It's Raining Denim

April showers and midweek blues have perhaps become too persistent this close to exam season and have just become a mindset, and are our outfits subconsciously reflecting this?

Walking down Market Street recently there has been denim upon denim upon denim. Whether it's a jacket and jeans combo, a classic 90s denim skirt with a denim shirt or maybe throw in some denim accessories. This historic fabric has been all the rage recently.  

Credit: Instagram/@rebekkahassing.

Denim originated in arguably the chicest country of them all: France. Born from an accident where weavers attempted to replicate the popular fabric of sergé, it slowly gained in popularity and made its way across the Atlantic. Perhaps the most famous name in the denim business is of course, Levi Strauss.

A German immigrant to the US, he offered a fabric imported from Europe, denim. At first, the buyers of this fabric were using denim to make tents, horse blankets and wagon covers. The industrial efforts were solidified in 1873 when Strauss made denim overalls for farm workers. 20 years later the first pair of jeans were designed.  

The denim jeans became a staple in workwear and blue-collar uniform both in the US and further afield. The work of putting in library shifts the weeks up to exam season is hardly comparable to working a ten-hour shift on a ranch or going into the mines (despite our melodrama at finally having to catch up on some lectures).

Credit: Instagram/@julejensen.

Yet, perhaps the rise of the double denim trend is our attempt at symbolising to the rest of the town that we’re working harder than usual. At least I am.  

As the workload increases and the exam season comes increasingly closer mixing denim becomes a chic and easy outfit idea. All you have to do is throw on two pieces of denim and you look not only put together but cool. It's an easy alternative to putting on a uniform of a hoodie and different pair of joggers every day to lock in at the library. 

The denim trend has, of course, become a cultural symbol. Think Britney and Justin’s double denim red carpet outfit, the iconic Bruce Springsteen album cover or the denim uniform of Destiny’s Child. Through all the different subcultures – mainstream or not denim is the signpost fabric of so many generations. 

Credit: Instagram/@kaitlynedejer.

Whether its skinny jeans, flared, cargo or baggy, no matter the fit or the shade of blue, you won’t be able to stop seeing them around town in the next couple weeks.