Well Accessorized (2011)
Blue jeans are the most beautiful things since the gondola.—Diana Vreeland
[one_half padding=”4px 10px 0 4px”]All week long we’ve talked about how casual and comfortable denim is. While we normally think of blue jeans and anything denim as being more of the type thing one just pulls on right before walking out the door, the past several years have seen quite a change in that denim has become quite the classy, couture material, showing up frequently on red carpets around the world, even at places such as the Cannes Film Festival and the Met Gala. Jeans have become the celebrities way of inferring that they haven’t lost touch with their humble beginnings, or at least don’t want their fans to think they’re stuck up.
There’s also the factor that not everyone who has a lot of money is comfortable showing that off in public. The late Sam Walton, founder of the Wal-Mart empire, was known for dressing in jeans or denim overalls when away from the office. Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates is frequently photographed wearing jeans and it would be out of character for Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg to be seen in anything other than blue jeans and a hoodie. Ostentation is definitely out of style and blue jeans are the way many choose to “keep it real.” For them, being classy is more of an attitude, not a wardrobe choice.[/one_half]
[one_half_last padding=”4px 4px 0 10px”]Nothing takes on the concept of being classy more than the red carpet, though, and some severely big names have chosen to wear jeans as they make the paparazzi-lined stroll. If we were to drop names, they would include Mila Kunis, Kristen Stewart, Shakira, Rebecca Romijn, Ashley Tisdale, Perez Hilton, Jamie Foxx, Diane Kruger, Keira Knightly, Olivia Munn, Miley Cyrus, Kylie Jenner, Mel B, Selena Gomez, Lucy Lawless, Katies Holmes, and Jennifer Lawrence. Those, and several more, have not shied away from wearing denim to major awards shows and film openings.
Over the years, we’ve seen denim come down the couture runway as well, with names such as Viktor & Rolf, Donna Karan, Dior, Bill Blass, and Diane von Furstenberg attached to the waistband. They’ve been embellished with everything from pearls to diamonds, rhinestones to emeralds, feathers to metal studs, and copious amounts of leather and lace. Denim is a big deal and while it is still primarily a casual fabric, there’s no question it can be classy when it needs to be. Ultimately, the difference comes in the attitude. [/one_half_last]