Classics: Rituals as regulation: The Denim Edit
Using the Considered Method to overcome the emotional provocation of a denim collection which no longer serves
The perfect everyday utility and styling of denim. A primed canvas from which you can add, amplify and embellish, completely personalise. But the perennial challenge of choice, sizing, maintenance and space. Denim is cumbersome, heavy, a space-taker. The options available are overwhelming, hyper specific and at times unnavigable. They can be tokens of our perceived-self, tokens we secretly hoard because surely one day, we’ll fit into them again. They can be emotional provocateurs, truth-tellers about the shifts in our bodies we don’t see with our own eyes.
But denim is equally transformational. Find the right pair of jeans and they lift you (in more ways than one). You become the most confident, elevated, bolshy version of yourself. Irrespective of how happy or frustrated you are in your body, those jeans do the heavy lifting, and the rest of the outfit and your sense of self just flow. You live your life in those jeans: through routine, forming memories, your whole identity.
So why are we allowing ourselves to be weighed down by the weight of denim, figuratively, emotionally and literally? A 2022 survey by Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP), the UK's leading circular-economy NGO, found 24% of jeans owned in the UK hadn't been worn in the past year1. Poor fit was cited as a leading reason jeans go unworn. These are the tokens of our perceived-self, a past life we lived, a sentimental relic.
Different pairs of jeans from my wardrobe with brands including: Khaite, Goldsign, Agolde and Levi’s.
I mentioned last week I’m surprisingly unsentimental about my clothes. Except for jeans, purely for the fact that we have so many stories of our life attached to our jeans, and those stories deeply connect to who we are and how we understand ourselves: our bodies, our lives and our emotions.
But how can we transform into who we want to become if we’re weighed down, overwhelmed and emotionally charged by our denim collection? It’s a millstone tied to our waists. As with all the sentimental artefacts in our lives, especially ones so deeply connected to our sense of self and our bodies: we mourn the loss of who we were, let the item go, and finally imagine the art of the possible: how you want to feel not just in the clothes you wear but how you want to feel each day you open your wardrobe and decide what to wear.
This is The Considered Method. An approach to connect how you get dressed with a deeper sense of yourself: how you want to feel in your body, how you choose to present yourself to the world, a deeper understanding of your taste, style and identity. You cannot become the person you want to be if each day there’s an overwhelming sense of dread staring back at you from your wardrobe. Clothes that you feel incredible in are the ones that serve you. Clothes which make you feel guilty, embarrassed or belittled do not. Mourn the loss, let them go, reimagine what could be possible.
To practically get you started editing your denim applying The Considered Method, follow these steps:
Seek inspiration. What shapes, washes and silhouettes are you drawn towards? Will they work for your lifestyle? Pull together a few visuals, even if you hold them in your mind: I suggest pulling images from fashion editorials; adverts; film characters; fashion influencers and celebrities; you can use references from art and photography current and past eras. You can go in-store but resist any urge to buy just yet. It’s important to synthesise the aesthetics that you’re drawn to, what are the common threads: is it shape, wash, or maybe even styling?
Practically, pull every single pair of jeans out of your wardrobe.
Try every single pair on with a white t-shirt. What fits your body, makes you feel great? Which don’t? Do any require mends: hems, mending, any tailoring, spot cleaning? Any washes that no longer work for your wardrobe? Any cuts which don’t feel quite right? Any duplicates where you only wear one pair? Any other grievances: a zip which doesn’t stay up, a fiddly button fly?
Consider how you wear denim and when. Can you wear denim to work or is it exclusively for the weekend? Do you have workhorse denim for your lifestyle (e.g. playing with your children, animals, gardening, country living, the rigours of your job etc) or denim for daily styling?
Edit out what you couldn’t wear day to day or at the weekend. Jeans are utilitarian as well as a foundation to your wardrobe. Fit is priority one: if you have jeans which no longer fit you, tailor if that’s an option, or sell or donate. Cut is priority two: if anything feels no longer like you, same rules apply. Wash is priority three.
Review what remains. Take notes. How many mid-wash blue jeans do you have? Indigo, black and white? Any colour denim? Now which cuts do you have and in which colours? Is there a repeated style which clearly you’re drawn to and works for your body? Create a single outfit for each pair of denim for each of the four seasons.
Now review your inspiration and visuals. Are there any gaps between what you’re drawn to versus what you already own? And now you’ve been more introspective about your lifestyle and requirements of your denim, can you edit out any inspiration which won’t practically serve you?
Create a list of the missing styles in your edited wardrobe, the ones which fit your inspiration. Visualise a single outfit for each pair on your list for each of the four seasons. Consider the shoes you’ll be wearing each season, do the cuts and silhouettes work?
Determine your size. Does your size change across different brands, different styles, different washes? If like me your preference is 100% cotton jeans (zero stretch), you might find that darker washes tend to fit smaller and you need to go up one size even in the same brand. You might also find that you need to go down a size in low rise jeans versus high rise.
Before you shop, do your research. We are building a considered and intentional wardrobe, one which works for you each day, one which brings you joy and enthusiasm, one which simplifies getting dressed. Acquisition isn’t the goal, effortlessness is. Determine what your budget is first, work down your list. You can do your discovery online or in-store, depending how confident you are in your sizing. Determine your denim non-negotiable: zero stretch? Fuller length leg? Classic washes, no whiskering? Zero distressing? This helps narrow down the infinite options available. Be hyper-specific about your cuts: high-waist, straight leg, medium-blue wash, longer leg.
You’re ready to shop now with intention. And you’ll be ready to easily integrate your new styles into your wardrobe because you’ve already built the system: one outfit for each season. My biggest piece of advice is if your body has changed, shop in-store. If you need to tinker your sizing, it’s far less daunting than sending packages back and forth. And if you want to buy vintage or pre-loved, it provides you with a better benchmark of your size. And buy the smallest size you comfortably fit into and feel great in. Not for the reasons of vanity but because denim stretches over time, and this will help them hold their shape longer and work best for your body.
And don’t forget: fit is priority one; cut is priority two; wash is priority three.
I recently went denim shopping armed with my list and I fully appreciate it’s almost worse than buying a swimsuit. I couldn’t trust my own sizing judgement, so I simply grabbed a range of 3 different sizes so I could iterate as I shopped. I deliberately wore my Chanel turnlock loafers because those are the shoes I wear the most in autumn and winter, and every new pair of jeans I buy has to look good with those shoes. It was an upfront investment of my time and energy: 45mins trying on 10 pairs of jeans, testing with a friend which styles worked the best, seeking new sizes and washes from the sales associate. But in the end, it paid dividends because I now conclusively know my size in that brand, I tangibly understand how the different cuts and rises work in practice on my body, what elevates me and what wasn’t quite right. I am a fervent online shopper but this genuinely was a time-saver, a far more valuable experience for my needs, and the planet’s.
Energy, time and resilience are required, but it’s deeply satisfying. And getting dressed each day with a closet full of denim you actually wear, that actually fits, that makes you feel great? It feels exceptional.
And what to do if you don’t have the time or energy to do the discovery? I’ll be doing a full Considered Edit of the best denim styles this season and beyond: the best cuts and washes and guidance on their fit, quality and pricing.
Tova Turkel wearing: Agolde 90s pinch waist jeans; Matteau shirt; Emme Parsons sandals
References:
WRAP, Clothing Longevity and Circular Business Models Receptivity in the UK (2022). Survey of 6,000+ UK adults, fieldwork November 2021.
