Pale Denim: Brit Style on a Budget
Kathryn’s Note: Welcome to our new weekly column written by our friend Natalie about British budget style for less
No, it’s not an extra from an 80s Bros video, that’s Gemma Ward walking the Chanel runway in head-to-toe stonewash denim. Pale denim is big this season, from ripped-up drainpipes at Christopher Kane, to playful playsuits at Chanel, but the good news is, the UK highstreet is dripping with fab versions that won’t leave a hole in your wallet. If you’re after an Audrey Hepburn-esque cropped jean as seen at Alexander Wang and D&G, you’ll love Topshop’s bleached ‘Pippa’ jean, a snip at just £30 ($59), and skinny jean-addicts will go mad for Cheap Monday’s acid-wash denim – all Cheap Mondays are unisex, so you can share with the bf, if you can bear to part with them.
For those that want to play it cool in a slouchy wide-leg version but are shaking in their shoe-boots at Chanel’s £835 ($1655) price tag, you’ll be making a whopping saving of £790 ($1566) with a vintage-wash flare from Oasis. Make like Christopher Kane and team with a chiffon blouse, for glamour-puss, not glamour girl. Couldn’t get enough of Mr. Kane’s swingy, tiered skirt? Warehouse’s pale denim ra-ra is a thrifty alternative at only £35 ($69). And the pièce de résistance: a short-sleeved stonewash jacket, £40 ($79) at Miss Selfridge – Chanello! Steer away from head-to-toe denim unless it’s the £25 ($50) denim all-in-one from ASOS.com: accompany with natural, bedhead hair, and avoid eye-rollingly retro, Charlie’s Angel flicks.
Agyness Deyn, the model-of the-moment and leader of the Brit fashion pack, loves her slashed, acid-wash trews, and you can too. Pick up a vintage pair on the cheap from our favourite vintage haunts Beyond Retro on Brick Lane, or Rokit in Covent Garden, and rip ‘em up with sand paper and scissors. Now that’s jean-ius.
| Posted by nataliehughes
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Member Comments
I’m a big fan of TBF’s blog and really appreciate all the work and thought that goes into running it. With that said, the idea of a British weekly column is disappointing. I’m not knocking British style, I just don’t find it very main stream in the United States. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love seeing what is going on around the globe fashion wise, and a weekly column featuring the trends in different countries would be welcomed. The idea of increased focus on British fashion, with the suggestion that it should be applied here, in the States, just doesn’t seem all that useful. And, any jean that my boyfriend and me can share is a serious “no-go” in my book.
Tessa I hear what you’re saying- but we have a LARGE number of visitors from the UK and Canada who have been beggging us for years to produce content for them as well.
I alsot think it’s good to here what is going on in other places, because these places often influence American style ( trust, the light denim will be big next Spring)
We will be featuring items from Canada as well as Australia in the next few months. If we can find a writer, I would love to have columns on japanese budget style
i’m really looking forward to this new column. i think we can all stand to learn a thing or two from our fashionista friends across the pond.
I disagree. I think London is extremely influential in terms of international fashion. My column is not about taking British fashion and seeing how it can be ‘applied’ in the US at all. It’s about taking a trend (that isn’t always exclusively ‘British’ per se) and seeing how the British high street is translating it. Surely Budget Fashionistas this side of the pond and in the US can be inspired by the British high street. Look at Topshop - here is an example of a British shop that is almost unbeatable in its sensitive responses to what’s going on on the catwalks, and its ability to produce translations that are great value for money. If you are looking for a way to ‘apply’ British fashion to the US, look at the incredible demand for Topshop there, resulting in the store moving to Manhattan.
Thanks, Budget Babe!