Even with the popularity of styles like boyfriend jeans and wide-legged denims, skinny jeans are absolutely here to stay. Every decade in fashion history since the '50s has reinvented skinny jeans, also known as stovepipes or drainpipes.

Marilyn Monroe wore hers high on the waist and very close to the ankle. Audrey Hepburn preferred hers dark and paired with ballet slippers. The punk movement of the late '70s revived them with bondage-like zippers, tucking them into industrial-looking boots. Iconic supermodels and heavy metal bands reintroduced the stovepipes in the '80s as an alternative to spandex. Trendsetters like Kate Moss revived the skinny jeans in the '90s, and this cut is still going strong today. It’s fortunate that we have countless versions to choose from to fit every body shape, size, and style preference.

Browse through the gallery for a few guidelines on how to update this classic.

(First published as “The Fashion Insider” in the “Shopping” section of Marie Claire Philippines’ September 2008 issue. Adapted for use in Female Network. Flashbox photos courtesy of Uniqlo, Forever 21, and Dorothy Perkins.)