seems the fashion industry is still wanting to change trends to make us need something new. Don't know if I can get behind the old school, no stretch jeans that take forever to break in
Vogue article:
DENIM
Calling Time On Skinny Jeans
In Vogue's February 2016 issue Julia Hobbs explains why you should ditch your stretch
denim for an original fit. You'll have a friend for life, she promises.
JULIA HOBBS
Julia is the fashion news editor of British Vogue
Monday 25 January 2016
JASON LLOYD EVANS
Rigid, 100 per cent cotton denim jeans - the original androgynous utility staple - have been overlooked during the decade-long rise of stretchy, spray-on skinnies. How did these clingy, wafer-thin, denim-ish imposters, which are not actually jeans, achieve world domination? They fed our weakest desires for a teenage sort of comfort and provided the illusion of a lean figure, instantly. Somehow it had become acceptable to wear a pair of mock-denim leggings with belt loops and fake rips at the knees outside the house for the sake of that streamlined silhouette. Impatience also played a part.
Levi's only give out after a "six-month rite of passage", skinnies are fast friends, says Jonathan Cheung, head of design at Levi's and a jeans soothsayer. Don't get me wrong; there are days (OK, Sundays) when we all seek out the forgiving, comfortable fit that only black (or rather greying) elastane can offer.
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But at all other times - thanks to a new wave of designers reworking the hard stuff and endless throwback Insta-inspiration - we want to look sexy rather than skinny.
Chloë Sevigny in blue jeans and a white tee? Delicious.
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Chloë Sevigny And The Cult Denim Cut-off
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Rigid jeans guarantee an irresistible, old-fashioned anti-fit. They give off a pheromone of authenticity and, once you've broken them in, repay you with "hold" (technical jargon for a pert-looking bottom). Which is exactly why styles such as Levi's cult 505 are the "best-kept secret among vintage connoisseurs, for the peachy bum they give when broken in," explains Cheung.
Debbie Harry's Seventies stage jeans? They were the "tight and high" 505s. Women now want a generously enhanced behind (think Geena Davis in Thelma and Louise), which is a new phenomenon - part of the reaction to cinched-in, arse-flattening skinnies having become so normal, so tired-looking. Endless sightings of perfect stiffened jeans at last summer's festivals and never-ending mood pics via the Instagram feeds of Mr Gazoline or Janebirkindaily have fuelled a mainstream appetite for genuine non-stretch jeans - yet another way we are validating our ephemeral modern living habits by seeking out dependable, old-school brands such as Levi's, Lee, Wrangler.
Stella Maxwell,
Lily Aldridge and
Kendall Jenner. Don't want to wear second-hand? Levi's takes the pain out of finding the perfect fit with its bespoke service, Lot No 1, which tailors a new pair of denim jeans to your body shape for £500.
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JASON LLOYD EVANS
JASON LLOYD EVANS
The real-denim revolution happening now is not simply about tapping a throwback look. The cool, carefree credentials of non-stretch jeans are in the hands of young labels cleverly reinterpreting denim's vast heritage. Since September's shows, fashion editors have been religiously wearing Levi's chopped and skewed by
Vetements. At £880 a pop they're certainly not Levi's prices, but they do come with an idiosyncratic, asymmetric DIY finish that instantly blew up on the street-style scene. London label Aries attracts a generation of teenage girls who have never worn real jeans by sticking to simple cuts and cheeky patches - its Lilly style (made of classic, 15oz non-stretch denim) is produced in a mill that still does stonewashing with pebbles. While last season Katie Green, the British designer behind Kéji, launched a series of carefully tailored pieces made from denim woven in Japan using machines from the Fifties - the most popular are the cigarette jeans in her signature bright indigo, "a nostalgic wash we treat in a very clean and modern way," says Green. "It's more like a tailored trouser that happens to be in denim." Then there's Brock, an American label to watch. It does an ultra-flattering straight leg that works especially well on petites.
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DENIM
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