Are skinny jeans in or out?

Your opinion will be a deciding factor. — Caroline P. Dear Caroline: Great news for you! Fashion's so-called tastemakers are telling us that skinny jeans are "out" and jeans that don't cling to the leg — straight, wide leg, even bell-bottoms — are back in style.

Women who held on to their old jeans from the '60s and '70s are in luck. So, dig yours out from the back of the closet. Don't have any? Then get thee to a denim shop.

Stat! This "new" style would be ideal for concealing bowlegs and more. And you can find them in just about any store that carries jeans, priced from $20 to $200 and beyond. I'm voting with your friend if you truly want to hide your bowlegs (although I would have tried to make the critique a little more diplomatically).

But, for those of us who still love our skinnies — and I'm one of them — I say you do you. Wear them no matter who tells you they're out of style. And another denim dilemma .

.. Dear Answer Angel Ellen: I'm tired of my jeans jacket.

I get it. It's a classic, and I see girls and women of all ages and sizes — men, too — who wear them. I just would like a change — a jacket of about the same weight as my jeans jacket but a different style.

Do you have a suggested alternative? — Carlee K. Dear Carlee: Long before Tim Walz, the new Democratic candidate for vice president, showed up in his well-worn everyman (and everywoman) Carhartt jacket, that brand and similar styles have been standard on farms, job sites and wherever durable.