We Need to Talk About the Latest Denim Trend: Janties

Published Apr 4, 2019

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4:58pm

Trends may come and go, but jeans have always been in style in one form or another. And sure, there have been plenty of past styles that we hope never see the light of day again (low-rise flares with a peek of thong, JNCOs and those weird ones with the see-through knees come to mind)…but we also never thought we’d live to see the sight of denim underwear.

Denim panties—janties, as they’re colloquially known—actually walked down the runway at Y/Project’s spring/summer show during Paris Fashion Week last fall. But we either missed the debut or blocked it out of our minds. Belying our lack of interest, janties are back with a vengeance. Behold:

Estrop/Getty Images

Cute, right? *crickets*

Much to our chagrin, the janties are proving our spring denim predictions totally wrong. They’ve already started selling out at online luxury retailer SSENSE, even with the price tag of $315.

Let’s talk about this for a second. Is Y/Project trolling us all with these rugged undergarments? SSENSE describes the janties as “denim brief-style shorts.” Are they actually just incredibly high-cut jorts? Who is the target demographic (other than Coachella-goers)? Are they meant to be worn over or under your clothes (and if under, what’s the point)? If you’re wondering about their effect on your health (we were), Vogue confirms that, yeah, they’re probably pretty, er, uncomfortable. (The word chafing was first to our minds.)

If you want to know how everyone else feels, just search “janties” on Twitter. You’re welcome.

Remember a few months ago how we all worried that bootcut jeans for men were making a comeback? Let’s just say, we’d go back to that in a heartbeat. We’ll stick with our straight-leg, non-stretch, mid-rise pair, thank you very much.

Katherine Gillen

Former Senior Food Editor

Headed PureWow’s food vertical
Contributed original reporting, recipes and food styling
Studied English Literature at the University of Notre Dame and Culinary Arts at the Institute of Culinary Education

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