Fashion Shock -- Denim Is Back!

You don't have to spend much time with fashion magazines to recognize the constancy of denim.  Every year we read that denim is back in fashion.

Here is a hot denim jacket from 2013.

Here is a hot denim jacket from 2014.

And here is a hot denim jacket from earlier this year.

Plus ca change . . . .

I think we read a lot about denim -- particularly designer denim -- lately because so many women have adopted exercise wear as their everyday wardrobes. Yoga pants, running shorts and pilates leggings are easy to wear and appropriate for everything from coffee with friends to Costco runs to workout classes.

The design community seems to want women to start wearing regular clothes again.  If this means fashion denim, so be it.  I have the impression that many new looks are being thrown out in the hope that at least some of them will gain traction with fashionistas.  The results seem to me to be mixed.  

One idea has been to make denim more dressy.   Here is an example from London earlier this year.

I haven't been to London lately, and so I can't say whether English women have adopted this kind of thing wholesale.  But I doubt it. 

Another theme that is being pushed, worldwide, is "double denim" -- denim shirts or jackets with denim pants or skirts.  

My take is that double denim is a good wardrobe choice for a rancher, but not so good for everybody else.  Girls, don't try this at home.


The tight jeans and denim leggings that skinny gals have worn for the last several years will continue to be fashionable, but this year's models have "raw hems," for a lightly fringy look.

If you still like skinny jeans, you could buy one of these, or, easier, you could cut the hems off an older pair that you already own.  An added plus would be that your older jeans will end above the ankle, like the ones in the pictures. 



The basic jean look of the moment, theoretically anyway, is the "boyfriend" jean.  This is how one fashion magazine suggest pairing such a jean with a double denim shirt and an offbeat jacket.

Ugh. If an outfit looks this unflattering on a fashion model, I can only imagine the unfortunate results on less lovely women.  Approach boyfriend jeans with caution, I say.  

    

Then there are denim jumpsuits.  You might want to invest in one of these if you work in an automotive plant.

Finally, the one trend in jeans that has lasted for just about forever is the Levi's 501 jean.  The button-front high-waisted model is virtually unchanged from its 1947 iteration, and it is not expensive.  There is also a steady demand for "vintage" 501s, as seen below.