Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Let’s face it ladies, although dresses are a delight to throw on when stepping out with friends, nothing beats putting on a pair of figure-hugging denims and a cotton white T-shirt - à la Bruce Springsteen - to paint the town red, writes Mai Al Khatib-Camille.
Jeans aren’t just comfortable to wear but they are also versatile with endless style options. They can be worn with stilettos and a form-fitted top or trainers or a sweater. There are different cuts of denim to fit any body type.
The classic straight cut is still popular today but went out of high fashion style in the 90s when the retro-flare leg and wide-legged baggy denim fit well into the grunge and pop-culture theme.
Over the past couple of years, skinny jeans were in the spotlight and now the latest look to take centre stage, which is more cringe-worthy than style savvy in my opinion, is the straight-legged, five-pocket, medium-blue designer ‘muddy’ version.
American luxury denim brand PRPS has designed heavily-distressed Barracuda bottoms that offer a crackled, caked-on muddy coating effect? Apparently it’s to give the illusion of the person wearing them not being afraid of getting down and dirty. Apparently, it embodies ‘rugged Americana’ work-wear.
These jeans that have created a stir online can be snapped up from Nordstrom for BD172.330 … but I’m sorry, for that price I’d rather actually roll around in mud instead! Superstar Shakira didn’t have to shell out the big bucks (although she could) for her outfit when recording her Whenever, Wherever music video. She actually got down in the dirt and ended up with a great look that apparently these days will cost shoppers an arm and a leg.
I’m not the only one who seems to have a problem with this sudden denim drama as countless of people have been sharing their views across social media sites. Nordstrom even deleted some reviews that mimicked the jeans. One reviewer said: “Without ever having to leave my BMW.”
Mike Rowe, the former host of Dirty Jobs and a longtime advocate for the value of skilled trades, had one of the most popular, and most thoughtful, responses. He noted that the fake-dirty jeans seem to value the idea of work. “What they don’t value, obviously, is authenticity,” he wrote on Facebook. “But forget the jeans themselves for a moment, and their price, and look again at the actual description - ‘Rugged Americana’ is now synonymous with a ‘caked-on, muddy coating.’ Not real mud. Fake mud. Something to foster the illusion of work. Or perhaps, for those who actually buy them, the illusion of sanity.
“The Barracuda Straight Leg Jeans aren’t pants (Editor’s note: American for trousers). They’re not even fashion. They’re a costume for wealthy people who see work as ironic — not iconic.”
But wait, there is more! PRPS offers other besmirched denim options including a pair of pants ‘prominently defined’ by dirt smudges and a ‘mud denim jacket’ with ‘caked-on and baked-in muddy smears’.
For those with money to burn, PRPS does sell $900 (BD340) selvedge jeans with distinctly dirt like stains as well. The fake-mud-splattered PRPS jeans aren’t new. The look was featured in its autumn 2016 line-up, although they didn’t make news headlines until last week.
Founder and editor of The Jeans Blog, Lorna Burford, said: “In all honesty, PRPS have been making jeans like this, with mud, oil, dirt, paint, distressing on mammoth scales for many years, and nobody has really spoken out about it.”
The blogger believes that it’s Nordstrom’s description of the jeans invoking hard labour in the advertising that has everyone getting hot under the collar.
And, just when you think everyone is getting over the dirty denim, another crazy concoction has popped up on the scene.
Check out Topshop’s plastic knee-pad denim called MOTO Clear Plastic Straight Leg Jeans. This ‘statement piece’ will cost you BD27. I don’t see the point as you’d still have to wear something underneath. The reason people love jeans is the ease of getting ready without the need to layer up!
Some, however, saw the practicalities of such a garment such as protection against sand storms in Bahrain or sudden showers for those holidaying this summer in the UK.
If you’re thinking of investing in the new offerings, FashionWeekly would suggest proceeding with caution, unless you’re more money than sense and want to copy model and reality TV celebrity Kendall Jenner, with her ‘invisible’ jeans.
And, singer Ryan Destiny seemed to be missing something when she paraded around in a one-legged denim number.
Save yourself the trouble and head down to the Manama souq for a BD5 pair of denim delights or head to City Centre Bahrain and pick up a pair of jeans for BD4.500 at the mall’s Centrepoint store!
