I wear jeans a lot because they suit my lifestyle and are easy to launder. They are also versatile, robust and comfortable. When styled in a particular way, a great pair of jeans can take you almost anywhere these days, which is part of the appeal. Dress them up or down and feel fabulous. As a proud Gen X-er, jeans are an extremely important part of my wardrobe, which is why my capsule gets lots of attention each season.
I wear jeans in shades of blue and in a crisp optical white. I have a pair of pearl grey jeans which are more like a bone because they’re very light. I don’t feel great in black jeans, but do wear dressy black trousers. I’d be in the market for a coloured pair of jeans if the silhouette was not body-con skinnies.
I can and do wear jeans year round, which is another good reason to refresh with regularity and forethought. You can see my current jeans assortment in this collection.
Wardrobe Essentials
Given the frequency that I wear jeans, a large part of the capsule are Wardrobe Essentials. It’s the component of my style where I enjoy injecting a trendy integrity, so even the essentials have to be TRENDY. The silhouette evolves over time to align with current trends. For the last few seasons, cropped straight and flared jeans have been my essential jeans. Before that they were boyfriend jeans, and before that they were straight and skinny jeans. And way before that they were bootcut jeans. I’m still wearing one pair of white boyfriend jeans. The exact essentials from my wardrobe are represented in this collection.
Statement Pieces
A smaller subsection of my jeans are statement pieces: Two pairs of bell-bottoms, which are wider at the hem and more dramatic in person (they are not bootcuts), a pair of embellished wide crops, and moto jeans.
Although statement pieces can become wardrobe workhorses, these jeans are not workhorses for me. I LOVE the bell-bottoms, but need to wear them with heels and in dry weather. I keep them for short client meetings and going out at night. I LOVE the wide crops, but still want to keep them a bit special so I don’t wear them as often. The moto jeans are body-con, so I have to be “in the mood” to wear very tight jeans.
Here is my collection of statement jeans.
Spring & Summer Refresh
I passed on two pairs of statement jeans this year: a gold pair that had faded and was no longer gold, and my infamous jodhpur jeans that have worn through at the knees. I refreshed my capsule with statements and non-essentials, since I felt light on statement jeans and have plenty of essentials.
I added a high-rise cropped flared pair with jagged hem and exposed button fly. A cropped flared pair with high-contrast embroidery, and a pair of dark wash culottes. The first two pairs became instant statement workhorses because they are easy to pair with very comfortable footwear, are “rain-friendly”, and a comfy streamlined fit. The dark culottes are fussier and wider, and also stretch after a few hours of wear. I like the way they look at the start of the day, but don’t like how they bag out later. Rotten luck. Here are the exact jeans represented in a collection.
Going forward, I am set with essential jeans. I might add another statement style if it comes my way, but I’m also not forgetting one of 2017 style goals: “To wear dressy trousers more frequently, despite the dry-cleaning bill, because I feel great in trousers”. And that means wearing jeans less frequently!
