It's time to think outside the box when it comes to denim. What have been the obvious choices are now on their way to becoming trite, while fresh new styles are inching forward. To start, denim now comes dressed up in colors of all shades and varieties. Muted tones like grey and rust, along with bright hues of blue and red, give a new dimension to the jeans and a T-shirt concept. Neutral tones put some seriousness in your step, and reverberant primaries make for a good bit of edgy fun.
Our old friend black is back, making appearances in both raw and distressed forms. Raw denim sends black to clean-cut Prepster Land, while roughed-up black boldens a look, giving it rock-'n'-roll edge. In the same vein, bleached, off-white, and light grey jeans are also creeping back into the world of post-Labor Day taste along with plenty of lighter, faded, and sandblasted washes.
Distressed denim, especially in the form of pre-wrinkling, ripping, burning, and messy white paint has definitely stolen some retail space from untreated raw denim this season. More demure guys may opt to challenge their crispy, clean looks with pre-wrinkled denim, seen this season in monochromatic, dark denim forms. The texture-only approach to wrinkling jeans loosens up a look with out making it appear dirty or over-worked.
Raw denim, the unwashed classic, continues to be a trend, though cuts are veering away from super skinny to a slightly more well-fed, slim-cut look. You'll also see raw denim take on the taper. Skinnies are still having a moment but the slow march of comfort and shape has begun to infiltrate the most fashionable stores.
Which means that slightly tapered relaxed- and loose-fit jeans, regulated to the back corner of the we-won't-wear-that-out-of-the-house zone, made it not just out of the front door, but were given fresh faces and shown directly on the runway. Don't be afraid to cuff the bottom of your relaxed cut, just try to hit above the ankle - as with rolling the bottom of nearly all your denim.
So much to choose from! We haven't seen a season of denim with so many options in years. Which new kind of denim will you be adding to your repertoire this fall?
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