My life in lists: blue jeans through the decades

As I was deciding what to wear this morning, I pulled my skinny jeans off a pile of denim. The voice inside my head snickered. Should I be wearing skinny jeans at 43? Maybe not. I'm not super skinny. As a matter of fact, I recall someone telling me I have "birthing hips." However, I bought these jeans a few years ago, at the height of the resurgence of skinny jeans, because they are perfect to wear with riding boots in winter. I found that I also love to wear them cuffed above my ankles and under tunics .

This got me thinking about my blue jean preferences over the decades. Believe me, I've had many.

In the 70's I was dressed pretty hip for a small child. Of course, I hated it then but now, looking back, I see that I was pretty trendy. My mom made many of my outfits. I had a polyester lilac pant suit with bell bottom pants and a crocheted fringe vest.

[Sometime I'll have to tell you about the crocheted underwear...not such a great idea for a little kid. They become very heavy when wet.]

I distinctly remember asking for a pair of blue jean gauchos for Christmas one year. I loved them. They had leather trim pockets and I wore them with lace up boots (seen here in an earlier post).

In the 80's it was all about peer pressure and I had to have tapered jeans from County Seat . At the time, County Seat was a younger version of its rival, The Gap.

[M, I guess this would be the equivilent of your desire to shop at Abercrombie.]

They sold all the hot names: Levi, Girbaud, and Guess. These jeans were meant for teenagers with developing hips. My hips didn't develop until college (then, they became "birthing hips." See above). The jeans looked a bit like riding judphurs on me as they slightly ballooned at the top, but I loved these pants so much I wore them constantly.

I loved my 90's fashion sense (someone had to). That was when I went kinda glam/goth/grunge in college. Ever trendy, I mixed my "grunge" style with a glam elegance: black tights under ripped (shredded) jean shorts, tailored suit jackets, and my favorite army boots (seen here in this earlier post). Katie Holmes is bringing back the trend seen here. Do I dare?

[I'll look for some hot 90's pictures of me to post later. I think I have one where I'm wearing my dad's army trench coat. Man, I was rock'n!]

My jean of choice during this entire decade was boy jeans...real boy jeans. I literally bought them from thrift stores because I loved how they sat low on my hips. Of course, this was before "boy jeans" fit became available for women in stores. I actually still prefer to wear my jeans this way!

Today, I own many different types of jeans: boot cut, skinny, straight, dress, etc. It has always been hard for me to find a pair of jeans that fit, so when I do, I grab them.


I'm proud to say I've avoided the "mom jean" trend...so far.

Okay, let's hear it! Tell me all about your love/hate relationship with jeans!