Answer Angel: Turtleneck trouble

Ellen Warren, Tribune News Service on Feb 3, 2026

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Dear Answer Angel Ellen: How do you put on a close-fitting turtleneck, or a turtleneck dickey, without wrecking a carefully combed head of hair (men) or a stylish hairdo (women)? Are there versions of these garments that zip open at the back for easier putting on? (If not, there should be!)

What are your suggestions for sparing the hair when donning such garments?

--George P.

Dear George: I thought your question had two obvious answers. I was half right.

For men and women: Put on your turtleneck before you style your hair. End of problem.

But I also was going to recommend that, from now on, you buy turtlenecks with neck zippers as you suggested yourself. However, if any label is making back-zip turtlenecks — for men, women or both — I want to know about it. Readers, help me and George out, please.

The best I could come up with were a huge number of quarter-zip or half-zip tops with quasi-turtlenecks with the zippers in front. Or, for women, leotards (with long sleeves) that ballerinas and other dancers wear. By chance I came across a “Women’s Trendy Turtleneck Sweater Side Slit Zip up Pullover Ribbed Knit Jumper top” by Beyincute (amazon.com, $32.99). It’s actually an interesting novelty oversize turtleneck sweater with a long, highly visible side zipper extending from top to bottom.

But that’s no help for a man. I’m old enough to remember owning several zip neck cashmere turtlenecks but, like so many good ideas, manufacturers and designers have moved on.

Speaking of moving on…

Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Just when I thought I had found the perfect jeans for my body type — barrel jeans — I’m reading that all the all the cool girls are wearing stovepipe jeans now. What’s a girl to do?

--Maddy N.

Dear Maddy: A smart girl is not listening to what fashion magazines and blogs and TikTok, Instagram, etc. are saying about jeans styles. Cool girls with smarts are doing what they darn well please — wearing jeans that make them look good and feel comfortable.

For those who don’t know, barrel jeans are what their name sounds like: shaped like a barrel with a trim waist, then a curvy shape, roomy around the hips and thighs for those of us who prefer not to highlight those body parts. Stovepipe jeans are what in olden times were called straight leg jeans with a straight silhouette from waist to hem. They’re practical, leg lengthening and classic.

Just to illustrate the wide variety of shapes and sizes of jeans over the years, I measured the ankle width of jeans in my closet that I wore decades ago: Bell-bottoms 10.75 inches wide at the ankle to skinnies at 4.5 inches across. While the bell-bottoms probably need to wait a few years for hippie style to become mainstream again, all the others including my favorite skinnies are still “on trend” and just fine — including your fave barrel jeans!

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