The Dirt On Your Dirty Denims

Published 2008 | By Hannah Lipman

Let’s face the facts; almost every man living on this earth owns and wears a pair or two of jeans. But how many women wear them? We hit the streets to find out.

Stefania Gangemi, 19-year-old university student and promotions worker shares her thought on jeans.

“I have always had jeans but my first real pair would have been around grade nine. I have roughly ten pairs of jeans from memory. I have that amount because I am too scared to throw any of them out, but I still wear most of them every now and again.

I have different jeans for different occasions, I am always wearing them because they are so easy to dress up or down, but I usually wear dresses over jeans when I go clubbing. I will buy a pair about twice a year, though it all depends if I find a good pair at a good price, or not.

My favourite pair is my navy Bardot skinny-leg jeans because they go with anything – they are easy to dress up and down. I have had them for two years and they are still super comfortable and very much loved. They are all worn in and ripping in places I can’t even see, but I still wear them everywhere!

The highest I would pay would be no more than $200. My cheapest pair at the moment is $49 Bardot jeans and they were on sale, and most expensive pair would be my navy Bardot jeans which, back in the day were $190. I find that I keep them forever but really they just end up waiting in my jeans drawer until I find a new favourite. To me jeans are a way of life. Everybody has, or needs a pair, from Cowboys to Paris-look-a-likes.”

Beautician Katie Watts, 20, explains her thoughts and opinions on her skinny-leg jeans.

“To me personally, jeans are a complete waste of my time. I only own one pair because they don’t suit me and I just do not like them. I bought my first pair about a year ago. They were some crappy pair from Cotton On and I chose those ones because they were the cheapest pair that looked half decent. I do not have a favourite pair of jeans because I do not like them at all. As for wearing them, I don’t. I think I have worn them once and that was around the house last winter. I will keep a pair of jeans for as long as possible, as I’m not wasting my money on items of clothing that I feel are pointless. The most I have ever spent on a pair is sixty dollars and I will not spend any more.”

Emily Webster, 18, a retail shop assistant, tells us about her four denim beauties.

“I bought my first pair of jeans when I was 15. My mum had bought me jeans previously but that was the first time I went out and bought them myself. They were from Supre and were faded blue flares. I guess I bought that particular pair because the style was in fashion at the time and they looked good when I tried them on, and they were cheap. At the moment I have four pairs of jeans. I have a black, white, blue and grey pair. I wear them when I go to work, university, dates, shopping and also if I’m just hanging out with people somewhere.

I don’t usually wear them at home. I usually keep the same pair of jeans for as long as they fit me and as long as the style is still in fashion. I wear jeans because they are easy to wear, go with everything and are never out of style. They are not a big part of my wardrobe, so the most I would spend on a pair would be $100.”

There is not one fit or shape of jeans that would be able to please everyone. Hundreds of thousands of jeans are sold each year with consumers buying them for different reasons and attempting to grasp individualism. So there it is; three girls, fourteen pairs of jeans, three opinions.