As summer finally comes to an end and autumn dressing – blazers, boots and jeans – is officially a-go, it’s time to talk about denim. The denim debate is something that I’ve wanted to address on here for a long time. It’s a fabric that I, like many fellow bloggers, love, yet it is one that is very harmful to our planet. Did you know it takes around 8,000 litres of water to make one single pair of jeans? I think that is just staggering, not to mention how damaging the dye is that’s used to achieve that gorgeous blue hue we all know and love. So today I wanted to talk about how vital it is to be conscious when buying denim and my reasons behind buying the brand new pair of jeans that I’m wearing in this post.
I haven’t bought a new pair of jeans for a long time. Maybe about a year and a half. By new, I mean brand spanking, never-been-worn-before new. See, I try to buy vintage denim and having worked in vintage shops for a few years, I have acquired quite a few different cuts, shapes and washes to satisfy my denim needs.
I am an absolute champion of vintage denim. Giving a new lease of life to an old item, it is much better from the environment (as vintage and second hand shopping is in general), it’s cheaper and it’s often higher quality – most of my jeans are vintage Levi’s that cost a fraction of the price of a new pair and are made from stiff, sturdy denim that have already stood the test of time. However, I was missing one particular shape.
Enter my new pair of jeans from & Other Stories and these are the reasons why I love them. Firstly, they’re just the shape I’ve been looking for for literally years. They’re super high waisted, seventies-inspired with a cropped wide leg and I love them. I was hoping to find a genuine 70s pair in a vintage shop but they were always too petite or way too big on the waist. So when the high street came up trumps, I (reluctantly) could hardly resist.
Secondly, they fit perfectly, which is something I always find difficult with shopping for jeans, especially on the high street. I have quite a small waist and big hips so either I can’t get jeans on or the ones I can gap horribly at the back. For reference, I’m normally a waist 26 but I had to size down to a size 34 in these Stories jeans, in order to get that figure hugging fit.
Finally, I knew they would open up so many styling possibilities. I have lots of seventies blouses in my wardrobe that just sit there, unworn, because they don’t go with my 80s/90s vintage denim. With this new denim purchase, I’m able to re-wear items that I have not for a long time which in turn reduces my likelihood to go and buy more, which is a win in my eyes.
I hope you’ve enjoyed gaining an insight into how I shop. Conscious purchasing is getting a lot of airtime in the fashion industry at the moment – finally! – so I thought this was the perfect time to discuss the denim debate. I am a very considered shopper and this is something I've championed for a while now. If you’d like to read more about my shopping ethics, check out my Why I Love Vintage post from last year or my shopping consciously post I wrote more recently.
Thanks for reading – how do you feel about the denim debate? Are you taking steps to reduce your fashion footprint and buy second hand? I’d love to hear X
September 27, 2018
Perfect Parisienne look! You’re super pretty too!
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