WEARING WELL

Stories of the clothes we love JEANS

Delve into the back of my wardrobe and it’s like looking through a potted history of my life with a denim backdrop. There are the indigo super skinny jeans I wore throughout the noughties (worn, like many pairs in that decade, with shirt and flats for work and dressy top and heels by night). Then there’s my beloved, ripped, faded blue Levi ‘boyfriend’ jeans, sewn and patched on multiple occasions, now too indecent to wear outside the house ( but obviously still worn in the house). There are high rise, low rise, black, grey and white jeans… and one of my best charity shop finds ever, a pair of Marc Jacobs flares that bear the scars of many a night out on their frayed hems.

I bet I’m far from alone with such a collection: no item of clothing transcends age, gender or style quite like a pair of jeans. Its versatility knows no bounds (I’ve worn the same pair of jeans for a dog walk, work meeting and pub outing all in one day), when you find a pair that fits right, it’s very hard to part with them. And while I once attempted to follow the latest denim trends, I now know that while waistbands may rise and fall, hems may widen and narrow, it’s the ease of wearing that is way more important than what’s in fashion.

As well as comfort there’s conscience to consider, too, and the environmental cost of manufacturing jeans hangs a dark cloud over denim. Just like a single-use plastic bag doesn’t feel right these days, the 7,000 litres of water that go into making the average pair of jeans – much of which ends up polluting our waterways with dyes and chemicals – is enough to put anyone off denim. A good reason to support the growing number of sustainable brands producing ethical denim. The greener jeans companies use organic and/or recycled cotton (finisterre.com, nudiejeans.com), recycle used denim (mudjeans.eu), re-sell vintage jeans ( pindenim.uk), and encourage you to lovingly care for your jeans with free repair services and care advice (check out hiutdenim.co.uk, which even has a ‘No Wash Club’).

And, of course, another great thing about jeans is that recycled and reloved pairs can look every bit as good (sometimes far better) than a pair bought brand new. I’ve vowed to pass any that I won’t be wearing again on to my teenage girls (they can fight it out between them as to who gets the Marc Jacobs flares) or recycle them. If there’s one denim trend that I’m happy to follow, it’s that jeans should feel good as well as look good.

“Nothing transcends age, gender and style like jeans”