Pay Your Respects to Blue Jeans

A closet staple for decades seems to be disappearing and disappearing fast. Trending for 2016 is a decline to the work horse in your closet—-blue jeans.

Created 150 years ago as workwear, Levi Strauss designed the first pair of blue jeans. Reigning from work apparel to high fashion, the blue jean has been a sought after article of clothing for every wardrobe.

With several designers jumping on the blue jean trend, you will recall complete ad campaigns built around the blue jean. And if you have been a wearer of America’s most basic wardrobe piece of clothing, you’ve probably owned a pair of Guess jeans, Jordache, moving forward to Joe’s, Miss Me and Seven.

At one point, it wasn’t enough to own a pair of designer jeans, you must buy a made for you pair of jeans from specialty shops across the nation. We even have one here in Nashville that has received quite the notoriety. Ever heard of Imogene and Willie?

What was once a major faux pas—wearing blue jeans to parties or special events has now become more common place with the only exception possibly being weddings and funerals. But then again, I think we have seen a few weddings where blue jeans were worn.

However, the numbers don’t lie. For the first time in history, blue jean sales have taken a major decline in the U.S. The research firm NPD Group says sales of jeans in the U.S. dropped 6 percent during the past year after decades of fairly steady growth.

And what exactly has taken its place? Yoga pants! Sales of “active wear” like yoga pants climbed 7 percent, more than doubling the $16 billion people spent on jeans.

So my fellow fashionistas, what can we learn from this new found knowledge? First, it seems once again what is acceptable to wear in public is ever changing. Leggings and yoga pants have become the mainstay in most women’s closets. Not only have they become the mainstay but they tend to be one of the most inappropriately worn items in public. Gym wear has now turned into fashion wear with companies like Lululemon making the yoga pant fashionable costing just as much as a pair of designer jeans.

Could it be that women are confused with so many choices of blue jeans? Skinny, straight, boyfriend, girlfriend, flare and bootcut. Don’t forget there is even a baby bootcut version available. Have we all become so busy that we don’t have time to figure out which jean is the right one for us so we give up and give in to the yoga pant? I’m not giving up hope yet for the blue jean. And if the blue jean sales continue to decline, won’t it really be cool to wear a pair of blue jeans? You could be retro wearing the once hailed item—the blue jean. One last word on yoga pants-there are not really pants, so do us all a favor and cover your bum.