Wearing denim these days, some psychologists analyze, is a way out for lazy people.
I get it, I thought, I don’t like denim much.
The psychologists’ assessment says when we don’t have any energy, style becomes irrelevant. In blah mode we pull up yesterday’s jeans, fish a tee from the laundry basket and drag our sneaker clad feet to hang over the nearest sofa. Jeans often are the quick, automatic choice; boy friend jeans combined with booties and blazers bring us safely to the day job, the parent conference, the mall… With their tough, sturdy and simplistic boyish charm those leg covers are no-nonsense practical tools.
As the utilitarian piece of clothing, denim jeans were, with a few exceptions, too boring for me. In the 70s when everybody I knew was wearing them, I preferred purple velvet jeans and vintage dresses.
Recently a wild and wonderfully adorned corset from Akira sparked my fantasy and creativity. I dug out an unloved bib denim overall, took it apart and made it into a pair of jeans. Together with a ripped jeans jacket which I cropped, they would become a bling denim trio.
Corset by Akira. Jacket and ten year old pants, a former bib overall, upcycled by me.
Tough denim and flirty, frilly bling makes a creative contrast.
Hands on upcycling is like meditation; we feel the fabric, the colors and while dismantling the style, the outfits begin to talk. Working on my wearable art, I was reminded of how complex denim really is. Before poor people clothes and worn out sneakers were declared fashion by Balenciaga in 2021, farmers and industrial workers in the late 1800 until mid 1900s, wore their denim to shreds. Fashion would look at the fabric only after GI’s imported them to Europe and denim-clad Western actors and actresses such as John Wayne and Ginger Rogers made them a world wide clothing phenomenon. Denim was romanticized as symbol for the wild and brave cowboy life.
The fabric was invented by weavers in Nimes, France but never became a “French thing.” Together with chewing gum they stood for American culture. James Dean in “Rebel Without a Cause” turned them into a liberal piece of clothing, evolving into a sexy counter culture piece of the 60s. Adorned with painted images, appliques, and patches they became anti-establishment, a sign of solidarity with the working class who wore them first. The holes, stains, rips and patches of their worn-to-their-deaths origins, now intentionally applied, were the safety pin adoring punk movement’s finger to the main stream. Think Vivienne Westwood and Sex Pistols of the 70s; free spirited outcasts, badass dissidents who made fashion an in-you-face political statement.
Street styles are always copied by high-end designers; their acid wash, stone wash, pre-ripped, pre-shredded high end jeans went up into price categories regular people couldn’t afford. In contrast to styled celeb jeans their true rebel vibe was kept alive in the anti fashion grunge movement unfolding of the Pacific Northwest and especially Seattle where I live now. Even before the arty denim corset changed my mind about denim, I had stepped into a pair of jeans after years of ignoring them. Let’s say it’s the morphic fields of tough love grunge outfits.
When my foot got caught in a large tear of my pants, a photo on the beach of the Algarve, Portugal came to mind. A cross pendent on a vest over baggy jeans, I look so happily aligned with my outfit and environment. It was the 90s and I had borrowed the jeans from my Santa Fe lover who I had to leave behind to do business in Europe. They were torn and hung with over sized beauty on my hips. I never saw my man again but I would love to still have those vintage 501 Redline Levi's with the gorgeous button fly, which unfortunately landed in the break up bin.
I loved them because they made me feel free; sexy and rebellious in that loose fitting Rebel Barbie vibe.
What makes “regular” denim revolutionary today is the upcycle trend. They are waiting in many rows in thrift and second hand stores for our creative ideas that lift them from normal to unique, from 20 bucks to priceless uniqueness.
I believe in elevating regular things to art by adding our time and attention to them; sew pearls on pockets and seams, apply patches and pearls, crystals and chains. Cut them into pieces and patch them together in new ways or leave cool cut outs….
Denim asks for being adorned and played with.
There’s nothing lazy about denim.
