Fabric People Jeans
When you see them, you know them.
Greetings from London. I’m spending June here with my family while my husband works on a film. It’s been a week and my children – ages 3 and 5 – have finally adjusted to the 8-hour time change. I have, too. It’s so nice to be back!
This letter mixes travel jeans with treasure hunting. The Fabric People I’m referring to in the headline are those of us who, like every vintage seller I met on Portobello Road last week, get joy from the exquisite character of used or historical garments; who geek out on the meaning imbued in a motif, and can read the way old things have weathered. At our core, denimheads are Fabric People. We love the material more than any fit. I don’t know any high-rise-heads, do you?
I’ll start with the packing part – eight pairs of jeans for four weeks in London. All of them have been mentioned in my letters already. (I stand by the pairs I feature and feature the pairs I wear, and how many jeans can one woman have on a regular rotation, anyways? Eight. In my experience, it’s eight.) So far, I’ve worn all but the Celines and B Sides at least once. Here they are in no particular order:
Levi’s 1982 redline 501s from Altelier Vintage. The archetype of a vintage 501, they’ve been in this letter about shopping for vintage online, this one about belts, and this other one about white t-shirts. They are especially good when cinched at the waist with something like this.
Levi’s Orange Tab 509 Regulars. A good, straight-leg standard that goes with every shoe and shirt length. Previously featured in this letter about trustworthy places to buy vintage jeans online.
Levi’s Big E redline 501s. Made of real indigo (v synthetic-dyed) denim, these jeans are at least sixty years old. Heirlooms that I like to wear with large cuffs and exceptional socks, they’re so valuable I considered carrying them on the plane with me instead of packing them in a checked bag. (When you long-haul travel with small children, you check bags. Many, many bags.)
Levi’s Japanese Selvedge Column in the Moj Rinse. Previously featured in this letter about Baby Barrels. I also raved about them in Harper’s Bazaar last week.
The Only Jane’s Georgia Jean in the Vintage Wash. My baby, these jeans go everywhere with me now. Lately, I’ve been wearing them with a low-yoke pinstripe shirt from Heather Harlan, a fashion industry veteran who now has her own line of easy, extra-thoughtful separates. Her shirts are crisp. Smart. This is how mine looks after a long, jet-lagged day with the kids. Magic fabric for moms, I’m telling you.
P.S. My friend Sally gave me a Brigitte Tanaka embroidered organza tote before I left and I’ve been wearing it every day. Yes. Organza every day, you heard right. Designers Brigitte Giraudi and Chieko Tanaka are most definitely Fabric People – they whip hard-working market bags into confection-level carryalls using a frothy bridalwear staple! My own “Art of Ballet” bag is embellished with a forest fairy in a tutu. I love these three, as well:
B Sides Plein Relaxed Straight in the Clair Wash. I packed this jean for my trip to New Mexico last month. And wore it in this roundup of great belts (with the Bottega one I sadly failed to pack, what was I thinking).
Celine Kitty Jean in the Dark Union Wash. Previously featured in this letter about designer jeans.
Carhartt Work in Progress Simple Jean in the Black Wash. I flagged these a few weeks ago in this post because they were on sale for under $100. Well, they are still on sale and available in most sizes. I recommend sizing down.
The Carhartt’s are a good segue into last Friday’s trip to Portobello Road, since that’s what I wore…
It’s worth first mentioning that my approach to large-market shopping is always to go with a fill-in-the-blank plan: Today I’m shopping for ________________. (I find it so much easier to be creative when I’m working with a clear set of parameters. It’s only when shopping with friends – a chatty, meandering kind of thing – that I go in without an agenda and, frankly, buy nothing. Or, more often, things I regret.) Today I’m shopping for “jackets with pretty collars,” I knew upon entering the famous maze of stalls off the Ladbroke Grove station. Not jeans, no, I wanted what designers often refer to as “inspiration.” (Though, to me, inspiration is a feeling not a thing, but that’s something to explore in a different letter on a different day.)
Here is what I love about the two jackets I found from vendors on opposite ends of the market: The blue jacket (cotton twill and not indigo-dyed) has a slanted button hole on the placket that makes zero sense whatsoever (even the seller couldn’t explain it) and a pocket within a pocket on the right hip (fun). The white canvas jacket that I bought for £50 (too much) has a peaked collar that I absolutely love because it’s so high on the neck and asymmetrical (which is charming on anything old). It also lacks a proper stand (a cost-saving measure, most likely) that’s interesting. Both jackets are flawed and beautiful. I’m imagining Italian ecru and a grey tortoise button on some interpretation of these for Resort.
It was in Su Mason’s Mason Taylor stall, which specializes in French linen and workwear, that I got distracted. First, by a pair of bottom-less bloomers so lovingly patched by hand (which I didn’t buy), and then by these trousers with mis-matched buttons, a slim waist, and welt pockets. Fabric People, I wish you could feel these, you would die. The waist buttons, Su explained, would have been for suspenders. All are unmarked except for one that reads “Mode de Paris.” I had to have them.
On Sunday, I went to the Antique Textile Fair at St. Mary Abbots Center in Kensington, which one of the sellers on Portobello Road told me about when I expressed my interest in indigo. The highlight: Talking to Noel Chapman of Bleu Anglais, who specializes in indigo-dyed fabrics from Asia. After a good look, I decided on a large Japanese wrapping riddled with hand-sewn patches, and another Chinese bedspread decorated with bat, lotus, and chrysanthemum motifs. “For happiness,” Noel told me about the bats. (They look like Gladiator helmets to me, but who’s arguing?)
Rebecca Aix Home had a gorgeous selection of antique striped linens from France and Hungary. I bought a Hungarian bedspread made of very dry hemp to compliment the ornate Bleu Anglais florals. I’m imagining them for my studio and trunk-show presentations, but we’ll see. Both sellers ship internationally.
London readers, I’d love your recommendations. Fabric People, tell me about your businesses. Local tips are so appreciated. As are comments, likes, restacks, and other subscriber-y activities. Your support, as always, is everything.
Jane
More to Read…
Jean Queens: Four Denim Experts on How to Shop for Denim. - Jaclyn Alexandra Cohen, Harper’s Bazaar.
The Georgia Jeans: A breakdown of how they fit and where they came from.
8 Great White T-Shirts for Jeans: Keeping it concise, yet comprehensive.
Thank you for sharing, I love vintage textiles (not an expert but an enthusiast) and love these details. Your substack is great, I am inspired to upgrade to paid. Enjoy London!! We lived in Geneva, Switzerland when my boys were 3 and 5 and it was such an adventure and fun, they still remember it (they are both in college now). Of course it can be trying to entertain them in a foreign country - I do remember taking the trains and trams every day because they were obsessed, even if we had no destination in mind. Happy Travels.
I wanted to tell you how much I'm enjoying and wearing all the things from your collection. Thank you for creating such wonderful pieces, it's obvious how much thought and consideration went into the designs. Would love to be at those markets!