A girl depends on her staples. Whether it’s her staple feel good outfit, her staple cocktail, or her staple Sunday brunch spot, they’re the constants that she can turn to without a second thought. In an ever changing world, she comes to live by these things that will never let her down. In the fickle world of fashion, where in the blink of an eye hemlines raise from ankle grazing to thigh high, empire waists make way for low slung belts, and we alternately reveal and conceal with tight and form-fitting or loose and flowing, there remains one of the few prodigies of the design world that we can always count on, jeans. From a simple utilitarian beginning, jeans have gone beyond function to high fashion and become a status symbol and one of our favorite staples.
Borne of humble beginnings, the jean has been catapulted to superstardom in a relatively short amount of time, and we’ve seen some rather disastrous perversions in an attempt to take it to new heights. Which begs the question, if it has made it this far, what’s really so wrong with the basic jean to begin with?
The current trend of the skinny jean, a redesign of the 1950’s slim silhouette, can be sexy, chic or even sweet when worn by the right shape, giving just the right amount of fullness to a boyish figure. While it’s been holding several seasons strong the general opinion seems to be divided based on its restricted wearability, making this revival questionable as a longstanding survivor. The exaggerated abundance they lend determined trend junkies in Ms. Moss denial reminds us to leave some things to the imagination, but on the right figure, one has to admit, they’re just oh-so-right.
We all get nostalgic from time to time, but this is no reason to bring back trends that belong in the hall of shame alongside the flip bang, mullet, and flannel shirts. The newest denim dilemma is posed by the controversial kickback from the 1970’s, the high-waisted jean. When faced with a negotiation over which problem zone we would rather de-emphasize, and even the longest and leanest of limbs rarely achieve sartorial perfection in this design, we should instantly accept that these belong in a category that is best left in the past. Perhaps the worst offender has not been dead long enough for us to remember how truly awful it was – the overall. We all donned them in the ‘90s, forfeiting any semblance of a figure and femininity, and no amount of revamping will make them any more flattering today. Adolescence was difficult enough the first time around, do we really need to revisit it now by way of an unbecoming bib of denim?
In a pinch, a great pair of jeans has indeed become a staple saving grace. Paired with a sexy top, killer heels, and the right bag, and you’re instantly divine. So as we sit by and watch others fall victim to the latest denim disaster, we turn to the things we can count on and remember everything that is so right about the basic jean.

June 26th, 2009
denny 
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