The skinny on skinny jeans

Three years ago, you wouldn’t have dared worn skinny jeans, not with a ten-foot pole even if they were selling for a tenth of the original price. But things have changed. Skinny pants or drainpipe jeans or those ’80s-style leg-huggers with four-inch-diameter leg holes began cropping up on spring runways as the only alternative bottoms to the ubiquitous summer miniskirt. Next thing you know, Fergie was solemnizing their appeal on the Peas’ My Humps video and every fashion bible avowed that they are the best thing to amplify your humps and style quotient.

Jeans brand Lee however has known the pop possibilities of the comeback jean style for some time now. Last year, it introduced its Supa Tube line, a series of slim-leg satin stretch jeans in delish cavity-inducing colors: vanilla sugar, pink lemonade, blueberry frost and glazed plum. This year, Lee followed up on the slinkfest with Stackz, a line of tight ultra-slim cigarette pants (Capris, not Marlboros) with a higher waist, snugger hip fit, and longer leg length (to create those slouchy ankle folds that drove the ‘80s girl band Go Gos nuts). If the Supa Tube line recalls Britney Spears’ pre-Federline bubblegum pop, then Stackz denim brings out your inner rock star with a holographic snakeskin label patch and silver metallic embroidery on charcoal black or stonewashed denim.

During Fashion Week, Lee showed off a few how to’s on how to work the new slinky:

• Wear it with a tunic. The best match for waist-to-ankle fitted jeans is a tunic. The longer length balances out the symmetry and goes the farthest to hide big hips. Lee calls the tunic the "reinvented tee" and offers styles that are either belted or beaded, printed or punked out.

• Make like a schoolgirl playing hooky. The candy-colored Supa Tubes go best with colorful logo tees, ribbon details and refreshing surfer girl stripes. To cap, or rather, shoe it all off: vintage-style sneakers just like those you scuffed your way through childhood. Playground love has never been more vibrant.

• Go sophisticated. Start off with a pair of deadly stiletto pumps and work your way up. Wear Lee’s sexy Stackz style with either a vest-topped tank or a classic button down shirt belted at the waist. Glamorous waistcoats or edgy cropped tux jackets also pile on the attitude.

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Lee Jeans’ Supa Tubes and Stacks are available at all Lee boutiques nationwide.

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