jeans

Personalised jeans? this way please…



MIH-monogrammed-jeans

More on the denim personalisation front. Last weekend I spent a happy hour at Selfridges playing with denim swatches, buttons, rivets and zips to build my own version of 3×1 boyfriend jeans. The New York-based denim brand owned by Scott Morrison (founder of Paper, Denim Cloth and Earnest Sewn) sells its RTW jeans at Selfridges’ Denim Studio (which you can read all about here), but for three days only was also offering its custom service to London denim heads.

I chose my favourite cut of jeans, then configured the best denim, thread colour, pocket style, rivets, buttons and zips to make them up in. It was a truly indulgent experience. (My jeans should arrive in three weeks from the 3×1 denim factory in New York). [UPDATE: This way for the finished article.]

Not quite as intensive but still a fun self-branding service is the monogramming that’s being offered by MIH jeans and Mother Jeans. Both use traditional hand monogramming to stitch initials onto a new pair of jeans.

For your monogrammed Mother denim, head to Selfridges Oxford Street’s Denim Studio this weekend only, where you chosen Mother jeans will be embroidered free of charge while you wait (roughly 30-40 minutes depending what you have done). For your MIH Hawthorne & Heaney embroidered jeans, order the ones you want online and follow the instructions. Your monogrammed jeans should be delivered in two weeks.

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What I learnt at the Selfridges Disneyrollergirl denim workshop



Selfridges-Denim-Studio-Window 4

Selfridges is the undisputed leader of innovation when it comes to London’s department stores. While Liberty may be the go-to for a great edit and unexpected finds, Harrods for ultimate luxury and Harvey Nichols for the newest labels, Selfridges is the retail risk-taker and rule-breaker.

This summer’s big takeover has been all about denim, from the newly-opened £6 million Denim Studios on the third floor, to the fantastic windows depicting the nuances of every denim tribe you can think of. Here’s what I learnt from the personal shoppers and alterations team at my recent Disneyrollergirl Denim Workshop. (more…)



Dream jeans: MIH SS13



Denim brand MiH has been going since 2005 and I love how it has slowly but consistently grown from a denim-only brand to incorporate other beautiful-but-useful basics. Its Bretons frequently sell out, the oversized shirts are tweaked and repeated season-on-season and every so often you get something simple yet brilliant, like this spring’s washed-out jade boilersuit (above).

Another bonus: this utterly dreamy, Super-8 film. It was shot by the equally super Blue Farrier (you may have come across her blog, JackyBlue. If not, do take a look). Watch below or on Youtube (best viewed in 480p quality mode)…

MIH ss13 can be found at MIH-Jeans.com (more…)



Introducing IDA by Donna Ida



If the blouse-n-trouser-jean is 2013’s new day-to-night uniform (and I reckon it will be), then that’s good news for Donna Ida Thornton. Because this month Ms Thornton launches her eponymous jeans line, IDA, and it pivots around that very look. Having nailed the denim-centric retail sector with her Donna Ida jeans chain, Thornton has gathered her customer feedback and poured it into a tightly focused own brand. Key to which is a ‘true’ high waist – no butt-crack flashing here – a response to many a request from her dedicated customers.

All the jeans in the debut collection are fairly snug on the thighs, with varying widths below the knee from the ankle-gripping, zip-hemmed ‘Audrey’, to the flared ‘Martha’. (I hear a boyfriend jean is in the works too.) My favourite (by sight – I’ve not tried them yet) is ‘Jeanie’, a sophisticated cigarette jean named after Thornton’s most loyal customer, “who’d come in asking for high-waisted jeans. She’s clear about what she wants, and if we didn’t have it, she’d say ‘Well, why not?” says Thornton. “I’ve named the cigarette leg after her because that’s what she wants to wear.”

And about those blouses. They fit in with Thornton’s ‘quintessentially British’ vision for the brand, so for a little elegance, there’s the neat-shouldered ‘Out of Africa’ silk shirt with patch pockets and deep cuffs, or for the full power-bow effect, there are bell-sleeved ‘Mrs Thatcher’ blouses in soft cream, pale pink or a rather apt Tory blue. The collection launches this month and can be pre-ordered now at Donnaida.com.