There’s a fine line between high style and fashion folly.

Take, for example, the Topshop Clear Knee Mom Jeans now being sold at Nordstrom. They check all the boxes for what’s trendy in denim these days: They’re high-waisted, cropped, pegged, and made of faded blue jean that sends chills down the spine of anyone who remembers the darkest days of late-’80s fashion.

But wait, there’s so much more.

Since jeans that are shredded at the knee are very hot these days, the Topshop team went a step further, eliminating that part of the pant leg altogether and inserting . . . clear plastic windows. For your knees! Your knobby, saggy, or knocked knees! Because, well, just because.

We have to hand it to the PR folks at Nordstrom, though. They’re determined to make these bad boys sound chic on the website: “Slick plastic panels bare your knees for a futuristic feel.’’

Hear that, ladies? You thought the future was female? C’mon. The future is bare knees behind clear plastic cutouts — for just $95. (Luckily, the shipping is free.)

Topshop’s sartorial misstep reminded us of another pair of peekaboo jeans, these from the annals of B-movie history. (OK, more like D-movie history.) The 1981 comedy “So Fine,’’ starring Ryan O’Neal and Jack Warden, features a convoluted caper story that in part revolves around the creation of denim jeans that eliminate the back pockets. In their place: clear plastic windows that reveal the wearer’s pert posterior.

Ridiculous premise, yes. But given these mom jeans, perhaps not so far from reality. HAYLEY KAUFMAN

Hayley Kaufman can be reached at hayley.kaufman@globe.com.