Denim Review: Diesel Skinzee 0811X

I can’t actually explain how excited I was to finally try the new Diesel Skinzee cut as Diesel has always held a big soft spot in my heart from years ago as they were one of the first brands I loved when I got into premium denim. Those of you who have known me for a while from the blog will know that I used to live in Matic and Lowky as they were two of the best cuts that Diesel ever came out with. Matic 81M was my favourite jean for numerous years and it still is one of them, if only they were stretchier.

I found Diesel to be a little bit behind on the jeggings trend in comparison to most other brands and just a little behind in terms of printed denim, different materials etc so I ventured into numerous other brands to fit that need. I know they came out with Livier and Jeggonfire some time ago, but I was waiting for them to properly introduce a jegging fit to their Fit Your Attitude Collection. Since finding out last year, I have been eagerly awaiting the release of this 0811X wash as I prefer the lighter washes to the darker ones and now I have finally tried them.

Now I’m not sure if I was slightly disappointed in these jeans purely due to the fact that I had such high hopes and these didn’t meet my high expectations, or if they just aren’t as great fitting as their other jeans. I found the fabric to be quite rough and scratchy against the skin, it’s definitely not soft in comparison to other brands and it feels a bit papery, although it is really stretchy.

I also found them to run a bit tight in comparison to my other Diesel jeans. The waist area at the moment gives me quite a lot of muffin top and is a bit restricting, but I know that will stretch over time. But, my biggest downfall with these is the back pockets. I was hoping for something more along the lines of Matic back pockets or just a flattering back pocket in general, but I find the bottoms of these pockets to be too pointy and they are a bit wide overall. I don’t feel like they actually enhance the butt like Diesel jeans usually do, I feel like they just sit there covering the butt instead. By no means are they absolutely awful, they are still fine to wear and I am hoping that after lots of wear they will mould to my shape a lot more and be flattering, but currently as it stands they are not the most flattering Diesel jeans I own by far.

I do like how they fit from the front, the rise is a mid height as well so it keeps you covered and the length is fine for me. I did take size 27/30 in these and that’s also one thing I do love about Diesel, the fact you can choose your inseam lengths! The back patch and coin pocket are quite minimal for Diesel, usually they are quite bold and wild, but these are almost as subtle as you can get, which I quite like as well, since I much prefer minimal details on jeans with no heavy branding.

The 0811X wash is almost quite powdery actually, it’s a soft mid blue with lighter areas all around, but the overall tone is powdery, which I actually really like. I do feel like they make my hips a little larger at the sides due to the lightness towards the sides of the jeans, but that’s not really an issue, I guess it gives me more curves so that’s something to keep in mind if you are looking to get a jean which gives a curvy illusion. The wash on these do that for me.

Since I have had many different Diesel washes over the years, I wouldn’t say these are among my favourites, but it is a nice, simple wash. If I wasn’t going to compare these jeans to previous Diesel jeans then I would say that it’s quite a good mid wash for those of you who are looking for something mid to light for spring and want to try out Diesel. This is also currently the only lighter wash that the Skinzee comes in at the moment.

I suppose this review is sounding quite bad, but honestly I’m not trying to put these jeans down as I do like them and plan on wearing them quite a bit, but since I have been a Diesel nerd for so long, they definitely don’t meet my expectations of what I was hoping and that’s purely because of how close and fond of the brand I have been since I was 17 (7 years) and I think in all honesty the brand has gone down a bit since their hay days some years ago. I think a lot of you will agree if you are Diesel fans and used to love their old amazing washes like 71J, 772, 81M, 61X etc.

I do understand that it might be harder to create such a pretty wash on a jegging due to the fabric being a lot different, so I do take that into consideration. I don’t dislike these, but I would have loved the pockets to be more like the old Matic style pockets and the fabric to be much softer, those are my only complaints with these really. But maybe after wearing them and washing them more, they will soften up I’m sure.

Since the back pocket photo is from higher up just below, you can check the full length one in the gallery to see what I mean. In terms of mid to light blue washes in general though, I would still pick this wash over many other brands as Diesel do still know how to create a great wash in comparison to others, I’m just comparing them to how Diesel used to be. But if I wasn’t, then this is definitely a very pretty wash that I would recommend to you. Diesel aren’t always made in Italy either, just in case you were thinking they were. Many are made in different countries and these are made in Romania. The pairs with the red, white and green flag embroidery on the back of the waistband are made in Italy though, so keep an eye out for those if you want Italy made Diesel’s.

Overall, to end this really long review, I would definitely recommend them to you if you are looking for a nice mid to light blue wash in a jegging, they do fit nicely from the front and although I don’t like the back pockets on these ones, that’s purely based on my body shape. I have seen these on some other people, especially the Diesel models, and they look great, it’s definitely person dependent I think as I have seen some other ladies in Matic which didn’t look as flattering as they could, yet they were my favourite cut. The fact you can choose your size and inseam is always a bonus for shorter ladies like myself and for the longer legged ladies too! If you were always worried about the low rises on Diesel jeans, you don’t have to worry with these as they are quite high so that’s great! For sizing, if you are between sizes, I would say take your bigger size as these do run quite tight. Buy these jeans online at Zalando.

Measurements:
Waist aligned – 13.5″
Rise – 8″
Hips – 15″
Mid thigh – 6.75″
Inseam – 29.5″
Leg opening – 4.75″

Jeans courtesy of Zalando.
Written by Lorna Burford