White jeans are back and being worn by a new generation of fashion’s cool set. Here’s how to master the trend
The synthetic chime of the ice-cream van, the rollercoaster rush of cool air through rolled-down car windows, the sudden urgent need to book a pedicure. There are many signs that summer is here, but none is more definitive than the appearance of white jeans. For a garment that can be ruined by one unguarded sit-down, they have proved virtually indestructible as a trend. Every summer without fail, they climb back on to style’s radar.
If you are still sniggering loftily at white-jean wearers, then I’m afraid it is you who are out of touch. White jeans are worn by a new generation of fashion’s cool set – see muse-turned-designer Alexa Chung, and Leandra Medine, new-era fashion mogul founder of the Man Repeller website. Both Chung and Medine are completely uncheesy, with a blue-chip set of style coordinates that reference Patti Smith and Jane Birkin, not off-duty supermodel mums on the west London school run. White jeans in their original guise – sausage-skin-stretchy, bikini-line-low denim as worn by Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears, possibly with a Stetson – have evolved into something a lot more chic. Thick, sturdy denim, a looser cut on the leg and a wide, high waistband into which you can tuck a crisp shirt have shifted white jeans into an elegant, grown-up place.
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