Carole Middleton convinced us to revive our skinny jeans with her timeless styling

Skinny jeans are back (again) - and we'll be styling them just like Carole Middleton, whose timeless style is ideal for spring.

It's clear both the Princess of Wales and Pippa Middleton have inherited their love for skinny jeans from their mother, Carole Middleton. The streamlined style is a staple in all of their closets, though they style them in very different ways. We can learn a lot from Carole's styling tricks when it comes to skinny pants, especially if you've already found the best jeans for your body type and feel a little daunted about the new trending style.

woman&home's Fashion Ecommerce Editor Caroline Parr tells me: "skinny jeans will always be on trend, if you ask me. They're a staple, and so easy to style with everything from minimalist T-shirts to sequins for evening. There's a reason you rarely see Kate, Carole or Pippa wearing any other type of denim."

So if you’ve not tried skinny jeans for a while, Carole's 2021 outfit is the ideal inspiration. Her former business, Party Pieces, shared a snap to their Instagram of Carole, which was taken by photographer Liz Mcauley, and showed the mum-of-three smiling in a pair of mid-blue skinny jeans with a pair of timeless suede boots and a baby blue sweater finishing off the look beautifully.

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The jeans sat a flattering ankle grazer length, with the beautiful vintage-style wash bringing a touch of bold blue in to complement the sweater. The denim tone is a bit brighter than Carole tends to wear, with both her and the Princess of Wales more usually being drawn to darker denim tones. These deeper shades tend to feel a bit smarter and less off-duty casual than lighter ones, and this works well for both mother and daughter’s signature smart-casual styles.

Further leaning into that elevated feel is the sleek and streamlined silhouette of Carole's skinny jeans. Compared to looser and more relaxed designs like boyfriend jeans or straight leg jeans, you get a much more elevated and put-together feel. And it also makes the style really versatile, as they can work if you want to dress them up with heeled boots and a blouse or dress them down with sneakers and a chunky sweater.

The way Carole wore her pants was so classic as she opted for tan suede ankle boots with a low heel and a light blue funnel neck knit. Suede boots add textural contrast to an outfit, and though they’ve had a resurgence recently, like skinny jeans, they never really go out of fashion.

A great styling tip we can learn from Carole’s looks is the length of her jeans, with her ankle boots perfectly grazing the hemline. It's all about attention-to-detail which elevated this casual-feeling look.

Another trick she used was to leave her sweater draped over the top of the jean waistband. Of course, a French tuck will always be oh-so chic, but going for a looser fit with your top is a failsafe approach that balances out the more figure-hugging shape of skinny jeans.

It’s not necessary to wear only the chunkiest of your best wool sweaters either, but as long as your knitwear, shirt or long-sleeved top has a moderately oversized shape this will have this effect. The Princess of Wales’s mother kept to the lighter color palette of her jeans and boots with her choice of a baby blue sweater, which complemented these other items.

It had ribbed trims and a high neckline for coziness and although Carole wore this particular look in January 2021, the pared-back designs and harmonious colors mean this wouldn’t look at all out of place in spring 2025. We can definitely imagine her re-wearing this entire outfit today and this is the beauty of the way she styled her skinny jeans so simply, but elegantly.