Answer Angel: Unflattering jeans?

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: This is something I have not seen in your column before. I am bowlegged and usually wear skinny jeans. One of my friends told me how unflattering this looks and I should wear pants that don’t hug my legs to hide my bowleggedness.

Your opinion will be a deciding factor.

--Caroline P.

Dear Caroline: Great news for you! Fashion’s so-called tastemakers are telling us that skinny jeans are “out” and jeans that don’t cling to the leg—straight, wide leg, even bell-bottoms--are back in style.

Women who held on to their old jeans from the ‘60s and ‘70s are in luck. So, dig yours out from the back of the closet. Don’t have any? Then get thee to a denim shop. Stat!

This “new” style would be ideal for concealing bowlegs and more. And, you can find them in just about any store that carries jeans, priced from $20 to $200 and beyond.

I’m voting with your friend if you truly want to hide your bowlegs (although I would have tried to make the critique a little more diplomatically). But, for those of us who still love our skinnies—and I’m one of them—I say you do you. Wear them no matter who tells you they’re out of style.

And another denim dilemma…

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I’m tired of my jeans jacket. I get it. It’s a classic and I see girls and women of all ages and sizes—men too—who wear them. I just would like a change—a jacket of about the same weight as my jeans jacket but a different style. Do you have a suggested alternative?

--Carlee K.

Dear Carlee: Long before Tim Walz, the new Democratic candidate for vice president, showed up in his well-worn everyman (and everywoman) Carhartt jacket, that brand and similar styles have been standard on farms, job sites and wherever durable, comfortable clothing is required. Workwear — or, now, what looks like it — has always been practical.

A bright blue French sanitation worker’s jacket was the trademark of the late, legendary New York Times street fashion photographer Bill Cunningham as he rode his bike around town for decades chronicling the fashionable men, women, children (and even dogs) he spotted in his travels.

His was hip length and those or shorter versions, cropped to the waist or a little above, now are in stores from Old Navy to Nordstrom, L.L. Bean to high-end Beverly Hills clothing shops for men and women. Names for the garment vary: Chore coat, utility jacket, work jacket, workwear jacket—even, yes, Cunningham jacket. And many models (including Carhartt’s) have big pockets--which is always a plus.

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I just got my first apartment and my first puppy. Housebreaking the dog means I need clothing I can throw on over my underwear to get the puppy down the elevator and out the door fast. I’m not talking about anything particularly fashionable but something I can put on quickly to hit the street in a hurry with my sweet little Rosie.

--Jen M.

Dear Jen: Sweatpants, shorts and a T-shirt, etc. are pretty standard dog-walking outfits in my neighborhood and utterly acceptable. However, if you are looking for speed-dressing, nothing beats a zip-up romper, at least in warm weather—shorts attached to a shirt all in one piece. I throw mine on a chair by the bed for easy-on speedy dog walking.

Angelic Readers 1

Anne Marie P. writes: “Your response to Lily P. ‘to check your image in a full length mirror before walking out the door’ needs to be amended. I recommend checking the back view as well as the front—a lot goes on with the backside that we are often oblivious to and a quick check can alleviate issues with fit, tags showing, undergarment lines, etc.”

Angelic Readers 2

From Barbara B.: For your reader Jackie C. who was looking for sheets that fit her 12-inch-deep mattress, there is a company on Amazon, called Lane Linen that advertises 12-inch sheets. From Ellen: If you search for “12-inch pocket” (pocket is the key word) on amazon.com, there’s a good selection of 12-inch offerings starting at $14.99. Marissa K. found some bamboo blend 12-inch sheets for her king bed at Ikea “and they are, of course, economically priced.”

Reader Rant

Eileen P.: “I need to rant about our young (and older) adults! They show no respect in our houses of worship by wearing shorts. There is no need for this.”