My relationship with jeans varies wildly, but with Levi’s it’s always been pretty consistent – each pair of jeans or cut offs, each shirt and jacket, patched or torn or borrowed, a fitting reminder of some Great Life Milestone. A great night out. A trip. A gut-destroying festival. A relationship that lasted. Sometimes one that ended. That explains why, subconsciously or not, I rarely throw these pieces out.
They’re in a drawer under my bed, too resilient for moths, carefully folded and sometimes, when I’m bored or feeling nostalgic, I’ll leaf through them like old photographs. Better, in fact, because they fade slower than a photo album.
Here’s what I’ve learnt from revisiting them recently:
**The First Pair Of 501s I Ever Bought
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These 501s were vintage. I bought them in Exeter – a vintage denim shop called The Real McCoy – when I was 15 and vintage shops were still relatively new and decent. They cost about £25 and I remember spending 50 minutes trying on about 14 pairs. These ones fit nice and snug. They’re also high-waisted – the only item I own that is. What’s odd is that everyone at that time was wearing flares.
My fondest memory of them was at a party in a field in Devon. It was my friend Charlie’s. We spent all night dancing in a field. I snorted gin from a teaspoon and slept in Jess’s white Beetle about six months after she’d passd her test. We fell out – the jeans and I, not Jess – probably because the only thing worse than sleeping in a car in a field is sleeping in denim. No offence, jeans. We’ve since made up, though.
**The Shorts That Remind Me Of My Mispent Early 20s **
These shorts. God, these shorts. They’ve been to Sri Lanka twice, Vietnam once and here they are, in Sicily, back to the motherland from whence they came. I picked these up for 6 euros from a flea market in Turin when I was 20. My ass has grown a little since then, but they still fit fine. I learned to speak Italian in them. I went to squat parties in them. They are twice as cool as I am. Probably more. That’s why I wear them, you know, when I’m feeling older and decidedly more square.
Today’s shorts look a bit classier than me. Like these £45 501 shorts
The Jeans I Stole From A Boyfriend. And Never Returned
These jeans tell a story. Probably because they tell someone else’s, too. That’s because they belong to an ex. I wore them because they were comfortable – low low rise, like weighty pyjamas. They’re actually unisex – that’s how laughably forward thinking Levi’s are. Keep your ‘Boyfriend jeans’ that are actually women’s jeans, you fakers – these allowed me to genuinely share clothes with my beloved boy of the time. I wore them to The Approach. I wore them on flights. I wore them to dig a hole in the garden back when I had one. I still wear them now. Mostly when I’m ill though...
The Denim Shirt That Allows You To Do Double Denim
A dear friend of mine who lives in Canada with his family, making music and carving pumpkins, once sent me a Levi’s slim-fitting navy denim shirt just because he thought I needed one. It was such fun post to receive and I wore the shirt a lot. Until it died. Or in other words, I lost it.
So finding this £85 men’s stock workshirt in store right now makes me happy.
**The Hooded Waistcoat That’s Always Divided Opinion **
Odd purchase this. I like it, but I imagine I’m alone. One friend told me I looked butch in it, so I sewed little pink buttons onto the collar. I’ve torn them off because they look like something from a Frostie’s packet. Now I love this because one of the worst things about hoodies is the bulk. This? This has no arms so I can wear it under a coat without looking like Jason Statham. Mostly I wear it to go running in because it makes me look nails.
Try this £60 Sleeveless Trucker denim vest and put a grey hoodie underneath.
The Denim Jacket I Still Reminisce Over Losing
OK, I lied. I don’t rifle through my drawer for this one. Because I lost it and this photograph is the only reminder that I ever owned it. If you haven’t got a fleece-lined denim jacket then more fool you. They’re warm. And no animal died to make it. It’s sunny in this photograph – and my hair is blonde – but it was freezing cold and I was with my friend, Katherine, trying to get a shot of the squatters that had moved into the place next to Nigella Lawson’s, pre-divorce. It was Saturday morning and I was being a maverick journalist. I can’t remember having that much energy. The reason I’m sat on the pavement looking so despondent is because we couldn’t break in. Squatters, it transpires, are great at getting into places and even better at keeping others out. Still, I wasn’t cold.
Today’s version is this Sherpa Trucker Jacket, £95 – men’s sure, but the oversized look in a jacket really works.
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Follow Morwenna on Twitter @morwennastar
Photographs by Andrew Woffinden
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.