Jeans are a wardrobe essential for my style. I can wear them year round to work and play. I want them to be the on-trend aspect of my style because I’m not as trendy with shoes, pants and tops.
My solid blue jeans capsule wasn’t top of mind in Spring and Summer because I lived in dresses, skirts, patterned pants, patterned jeans and white jeans. When I started reaching for my blue jeans in Autumn I felt my jeans were too classic. So I quickly and carefully edited and reviewed the capsule. The extra unplanned expense took priority, and as a result I will spend less in other areas as I refresh my style this year.
The Edit
I edited in two stages. More careful in the first stage, and more ruthless in the second stage after wearing refreshed silhouettes for a while and feeling more sure about what had to go. These were the blue and white pairs that were passed on and the reasons behind the decisions. The jeans are between three and eight years old.
- White G-Star Skinnies: Very low rise and a little dated.
- White Current Elliot Cropped Straights: Low in the rise which makes them dated, and the fabric thinned out badly over time. I wore these into the ground.
- Blue Rag & Bone Cropped Straights: Worn and faded over time.
- Blue Citizen of Humanities Slim Boyfriends: Bought to wear on long flights only. While they are very comfy, soft, and feel like pyjamas, they stretch our terribly, bag out at the knees and make me feel unpolished when I get off that plane.
- Blue AG Relaxed Skinnies: Low in the rise, terribly faded, and too baggy.
These two pairs went into the holding zone:
- Olive Rag & Bone Dre Boyfriends: They fit well, are super comfy, and look flattering. But that lowish rise is bugging me. Not sure I want to pass them on yet though.
- J. Brand Love Story Flares: They are low in the rise and look dated. But Greg loves these jeans, so I can’t pass them on until I have a replacement.
I wear my jeans with semi-tucked, tucked, or shorter tops and very seldom with an untucked, regular length top. So the low rise looks off for my style when exposing high rises is the trendy choice. If you wear tops over jeans, you can’t see the length of the rise so it doesn’t matter. That, however, is not the case for me.
The Refresh
I wanted high rises, roomier fits through the legs, a UNIFORM wash, no distressing, relatively unique silhouettes, and no skinnies. I tried many pairs of jeans, and so far have committed to three pairs which are represented in this collection.
- GRLFRND Carpenter Straight Legs: The white stitching and button launched me into orbit. Perfect with my large assortment of white footwear and pearls. I adore the dark uniform wash, 100% cotton fabric, a dressy integrity, and fun carpenter design detailing. You can see we wear them here. Currently my favourite pair of jeans.
- Levi’s Wedgie High Waist Crops: I wanted a very light but not distressed wash to wear with my light blue and brown capsule, and to match my light blue Furla. Levi’s is a nostalgic brand and so is the ‘80s silhouette. These are a lot more casual, and I’m wearing them here.
- Johnathan Simkhai Cig Jeans: These have GOLD hardware and that launched me into orbit too. The silhouette is beyond the trends, more avant-garde, and has a high longevity factor. For that reason I splurged. I love their festive, dressy, bold and glitzy ‘80s Versace integrity. They can work for holiday parties and dressier events too. I’m wearing them here.
These three new pairs of jeans are workhorses. They also add a trendy spin to older wardrobe items. I’m thinking of adding one more pair of trendy jeans to my capsule, but might opt for a pair of pants instead. I passed on three pairs of pants this year due to bad quality and pilling, and I really miss them. Ideally, I would replace my orange and red pants and get some tweed pants, but haven’t found anything suitable yet.
Here is my current jeans capsule:
The first old pair of white KUT Catherine jeans are more mid rise and I like them, which has everything to do with the thick, white fabric. I’m not letting them go. The old white KUT Chrissy flares are mid rise, so they stay. The old white KUT Reese cropped straights are high rise on me so that’s perfect. The White House Black Market jeans are skinny modern classics and useful for trails, snowy weather, hanging at home, and plane travel. The assortment of cropped flares are sufficiently current, and the rest are on-trend.
