love story
the premium denim affair
I distinctly remember the changing room – plushly carpeted, tiny, in a little shop full of gorgeous clothes in Livorno, during my years at sea. I’d gone ashore hankering after some new jeans and ventured into a highly memorable moment of love at first sight; Gianfranco Ferre, high wasted, dark wash, slim leg, 3% elastane and fitted like a glove.
This was the first time I’d ever put on jeans that made me feel tall and slim – if you’re a pear shaped lass like me, you will know exactly what I’m talking about!
I didn’t even look at the price tag, I just wacked them on the credit card, and this was my first fauree into Premium Denim.
Fast-forward 10 or so years, and one day scrolling a fashion blog I saw a lady wearing fabulous white jeans, and she wasn’t skinny. I got a big shock discovering they were ‘Not Your Daughters Jeans’ which I’d always thought were for women considerably older and plumper than me.
My investigatory instincts took over and a couple of hours later I’d researched and ordered some of these on line – black, high wasted and skinny, which upon arrival were too big – always read the fine print – with NYDJ they’re USA sizes, and always take two sizes down!
Eventually I possessed the perfect black jeans – they literally lifted me up, sucked me in, and seriously, made me look waayyyyy better than I did without them on! Obviously, I bought another pair! These jeans are made of special stuff “engineered fit technology” and hand on heart recommend you try these if you’ve ever had trouble finding jeans to fit really, really well. They’ve come a long way since their early days in terms of current on-trend cuts, lengths, and denims.
I did chuckle to myself when my personal styling tutor commented that NYDJ were a bit “matronly” – as she clearly hadn’t seen the black ones I’d customised with a cropped frayed hem and ripped knees!
And so began the obsession….
Next stop Made In Heaven, MiH Jeans, and English company who have been making jeans for decades. I first dipped my toe in the MiH pond with the Marakesh high wasted flares I’d spotted on famous people in magazines, and there is a reason these fit sooooo well; at the back they have two seams going up from inside the back pockets, and this means that they fit flat against your back. No. More. Gaping. Waistbands.
These also have a generous amount of elastane, about 8% which means that they fit your body superbly, again keeping everything nice and firmly sculpted, and are very comfortable to wear all day. Most of the Marakesh have a 9” front rise, which means the button does up just below your belly button. I have to be honest and say I have possibly accidently ended up with maybe 6 pairs of these in different denim washes, BUT in my defence, 3 were bought from eBay, one pair snapped up for £20 so it would have been a crime not to, right?
I know this is waffling on a bit, but if you have time – hold tight the best is on it’s way…
So finally, I have come to the ‘piece de resistance’
It was a dark and stormy December day in London, the entire afternoon was my own, and off I went to the Denim Studio in Selfridges. Amazing. In my own dressing room I had a button to ‘Press for More Jeans’ and press I did, over and over until I finally tried on my 28th pair. They were dark, very high waisted, skinny, unbelievably fine soft denim, fitted like they’d been made for me and felt like I was wearing pyjamas. I ventured into the runway-like mirrored space (so you can see from every angle, and walk up and down) and I couldn’t believe it was me. The ultimate Holy Grail of denim perfection did exist, and it went by the name of Frame Denim.
I trotted back to meet my husband like I was walking on air, and extolled the virtues of Frame Denim months afterwards to anyone who would listen.
Frames rise is 10-11” which means the button does up right on your belly button for the ultimate in comfort and smooth silhouette.
Then the January sales happened, I risked it and bought more online, same brand, different style, this time high waist cropped straight leg (I cropped these a bit more and frayed the hem) and to my amazement they also fitted like the proverbial glove. I’d had my eye on yet another pair, different style; very high waisted flares, and snapped those up for a bargain from eBay, and again, they fitted like a dream.
The theme here is a very simple one – when you find something which really and truly fits and flatters, keep your eyes peeled for sales, eBay, Trademe etc so that when you see a pair in your size, for a bargain, snap them up – you’ll be wearing them for years to come!
Finding my dream denim meant that I could relax and trust that every single time I put on jeans I would feel a million bucks, and know that they look really, really good – and trust me, I aint no stick insect.
The wonderful new technologies being used in premium denim means that the days of ‘only wearing jeans on thin days’ are history for me.
I wear jeans and heels pretty much every day working for myself, and my dream denim means it’s easy to look polished, forget about my outfit and get on with work.
Cut, fit and comfort is everything, and with premium denim, there is no compromise.
How I;m currently wearing my jeans:
Note – If I ever had to flee in a hurry, I’d have 2 cats, a dog, a husband, makeup, an Hermes scarf, jewellery and some shoes under one arm, and my beloved denim collection under the other J