Black Skinny Jeans Are on Pause—This Is the Black-Denim Fit It Girls Are Wearing Instead

Shop the style that'll make your outfits cooler, plain and simple.

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Sarah Pidgeon wearing a cropped oatmeal jacket over a sheer pink top with low-rise relaxed-fitting black jeans and black ballet flats
(Image credit: The Image Direct)
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Sorry to reignite the old skinny-jeans debate, but sorry, I'm a fashion editor—we can't help ourselves. When most of us think about black jeans, it's probably black skinny jeans that come to mind. They're a classic, and I certainly wouldn't encourage you to ditch them, but facts and facts: It girls such as Sarah Pidgeon are choosing a different denim trend for their black jeans in 2026. The trend is low-rise, relaxed-fitting black jeans, which are a far cry from skinny jeans indeed.

Pidgeon was recently spotted in NYC wearing this exact style, paired with a cropped zip-up funnel-neck jacket over a sheer pink top, completed with the celebrity-favorite Tabi ballet flats. Truth be told, this outfit would've run the risk of looking a bit dated if worn with black skinny jeans instead of the slouchy pair she chose. Low-rise, relaxed-fitting jeans are the biggest denim trend of 2026, and I say this with confidence. So it makes perfect sense that the biggest denim trend of winter 2026 could very well be black low-rise, relaxed-fitting jeans. Pidgeon's outfit is certainly a strong indicator of that. Keep scrolling to see it for yourself and to shop my favorite versions of the trend.

The Fit on Sarah Pidgeon

Sarah Pidgeon wearing a cropped oatmeal jacket over a sheer pink top with low-rise relaxed-fitting black jeans and black ballet flats

(Image credit: The Image Direct)

Shop Low-Rise Relaxed Black Jeans

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Allyson Payer
Allyson Payer
Senior Editor

Allyson is a senior editor for Who What Wear. She joined the company in 2014 as co-founder Katherine Power's executive assistant and over the years has written hundreds of stories for Who What Wear. Prior to her career in fashion, Allyson worked in the entertainment industry at companies such as Sony Pictures Television. Allyson is now based in Raleigh, North Carolina, and is originally from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. She holds a BFA in theater arts. Her path to fashion may not have been linear, but based on the number of fashion magazines she collected as a child and young adult, it was meant to be.