trousers became more associated with rugged independence than labouring. The evolution of denim into a fabric worn by teenage and leisure-loying young men was complete after the trousers were renamed jeans in l‘)(i(). and by the l‘)‘)()s. the ayerage American man owned 6.7 pairs of jeans. and the ayerage woman had 7.6 pairs.
l.eyi raked in $7.1 billion in “)96. although sales fell to approximately jtist oyer $4 billion in 2002. Such wobbles in foitune haye not been all bad news for the consumer thouglt. as major denim brands haye searched for ways to reinyent the
classic garments from relaunches of
popular yintage styles. to ideas such
as anti-lit and the personalisation of
jeans using anything from distressed fabrics to ribbon. The search for the perfect fit is not oyer. This" autumn. as well as the new &denim brand. jean junkies are being bombarded with the latest style changes. Ladies with a passion for Vintage will fayour l.e\'i's new l’atty Anne fit. These jeans feature a length of red piping down each leg in a copycat yersion of a l‘)3()s line seen on the likes of Brigitte Bardot and Marilyn Monroe called "l‘ropical 'l’ogs’. l‘or men. l.eyi is making a distinction between comfort and style with new ‘Workweai’ and ‘l'iashion’ lines.
g.
For those who fayour the simple approach. (iap is offering three new denim fits for women. and one for men. As well as the new ‘curyy'. ‘straight‘ and ‘original' styles. a pack of celebs from Joss Stone to Brandon Boyd haye stepped tip to endorse their fayourite style and remake a classic song to feature on a gift (‘D for those purchasing from the store. lilsewhere. denim is spilling over into accessories from hats to bags. and in Topshop. in the form of scandalously short miniskiits and dresses. proying that what‘s top for bottoms is also top for tops.
www.hm.com; www.levistrauss.com; www.gap.com; www.accessorize.co.uk; www.topshop.co.uk
1) Accessorize denim bakerboy hat - £10; 2) Topshop petite denim dress - £35; 3) Topshop denim bag - £12; 4) lkea Posig pouffe - £29.90, www.ikea.com; 5) Levi’s® RED TAB Guys’ 509 Fashion - £70; 6) H&M men's ‘Ladd’ jeans - £34.99; 7) Levi's® RED TAB Guys’ 508 Workwear — £85. Available from Levi’s® Store, 109 Princes Street, Edinburgh; 01604 599 752 Levi's® Store, Level 3, Unit 45, 220 Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Gt 2WF; 0141 322 7139
A KIND OF BLUE Paul Dale chronicles a very personal love affair with denim. Sometime in the late 1980s. I was a crap aCId house raver who wore Wide bottomed tracksuit bottoms With dodgy multicoloured tops. At the time I lived in Hull With a 'dog-on-a-string' performance artist and his 'mad-as-a- badger‘ rockabilly girlfriend Suzanne. She was a denim obsesswe. head to ankle in 50s LeVi finished oft With a pair of classic Doctor Martin dealer boots. It was a look of aggression ltiCidity and cool that l c0uld only have dreamed of. We stayed friends when I moved to London a few years later and she took me to a V&A exhibition about the histOry of denim: it was one of the sartonally defining moments of my life. As l stared at pictures of cornhuskers in their Lee Union-Alls. BOy Rogers in his prototype 501 s. Bing Crosby in a double breasted denim blazer. Brando and ElVlS slouching in indigo blue. Norman Mailer. Chet Baker. Brigitte Bardot. Paul Newman. Lee Marvin and the Bamones. my love for the fabric grew. Even today | find it diftiCult to walk past a vintage Ciothing shop and not poo in to see if they have a pair of 197A Wrangler Rangers that I could try and squeeze over my ample hips. Ultimately. I agree With that American icon, Diana Vreeland: 'Blue jeans are the most beautiful things Since the gondola.‘ I Denim is published by Aurt/m Press on Monday I 7 October.
GET...overmilitaryjackets
Katy McAu/ay bemoans this year's naval chic
I Any shopper worth their weight in gold credit cards will know that you should have bought a winter coat by now. Hell, I’ve bought two this year already. It’s not that the weather is particularly Arctic and I don’t have a circulation problem, but if you want to get your money’s worth of this year’s trends then you need to start browsing the winter woollies shelves. Magazines have been full of the autumn and winter
96 THE LIST 7/ Star: «’2 Oct L’ftti‘i
styles for months now, and the front-runners in the style stakes are making their presence felt. Every season, there’s one item that just won’t be ignored (think the boho skirt explosion this summer, and the invasion of the U99 that preceded it). This autumn, it’s the turn of the admiralty jacket, and it’s getting on my wick already. For a start, why anyone would want to look like they’ve just wandered off a panto stage is a mystery. For those who’ve been
living under a rock for the past month and aren’t familiar with this piece of military madness, picture the Beatles in their Sergeant Pepper period, or Russell Crowe doing a bit of mastering and commandering. Those who’ve taken the look too far may find themselves beset by over-friendly parrots looking for a likely shoulder, leaving a trail of tiny, shiny buttons behind them, or arrested on suspicion of going AWOL from the Navy. Is it really a
chance you want to take? The celeb couple we have to thank for this foray into pirate fashion is Kate and Pete. Send them hate mail. Primark hasn’t helped with its popular version (which costs Sixpence), but if it’s not too late to pull yourself back from the brink, you might want to think about the other options out there. Some vintage or retro-style leather perhaps? For the demure, Wctoriana? Or how about a 403-style overcoat? It’s just a thought.