Retailers try a new trend on for size: Looser fitting pants

It shouldn't be hard to kill skinny jeans. After all, women love and loathe them in equal measure.

Three years ago, clothing merchants tried to snuff out the trend with an innovation called flares. Women kept right on buying their skinnies. Now, chains from mass market Gap Inc. to luxury-leaning Bloomingdale's are trying again with looser styles. Gap's answer: dressy sweatpants.

The goal is to get women to buy new wardrobes and jolt anemic apparel sales. This time, the industry may pull it off, said Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group Inc.

"Women basically said, I'm not wearing tight jeans — I'm done with them,' " he said.

After years of squeezing themselves into skinny jeans, many women are ready for comfort, said Wendy Liebmann, who runs WSL Strategic Retail, a New York-based research firm.

The "trend fits the size of the American shopper," she said. "It is much more forgiving for most or many women."

For several years, women have been snapping up athletic apparel from Lululemon Athletica Inc. and Athleta. Last year, dressier versions of the athletic look began showing up on the runway in fabrics from linen to cotton to silk. Gap's latest styles include zippered sweats and capri track pants, though the chain still sells skinny jeans and says some of its looser fashions work well with them, too.

By pushing looser fitting pants, retailers are hoping they can persuade women to replace existing tops with more structured and fitted blouses that work with the look. This year Bloomingdale's has been carrying coordinated blouse-and-pants combos for customers uncomfortable with mixing and matching. Gap also is using displays as teaching props.

While women's apparel sales rose 1 percent to $116.2 billion in the U.S. in the 12 months ending in June, sales of women's pants grew twice as fast, to $8.2 billion, according to NPD, based in New York. Looser fitting styles are largely responsible, Cohen said.

Retailers could use a lift. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp. and Macy's Inc. all reported disappointing results this month. The Commerce Department's report on July retail sales was the weakest in six months.

The big question is whether women are really ready to move on from skinny jeans, a garment whose staying power in recent years has confounded many fashion watchers.

The loose fit will be a hard sell with some women. Gina Girodier, who works in television and film production in New York, said the look doesn't work with her figure.