The very first thing you need to do when hunting for the perfect denim is to be clear about your body shape. You have to buy denims first for what you are, and only second what you want to achieve. Jeans are one item you cannot buy successfully on the recommendation of a friend. Unless you are identical twins, it is highly unlikely that what is perfect for one girl will be work at all for another. Whether you are long and leggy or small and petite, the perfect pair is waiting at the denim bar in Brown Thomas.
Most important to fit will be the rise. The ‘rise’ of a jean is determined by the distance between the crotch and the waist. To successfully carry off low-rise jeans, you will typically need to be long and leggy. If you feel more pear shaped, mid rise be more flattering on you. Theoretically, every girl can wear high waisted denim. If you have an old pair of denims in your closet that you love and cannot seem to duplicate, measure them from the crotch seam to the top of the waist band and that will be your magic formula. Also remember that when you buy the perfect denim, chances are you will have to have them taken up. The professionals who work the Denim Bar will always advise asking the tailor to keep the original finish. This is a more expensive way to go, but if you have already bought a pricey pair of denims, it makes sense.
At the moment, denim has never ever been more exciting. From the high waisted ‘secret’ Salsa jeans that lift the bum and tuck in the tummy to Seven’s coloured denims in the perfect orange and purple, the options have never been better. My all time favourites, JBrands, have done it again with the just in black waxed skinny jeans (very Catwoman ) and the chocolate jodhpur. After my beloved olive JBrand Houlihan cargos (RIP ) were involved in a terrible accident in Little Italy in New York this September (why, oh why, could I not have been wearing my raggedy bleach stained sweat pants out to dinner that fateful night? ) I thought I would never love again. Then the chocolate jodhpurs came along and I knew it would be possible. It is a different kind of love, but a love nonetheless. One hundred per cent Japanese twill cotton, they just work with virtually everything. Word to the wise, if you adore a pair of denims — and I don’t mean if you like or are fond of a pair, I mean if you truly love them — you have hit the Holy Grail, so buy a second identical pair.
