The skinny jeans style wasn’t always jeans when first worn in the early 1950s. The pants had other names like pencil pants and were noticeably tapered to fit the leg with a very slim cut leg bottom that hugged the ankles. Such styles were worn by men and women, and were popularized by people in the rock and roll industry, in country western music and also by several noted actresses like Sandra Dee.

Since the 1950s, skinny jeans have come in and out of style depending on the preference of the moment. In contrast to the bell-bottoms worn by many in the 1970s, punk rockers often defined themselves away from the Disco movement with skinny jeans. Both New Wavers and Heavy Metal artists in the 1980s could wear pants that closely fit the body. These weren’t always jeans, and might be more similar to leggings, or were sometimes made out of leather.

The slim fit of skinny jeans was on hiatus for most of the 1990s, as wide leg styles or less tapered styles become more popular. In the 2000s many people started wearing skinny jeans again, and incorporated some fairly new features from the 1990s in new skinny jean styles. These features include the use of nylon or spandex with denim, which makes the jeans stretch slightly, allowing you to fit into a fairly tight pair of them. Also, the lower waist style of women’s jeans that began to be popular in the late 1990s and early 2000s is now featured in a lot of skinny jean styles.