Confessions of a jean junkie

Amy Harrison attempts to kick the habit and goes cold turkey for a week devoid of denim

Last month, I noticed my jeans were filthy and baggy, so I decided to give them a well deserved wash, and while they were washing I decided to see if I could give up my beloved denim for a whole week. So perhaps it wasn’t the greatest challenge known to the human race, but believe me it was bloody hard.

Jeans offer so much versatility: skinny-fit, boot-cut, low rise, high rise, boy-fit and flared… I could go on. But not only are the styles incredibly varied but the colours are too. Both guys and girls can dress them up, or dress them down. But perhaps the most important reason why jeans are so central to my wardrobe is the all important fact: THEY GO WITH EVERYTHING.

When you’re tired, hung over and scrambling to get to a seminar, jeans are just what you need. When you decide on a spontaneous outing to the pub, jeans can be thrown on in an instant. Ultimately jeans are convenient.

It seems to me, that with denim, you just can’t go too far wrong. Over the years I’ve tried other types of trousers and looking back these alternatives proved to be horrific. Remember when Burberry tartan trousers were the height of cool? Well they may have only been fashion must-haves for a week or so but I had to have a pair and, tragically, I wore them long after the trend died.

I know you can get it wrong with jeans. I admit to once owning a lime green pair, but in my defence I was only eleven.

Before I began my week without jeans I raided my wardrobe to weigh up my alternatives: skirts, combats, dresses, smart trousers, leggings, trakkie bottoms, pyjama bottoms. With so many alternatives to jeans I thought to myself that this might be easier than I first thought.

As soon as I donned my skirt on the first day of this experiment I noticed a massive flaw. My new outfit made me look very, very smart. But this wasn’t my concern. In this notably smarter attire I couldn’t then go out with scruffy hair, chipped nail varnish and no make up. My whole appearance now required effort. I knew then that for the rest of the week I was going to have to wake up earlier than usual to do my hair and face.

A lot of the outfits I clobbered together over the week had the tendency to make me look smart. Everywhere I went and everyone I bumped into commented on my appearance, then asked ‘Have you got an interview?’

Friends laughed in my face telling me that I wouldn’t be able to survive without my trusty jeans. And when a lot of people said that they wouldn’t actually be able to give jeans up themselves this reassured me that I wasn’t the only jean junkie out there.

When jeans are banned from your life you really begin to notice just how many people wear them. Walking around Cathays was like one of those nightmares where you are surrounded by the objects that scare you the most. Everywhere I went I was being taunted by jeans.

Before I began the week I established an emergency outfit, combats and a t-shirt. But I didn’t expect to have to use it on my second day. It was a needs-musts situation when I woke up late for a seminar. In my combats I felt more at ease in studentville than I did in my other alternatives. In combats no one said to me ‘Ooo you look smart?’

Probably one of the hardest things I came up against was on the Saturday afternoon. I had spent the day in pyjama bottoms until I needed to pop out for a loaf of bread.

I couldn’t make the two minute journey in pyjamas, and because I refuse to be seen in trakkie bottoms unless I’m in the gym, they weren’t an option either. So, I threw on a skirt and jumper, brushed my hair and slapped on a bit of make up purely for the five minute round trip to the shop at the end of my street.

Dressing sans jeans for nights out was far easier than I had expected. Jeans and a nice top are generally the order of things on a night out. But this week banned from jeans I turned to the vast numbers of dresses that fill my wardrobe. Even those impromptu visits to the pub were attended by me in a dress. Yes, I did look a little over dressed at times as I sat amongst the jean-clad masses.

Going a week without jeans was not the easiest challenge I’ve ever had to face. I was sick of being told I looked smart by the end of the week. Stereotypically students are supposed to dress scruffily in jeans, and because we are students we can. I did it for a week very successfully, but I won’t be doing anything drastic like throwing out all of my jeans.

In our student bubble living each day in a pair of jeans is perfectly acceptable. I still have a few months left as a student, and for those few months I will definitely be making the most of my jeans.