The rumors are true: Bootcut jeans are so back. All year, we’ve been reporting on the surprising comeback that the denim shape has been experiencing, including the non-boot shoes fashion people are wearing with them, the pretty tops that pair especially well, and the petite-friendly pairs our 5’1″ editor recommends. I’d even go so far as to say that they’re beginning to dethrone straight-leg jeans as the default style for when you feel like wearing jeans. Sure, it’s a bold statement, but the reason I know they’re here to stay is that bootcut jeans aren’t merely a niche trend worn by the experimental 20-somethings among us. They’re being universally adopted across ages and aesthetics.

Everyone from 25-year-olds on the Lower East Side to 40-somethings in Tribeca are adopting bootcut jeans into their everyday outfit rotations—with one key difference: the rise of your jeans. If you’re a 20-something, you’re far more likely to be wearing your denim low on the hips, but if you’re, say, in your 30s or 40s (or 50s and 60s), you’re probably opting for a high-rise fit. It’s the classic generational divide. No matter how someone of any age dresses, you can always tell their birth year or, at least, decade based on where their jeans fall on their waist. Obviously, it goes without saying that you should wear whatever you like at whatever age you are, but this is just a pattern I couldn’t help but notice.