Double trouble

The other day, a surprising thing happened. That's Not My Age accidentally wore triple denim. Oh you can forget about doubling up, that's so last week. When it comes to denim, three is the magic number. A big fan of head-to-toe indigo back in the eighties - Levi's 501s, Lee denim jacket, Katharine Hamnett anything, all on a student budget, I might add - maybe I've been in denial about the Texan Tuxedo (love that term, thank you fab blogger, Wendy B) this season? Or perhaps I'm just a late adopter. But this time round I didn't actually intend to wear double denim. Well, not the way it appeared on the catwalk, anyhow.



It all happened by accident. In a complete rush to get dressed and out the door, with the bottom half of my outfit sorted - wide leg Levi's and another pair of mum shoes - one minute I'm debating the merits of the bootcut, the next I'm in flares! Twenty four hours is a long time in fashion. I had five minutes to find something to cover my top half and catch the train. That's Not My Age grabbed at an old denim shirt, decided it didn't look that bad and legged it with not a moment to spare. The slouchy denim bag I've been using all week came too. At the station, I looked down and wondered. But it was too late. I managed to brave it out all day, confident in the knowledge that at least I didn't look like this:



Mick Hucknall, 1988, 'I always wore what the fuck I wanted, sometimes it was mad and sometimes it was just ordinary.' You're not kidding.

So, I'd like to recommend double/triple denim to you all. I'll definitely be wearing it again. And now there's a new denim boutique at Net-a-Porter, I might even go quadruple.



Just remember:

1. Darker indigo shades are the chicer, more grown-up way to do double denim. Leave acid-wash to the kids, and Jeremy Clarkson.


2. Try mixing two different shades - a pair of grey jeans and a black denim shirt - it's double denim but not as we know it.
3. Keep it sleek. Avoid the baggy silhouette, if it doesn't look good on a catwalk model....



And now, I'll leave you with a couple of questions:

1. Triple denim - yes or no?
2. Mick Hucknall mad or just plain ordinary? Do you think he'll be wearing double denim when he's fronting The Faces this summer? Simply red faces all round, perhaps?



Photos
Chloé catwalk: style.com
Mick Hucknall photo and quote from Q magazine (February 1989)
Dark denim catwalk: Banana Republic