A Denim Shirt tucked into a pair of denim jeans and a denim trucker jacket thrown over to complete the ensemble. Sounds familiar? From James Dean to the Marlboro Man, we have seen denim on denim, sometimes referred to as the Canadian Tuxedo on the fashion radar since the 70’s.
Once a faux pas, a taboo, a complete no-no, the forbidden nineties trend seems to making a comeback. From Catwalks to street style, double denim seems to be stealing the spotlight. Seen on the catwalks of Chloe, Stella Mc Cartney and many more, double denim undoubtedly is the trend to spot and sport this season
While it has always shimmered in the background, denim on denim never managed to make it to the forefront of the fashion scene. Perhaps owing to it’s bad reputation thanks to Marlon Brando and all those disgruntled social order upsetting grey men of America. Apart from this it was still struggling to get rid of its work wear, labour origin. This was until Gaultier chose to make denim on denim the hero of his 1984, spring summer ready to wear collection.
In 2001 we saw Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears washed in denim from head to toe at the American Music Awards, which became the most talked about outfit that year. The look became infamous and it became evident that double on denim was making it to stardom, literally. Katy Perry and Riff Raff paid tribute to the infamous ensemble at the Video Music Awards earlier last year, reiterating the trend and making it clear that double denim was back with gusto.
“Double Denim is here to stay forever, whether it is flared, patched, dark wash or acid wash. Denim as a material in my opinion is almost a uniform for the fashion flock. We’ve seen double denim on the catwalk for years; I say forget double denim, let’s think quadruple denim! “ Says blogger Renyambao.
So why do we fear double denim? Or triple denim? No doubt it is not an easy look to pull off, unfortunately we’re not all David Beckham and Alexa Chung. We remember David Beckham bouncing back after his Achilles injury back in 2010 and making his mark on the fashion map as he sported this tricky and controversial trend impeccably. However nothing quite changed double denim’s image as when Alexa Chung sported the look on the cover of Elle Brazil last year. She gave the look a whole new dimension as she wore denim jeans, a denim jacket and her hair swept to the side in waves finished with bright red lipstick, flawless and classy in true Alexa Chung style.
While double denim has been around forever, the trend hasn’t stayed the same. While the essence of the ensemble still remains, the way it is being worn now has changed. “When double denim came into being years ago there was not as much advancement on enzyme washes as there are today. Today denim is blended with linen, silk and various other materials thereby changing its character, weight, wash and colour” says designer Manoviraj Khosla.
The key is to take advantage of these advancements and balance the ensemble with varied washes, since wearing one shade of denim can perhaps make you look like one big denim block. The Kid In the Bow Tie; Josh Milton says “I believe that with denim on denim the ensemble has to be dressed tonally, so make sure you have a dark wash jacket/shirt with lighter/acid washed jeans. So as long as you make sure you do denim on denim tonally you will always look great! ”Harry Lambert who works with Topman and Clash Magazine says, “Brands will normally produce jeans in the same denim. Wearing two pieces from the same label is a great way of guaranteeing your double denim outfit works because the cuts and fits are designed to complement each other.”
While this might seem quite obvious, the key to perfecting the look is to ensure that every piece of the outfit fits you like a glove. “An ill-fitting pair of jeans for example would butcher the look entirely”, says Designer Manoviraj Khosla.
The beauty of double denim as a trend is that it can make you look effortlessly chic all through the day going all the way into the wee hours of the morning. “You can never be overdressed or under dressed in double denim. Do it right and you will always look like a million bucks.” says Girl On Oxford Street; Tanvi Sakhamuri. Rihanna for example, was seen celebrating her 27th birthday last night in double denim. The Barbadian beauty was spotted wearing an oversized denim shirt and ripped jeans paired with Christian Louboutin Pigalle pumps. Inconspicuous but classy, just the way we like it.
From Marc Jacob’s Strict Military Chic to the Veronique Branquinho Top and Ball-Gown Skirt or the Pearl Trimmed Split Romper on the Adam Selman catwalk at New York Fashion Week, we are now seeing designers and high street brands creating avatars of double denim that we have never seen in the past. Double Denim no longer refers solely to a Canadian Tuxedo, or just a pair of jeans and denim shirt, there is now way more to double denim than meets the eye.
This season for double denim in Womenswear we’re going one step further and reincarnating avatars of denim that were usually associated with frumpy, unfashionable middle-aged mums. It is now time for us to embrace the shirtdress and make dungarees our new best friend. Dust those flares and A- lined denim skirts and embrace the endless possibilities of the denim on denim trend. We think it is safe to safe that denim on denim with a retro twist is undoubtedly the paragon of casual chic. She is the girl to watch out for this season, as she takes off from the runway, soars way above us then lands on the streets and makes her way onto street style blogs and show windows.
In Menswear on the other hand, we note that doubling denim doesn’t just mean an overdose of blue. Who said you can’t wear a chalky grey pair of jeans with a Chambray Shirt and an indigo washed denim jacket thrown over? In essence, that is still a Canadian Tuxedo. The trick to crack the denim on denim code this season is to mix and match and see what works for you, depending on your skin colour, body shape, and most importantly the occasion you are dressing for. Another tip to spice up the ensemble is to replace a plain pair of jeans with jeans that have a little more depth. We’re thinking patchwork, rips or even splashes of paint.
We at Glamour have discovered depths of denim that once seemed inconceivable. The device that will ensure denim on denim’s immortality is texturisation. The use of appliqué, tonal embellishment and handcrafted techniques harvest modern graphic effects that will give denim’s surface quality a whole new dimension. With Denim on Denim’s roots in retro, the woven denim panel attempts to peep through the trend window and tries to make its presence felt in a modern, sophisticated manner. Surfaces of denim are now pin tucked and top stitched; the fruition is an almost three-dimensional character.
With the endless possibilities of being able to alter the existing character of the most versatile of materials known to the fashion world, denim on denim is here to stay and is determined to evolve and leave a permanent mark on every breadth of the fashion sphere. Raw, honest, unpretentious, ambitious and eternal, that’s how we at Glamour choose to define the denim on denim craze.
*All images are for representation purposes only.
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