On the Radar - THis Week: Distressed Denim
The Sunday Age
Sunday June 14, 2009
Your mum will be horrified, but ripped, slashed and torn jeans are everywhere this winter, writes Rachel Wells.There are some fashion looks older generations will never understand. My late grandfather, for example, once asked my boyfriend - who sports a dishevelled mop of blond hair - whether he owned a comb. When the negative reply came back, poor old grandpa nearly fell off his chair. He couldn't believe that a young man in this day and age could hold down a job and have a steady girlfriend without combing his hair.He shook his head in disbelief in the same way I shake my head whenever I see a teenage kid, the crotch of his jeans hanging somewhere around his knee caps, and his jocks protruding from the waistband. Distressed jeans that are ripped and torn is another trend older generations will never understand. In fact, just a couple of weeks ago, I was in a denim store in Chapel Street when a 30-something male and his 50-something mother walked in. When the skinny male picked up a pair of jeans that had been sandblasted and slashed into a tattered denim mess, his mother couldn't help herself: "Why would you buy those? They're in worse condition than the ones you already have ... And look at the price."I could hear my mother saying the same thing! Of course, that's the whole point of distressed denim jeans: they are supposed to look as if they are about to fall apart, even if they do cost close to $400.This season's jeans are the tattiest they've been since the mid-to-late-'80s when rock bands from Def Leppard to Bros popularised jeans with big holes at the knees. It is a look that is sure to have mothers the world over shaking their heads in collective exasperation. As if it weren't bad enough that their sons were getting about in jeans so tight they look like tights - now they're wearing spray-on jeans or jeggings (a hybrid of jeans and leggings), with holes in them too.The current trend for distressed denim jeans that have been sandblasted, shredded, bleached, ripped and nicked from thigh to ankle, in varying degrees, can be traced back to Christophe Decarnin's spring-summer 2009 collection for Balmain. There the designer sent out models in slashed, stone-washed styles and white and bleached denim jeans that had been strategically ripped just above the knee.For those who don't have a spare $2500 to drop on a pair of Balmain's distressed jeans, more affordable options can be found in slashed and bleached skinny-leg styles at Bettina Liano, in ripped boyfriend styles at Camilla & Marc, worn and bleach-splattered at Diesel, whiskered and slashed at Roy and severely tattered and torn at Nobody.Or if you are really watching your pennies this winter, you can simply wear your old jeans until they fall apart, or help them along by slashing a hole here and a nick there. Just enough to make your mum throw her hands up in despair.WHO IT SUITSMost of us can pull off the distressed denim look. However if you want to look more chic than "street bum" team your distressed jeans with a smart top half. For women, this could be a T-shirt and tailored blazer, and for men, a leather jacket or cardigan.WHO IT DOESN'T SUITMany of this season's distressed jeans come in spray-on "skinny" styles. Women with not-so-skinny legs might want to avoid these and choose distressed "boyfriend" jeans instead. While men with chunky thighs should opt for straight or boot-leg styles.WATCH OUT FORDon't overdo the rips and tears. Too many and you'll end up looking more like you're heading off to a Bros concert circa 1987 than an on-trend fashionista.1 Staple cami in metallic weave, $500, Shooter jacket in black, $1,198, Another Love Poem distressed jean, $350, and Upper East Side boots, $700, from Camilla & Marc.2 Denim biker jacket, $350, check button collar shirt, $150, digital print tee, $160, and mid skinny leg flash jean, $235, from Roy.3 Char fringed shrug, $220, Grandpa denim jacket, $280, digital print tank dress, $160, and Busted biker jean, $280, from Roy.4 Boy fit buster jean, $240, from Nobody.5 Jackaroo Jean Repaired, $400, from Nobody.STOCKISTSCamilla & Marc (02) 8399 3877Nobody 9486 9477Roy 9824 4500
© 2009 The Sunday Age
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