FashBlog.com

By Christina VanGinkel

Buying new jeans is a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon, and that is what I did yesterday. This meant though that I had to go through my closet and remove a few pair that were old, worn, and too tattered to keep. The only problem with this whole scenario is that I hate to get rid of jeans. They can be shredded, knees worn so thin that the next time I wear them and bend; I know the knees will literally disappear, and waistbands whose belt loops are falling off, not because they have been overused, but because the threads holding them in place are nearly non-existent.

I also know that I cannot be the only person so in love with their old jeans that the thought of throwing them out can send them into a near panic. Look at some of the new styles on the market and you will soon understand how I know this. Many of the new styles mimic old and tattered, love worn jeans. Why, upon examining many of the racks of new jeans yesterday, I wondered if I really needed new jeans after all, or if the day had finally come that I would rue the fact of all my tossed jeans from the last few years. Why, I could just add a few more rips and tears to my old, love worn jeans, in some strategic places, and proclaim them as brand new, just bought jeans. Nobody would know the difference, and maybe then, would even think I had finally become stylish with the rest of the shopping public. Not to mention the fact of what I would save dollar wise because I would not even be spending a dollar.

Come to think of it, this season, not just jeans have come round to the comfortable look of worn. Sweaters that have patches, and washes that leave them looking as if they have already been broken in, are also hitting store shelves. I even stumbled across a whole line of slouchy looking boots that not only have a stylish, past season look to them, but slouch down in such a way that they appear to have been broken in already.

When I wondered aloud why these styles are becoming so popular, a friend reckoned that it might be that as a population in general, we have become so busy in our work lives, that we do not always have the time to wear our leisure clothes enough to break them in on our own. Therefore, some genius in marketing came up with the idea to sell jeans and such already at that comfort level that so many of us love. Love to the point that we do panic when it comes time to make room in our closets for new items. I hope that is not the reason why, but for whatever reason, I am glad that this is the style of the day, because this would mean that I already have a complete closet of stylish, in-style clothes.