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.

Products reviewed in this post may have been sent to TBF Group, LLC directly from brand/retailer. THIS DOES NOT IMPACT THE OUTCOME OF OUR REVIEW