Sid has been making colorful, garment-dyed jeans forever.
At this very moment, when I go on the website, I can see he has Mineral (a kind of blue,) Raspberry, Kelly, Sky, and Avocado. Not a full rainbow… but definitely a crowd of color.
In the early years, before the men’s line actually made their own 5-pocket jeans, Sid would purchase white Levi’s 501s in bulk and send them to the dyers in North Carolina. The catalyst was when Levi’s discontinued a favorite shade (RIP Stone) and he said, “shoot, let’s just dye them ourselves.” Which is so him. So we made Stone 2.0 but also some less neutral shades like pink and blue and a very cool sage green. I think the people at Levi’s might have been confused about what we were doing… but nevertheless the jeans were very popular. And very Sid.
So Sid, in fact, that our daughters still remember that when they were growing up and we were new in town (almost every year during one stretch,) they would use the colorful pants as an identifier. Their friends would ask which one on the sidelines of the soccer field was their dad. “Oh… the one in the pink jeans.” Easy mark.
Well, now it is my turn. I have always loved a punch of color on the lower half. You have to be only a little bold (because my favorite outfits are on the simpler side). Color on the bottom, neutral on top, and then you are done. In the past I have described jeans as a low-stakes purchase — a reliable pick-me-up just like a new lipstick. A little more than the $15 tube from the drugstore, but something easyish to take for a spin. If they aren’t a slam dunk, you can pass them along to a friend or a sister… if they DO deliver, you have a new focal point to dress around for the next few months. But color is what I am talking about now and I am crazy about it.
For me, the new colorful jeans are an ode to something Sid and I have always loved, and in my head there’s some preppy history to them too — bright corduroys from the college shop come to mind. (Although the fit of these is way more flattering than my memory of something from Pappagallo.) They are tried-and-true silhouettes for us: the Coco in blue and pink, the flared crop in bright sunshine yellow. They really are so easy to style. I will wear them with the new ivory sweater polo (already in heavy rotation). I will wear them with the millions of striped boatneck tees in my closet. While it is still coldish, I will wear them with a black or navy turtleneck sweater… and swap for the perfect new Lee tee when it is warm enough to bare my arms. I love the trimmer proportion on top with the big dose of color on the bottom.
The one thing about colored pants is that you need to be prepared for some light ribbing. From men especially. Like “whoa, where’d you get those?” from the snarky guy who doesn’t know what else to say. It’s probably not a dig — he actually likes them — but he is the same sort of fellow that teased you in 4th grade, which your mom said meant that he had a crush on you. Hard to grasp at the time but she was probably right. Or you might get an “I love cotton candy, too” (especially in the pink) or “hey, go Tarheels” (the blue) or just “wow, those pants!” You know what I mean. A convenient topic of conversation!
On a more complimentary note, let me tell you what the women who worked at Vogue might have said. I am imagining a runthrough in Grace Mirabella’s office with the model slipping in and out of pieces from a rolling rack to choose what would go in the March issue:
“Oh, fantaaaassssssstic… just the color of the sky in Corfu at 7pm… positively dreamy…”
Or
“I can see it paired with burgundy in the fall, but for right now I am wearing it with the slinkiest white tank I can get my hands on, espadrilles, a sweater around the shoulders… oh, and Elsa’s Sevillana pendant would be perfect. Soooo sexy.”
And,
I can imagine the boom in André Leon Talley’s voice: “COLOR! Always COLOR!”
All of these remarks may seem dramatic and a bit silly. They are! But color and design are the things that light up our lives. Creativity is a wonderful thing, and it is deeply personal. (I, for one, do not know what the 7pm sky in Corfu looks like… to me this shade is more like a Jordan Almond.) We define ourselves by the millions of choices we make over and over again: where we shop for groceries, what we make for dinner, which jeans we wear. And a little change and novelty in that routine is necessary. We crave it. And it is FUN. I am all about simple dressing, and buying basics that last a really long time (if not forever!) But a hit of cheer is important, especially at the beginning of a new season. I want something to make me smile when I am getting dressed for the day. So while I adore khakis (I wrote about them last month) and the elegance of a neutral wardrobe…this shot of color may just be what you need. I promise.
