There was a time, not so long ago, when it was all about slouchy silhouettes and puddling hems. Street-stylers would wear jeans—and still do, actually—that completely swallowed their shoes (we all remember the summer of ’24, when everyone had a little triangle of boot poking out of their jeans). Now, though? A vibe shift. Not only have straight-leg jeans emerged as a dominant denim trend, but the cropped sort are right up there, too–I’m talking about ankle grazers, the type loved by ’90s celebs from Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy to Cindy Crawfor to Julia Roberts.
It should surprise no one that ’90s cropped jeans are enjoying a moment in the sun. We’ve witnessed a kind of mass hysteria-like event following the release of Love Story, with everyone dressing like CBK, and she famously wore cropped jeans regularly (the Levi’s 517s specifically, which have a bootcut silhouette and a hem that hits just above the ankle). Cropped jeans have also been a fixture on recent runways–Celine’s spring/summer 2026 show saw models sent down the catwalk in cropped jeans that showed off ankle socks and jazz derbies.
