Day 5 – Dilemma

I have a confession to make. I don’t really own any jeans. Which is odd, because I own plenty of denim. And multiples of most things. But really, I have 2 pairs of jeans that I wear with any sort of frequency. Which should make day 5′s challenge of “favourite pair of jeans” really easy. But instead, it has just made me aware of the fact that I don’t have a decent pair of jeans…

My first pair of jeans are an old battered pair of skinny’s that I got in Urban Outfitters years ago on sale. They have long since been relegated to when-everything-else-is-in-the-wash wear, and more recently, even further down the pecking order to print-day wear (read: ink & pigment stains all over them). Yes they are comfortable. No they are not favourites. NEXT…..

My second pair of jeans are my MOM jeans. I got them in a charity shop in Dalston for £2.50. Not bad for a pretty pristine pair of Paul Smiths. So far so good. They are really baggy, which I like. But I feel like I’m not really skinny enough to pull that whole super-baggy-mom/boyfriend-jeans thing off. In my head I’m going for that easy chic, masculine tailoring with a twist thing, but really I just look like a messy mess with wonky jeans. So I don’t really wear them out that much. Thus they are not my favourite either?

So, I guess it’s time I got a new pair of jeans? I have a voucher for Forever 21 so there are a few on the website I might indulge in…..And then of course, there’s Acne (droooooooool)…….Someone buy me some Acne, please?

Acne Jeans, nom nom nom

 

Slightly drop crotch Acne Jeans. I wish these would look good on me....

 

This is what I think I look like when I wear my mom Jeans. I don't.

 

I might buy these lil Forever 21 numbers?

 

Or maybe these? Again, Forever 21....

images via acnestudios.com, asos.com and forever21.com

Also, I would just like to point out how truly PAINFUL jeans shopping is!! Once you find the right pair it’s like meeting your soulmate, but man, what an ordeal. I recently made the mistake of half-looking for a new pair, and it properly ruined my weekend. Trying on a pair of jeans for the hell of it is a surefire way to make yourself feel truly crappy. Big calves and skinny jeans = tears. Bums and jeans = tears. Thighs and jeans = bucketloads of tears. Try on a baggy pair to cover the above up, look like a whale. Try find the right pair of skinny’s, minefield. No wonder I don’t have any jeans! Maybe I should hold off on the next reconnaissance mission until I’ve eaten a few more salads….

I have nothing to wear….

The other day i went ice skating with a friend. And yes, it was only one friend, one lonely friend, a shameful admission, but it’s not my fault that the rest of them are all talk and no blades.

It took me ages to get ready to go, for several reasons.

1) I don’t have an iceskating dress. this made me sad.

2) the reason i don’t have an iceskating dress is because i’v been iceskating like 3 times in my life and i SUCK at it.

3) because i am so bad i always want to wear the most amount of clothes i can get on my body for padding and protection from the inevitable falling down on hard water

4) iceskating makes you warmer than you might expect, so all this extra padding makes you roasting after a while

5) it was still snowing, which made me lose all sense of everything (I sort of miss the snow from an aesthetic point of view, but i NEVER want it to snow again!)

6) i was so panicked about the above reasons i lost the plot a little bit, went and made a cup of coffee and smoked a few cigarettes before coming back to get ready.

So, I settled on denim on denim, in a mom jeans/1940′s work-overalls/slightly skinhead style dealy. I felt like all i was missing was the bunny ears scarf & i could have been proper retro. but I’m kinda into it. I liked the mix of skinhead references mixed with wholesome 50′s working woman references. I like that denim has such a strong and diverse meanings in terms of social symbolism. I love that there are so many ways to wear it to say different things, or even nothing at all. And I really love that my mom jeans are Paul Smith and they cost me £2.50 in Dalston. WIN!!!!

 

I didn’t snot myself iceskating. Maybe i’l buy an iceskater dress after all….

Mom Jeans

They say every woman eventually turns into her mother. And much like every other woman who hears this mantra, I have been hoping to buck that trend. However, thus far I have developed her total inability to say no to things, a predeliciton for shoes, a hopeless sense of fiscal policy (read: I can’t save for the life of me), and more recently, a worrying penchant for, well, mom jeans…

(image : Regarding Annie)

(I’m really bad at technology so I don’t know how to embed the video here but press Ctrl + click on the link to watch it, it’s very funny – http://www.funnyhub.com/videos/pages/mom-jeans.html)

In the past couple of months I have purchased a pair of vintage 501′s, a smart pair of golf trousers, and two pairs of Liz Claiborne sporting shorts. Don’t know who Liz Claiborne is? Ask your mom. And I’m not the only one – have a flick through (Ctrl + click) LOOKBOOK.nu and you will be met with a bunch of bright young things who’ve raided their mom’s wardrobes.

(images: Lookbook.nu)

What is it about our generation that is so into dressing like our mothers and grannies? Our mothers were revolutionaries, shocking their mothers, who had done the same in their time. Not to get all feminist on it or anything, but seriously, why are we such sartoiral wusses?! How come I am happier in a nicely cut pair of shorts my mum and my nana thinks are “very smart” than in an outfit that shocks her? Or, if i had the cash money, this gorgeous outfit from Tibi’s AW 10 collection. Flesh coloured blouse anyone?? No, really.

Tibi A/W 10

(via Style.com)

Perhaps it’s the influence of style blogs such as The Sartorialist, whose aesthetic has been particularly influential in the past couple of seasons. Scott has an eye for classic tailoring and preppy style that nicely encompasses mom jeans and questionable golf shorts. Maybe I should be blaming him and not my mother?!

(image: The Sartorialist)