In the Blue

Sezane cardigan
Grlfrnd jeans (c/o Revolve)
Zara heels (similar)
Chanel handbag
Celine sunglasses
Bon Voyage hairclip via Lineage House (similar)
Maris Pearl Co. earrings (c/o)
Location: Fort Garry Place – Winnipeg, Manitoba

Blue jeans were a wardrobe staple for me starting in sixth grade. (Before that, I refused to wear jeans. It was some kind of bizarre early childhood whim that I stubbornly held onto for far too long.) My aunt handed down what I can only describe as the tiniest pair of acid washed skinny jeans, complete with ankle zippers, to me. I still struggle to imagine how she wore them as an adult since I barely squeezed into them as a ninety-pound preteen, but once I got them on, I was hooked.

In my teens, when I started buying my own clothes, I coveted the light washed blue jeans from Buffalo by David Bitton. But in reality, most of my jeans came from the sale rack at Gap. In university, I worked at a designer boutique in the height of the designer denim craze. From Juicy Couture to Rock and Republic and Citizens of Humanity, Joe’s, Hudson and J Brand, there wasn’t a single blue jean I didn’t try at some point. But once I moved into my career and gave up my staff discount, I had to get a bit more realistic about my denim budget. In the years since, most of my jeans have come from Mavi. The brand that fits me well while maintaining a reasonable price point.

But there isn’t a denim trend I don’t want to try. All those years selling designer denim solidified my obsession with jeans. In the past two years, I’ve been seeking my perfect pair of non-stretch, vintage style jeans in just the right shade of blue… Mostly to no avail. Once again, I’ve tried far too many pairs in the hopes of finding the one. These Helena jeans from Grlfrnd are about the closest I’ve come, but they do have a bit of elastane in them, which means they tend to wrinkle at the hips and knees, which I hate. So my search continues. (This week, I ordered a pair of stiff-looking mom jeans from Zara, and I’m hoping they will prove to be my holy grail jeans. But only time will tell.)

Perhaps it’s the sense of frustration borne of being unable to find the jeans of my dreams. Or maybe it’s just that I’ve been too busy living my beige life. But when I pulled these jeans out of my closet a few weeks ago, I realise they were the first pair of actually blue jeans I’d worn in months… maybe even a full year. After so many years of searching for the perfect pair of blues, it seemed almost unfathomable that I would give them up entirely without even realising it.

But since I came to that surprising realisation, I’ve noticed I still reach for black or grey jeans before blue ones. It makes sense. There are virtually no other blue garments in my wardrobe. (In fact, aside from a lone Self-Portrait dress, there are exactly none.) Blue just isn’t really my colour these days. And that’s okay. As we evolve and change, so does our style. I’ll never forego blue denim entirely. I may well feel like blue jeans are all I want to wear even six months from now. Fashion, like life, is full of surprises. That said, this is probably one of the few times you’ll see me in blue jeans this year.