzzfeed, Gallery Hip, Customized Girl and Complex
The texts came pouring in yesterday, dinging in one after the other: “JNCO jeans are BACK?!” “Nooooo.” “OMG, are you dying?”
Yes, I am dying. But not for the reasons you think I am.
JNCOs, an LA-based company that soared to popularity amongst the skater and rave set in the ’90s, is being revived after a positive response at a recent trade show. As I’ve written before, I was a fan of outrageously large pants in middle school. I never actually wore JNCOs — I don’t think I was allowed to — but I did wear some slightly pared-down version of them (no 50-inch leg opening for me).
My pairs had tiny studs on the back pockets. We discovered later that as I slouched angrily at the dinner table (I was a very angsty teen), these studs carved deep valleys into the seats of my parents’ antique dinner chairs. (The chairs have since been refinished, but my parents held this over my head for a very long, difficult time.)
Sure, those pants were ridiculous. How did we walk? We all looked insane, an entire generation of kids suffering from elephantiasis of the legs.
But then jeans got boring. Skinnies entered the scene, and they’ve clung to relevancy ever since. It’s time we embraced a new denim silhouette. I’m still a fan of bell-bottoms, as retro as they are. And hugely voluminous, sweeping wide-legged pants have always held a certain appeal. Sure, JNCOs were never chic, but they could be.
Proof: Look at Rosie Assoulin’s fall 2015 collection. There are two pairs of billowy pants, in black and deep forest green. J.Crew’s fall 2015 line also included a huge pair of pants, ultra-luxe in a pale gray. Parachute-like culottes took over. JNCOs aren’t totally out of the realm of possibility here.
Larger, slouchier pants seem fresher than second-skin denim. And if JNCO can put a new denim silhouette out there and make it catch on, I’m all for it. Just maybe leave studs on the back pockets out.
