Cool Fashion Girls Who Live in L.A. Are Choosing This Strikingly Similar Y2K Staple Over Skinny Jeans

L.A. fashion girls have a way of making trends feel inevitable before the rest of us catch on. I couldn’t help but notice a few of them wearing a denim trend that is a close friend to the skinny jean but way cooler, and I started taking notes. While the internet keeps debating whether skinny jeans are back, the L.A. style set has quietly moved on to something adjacent—familiar, flattering, and equally early 2000s coded.

You’d expect L.A. people to be the first to gravitate toward skinny jeans once again. It feels like they were the initial adopters of them long ago, but instead of bringing their old jeans back, they’re on to something just a little different: skinny bootcut jeans. It’s not a dramatic shift, but it’s a telling one. This staple delivers the same ease and versatility skinnies once did, without feeling dated or try-hard. And once you see how they’re styling it—casually, confidently, very West Coast—it starts to make a lot of sense.

How to Style Them

These pants are the definition of what to look for when you’re on the market for skinny bootcut jeans. Very Y2K coded indeed.

If you want to inch toward the baggier end, this pair of jeans is a bit loose but still skintight at the thigh. The ideal silhouette.

Style it with a trench coat and pointed boots to take the Y2K allegations out of the conversation and make your look feel 2026 coded.

Bonus points if you go for a dark wash—the most flattering option when it comes to denim colors.

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