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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

Ripped jeans. Why?

55 replies

5foot5 · 01/06/2018 23:16

This is going to out me as terribly middle-aged or staid or something (well I am happy to admit to middle-aged) but I look at the jeans people wear which have been specially ripped / pre-distressed or whatever they call it and I just don't get it.

I am sure some of these cost several times what I pay for a pair of jeans but if I happened to rip a pair or go through on the knee they would go straight in the bin.

I realize they must be fashionable and desirable but I just don't understand why?

If it was only young teenagers I wouldn't necessarily expect to understand, but I now realize I am seeing people in their 30s and even 40s in jeans that look like the cat has had a go at them.

is it me? I am only 55 not a geriatric. Just what is the attraction?

OP posts:

GrannyGrissle · 02/06/2018 08:25

The ones with the huge cut out rectangles look utterly twattish no matter what age the wearer is. Makes me think 'sheep who would jump off a cliff if the herd said it was fashionable to do so'. Very Emperor's New Clothes.

OakIsBetterTho · 02/06/2018 08:26

Personally I hate the ripped jeans you can buy. Each to their own of course, but jeans which are bought pre-ripped always look daft to me. So immaculately done, which somewhat defeats the object of having scruffy-cool ripped jeans surely 🤔 And I'm only 24!
That said, I do have a pair of loose relaxed boyfriend type jeans which I wore through on one knee and ripped on barbed wire on the other knee and I still wear them. They fit so nicely!

LegoLady95 · 02/06/2018 08:29

I am hoping that jeans with patches will be in fashion next.

ragged · 02/06/2018 08:46

I patch my jeans, too! Love it when my weirdness comes into style. It happens once in a while.

MontanaSkies · 02/06/2018 08:52

They just look kind of cool and casual, I suppose. These days dress codes are so relaxed that "smart jeans" are a thing, so rips add a bit of edge and nonchalance.

But also, it's just fashion isn't it? When my mum first wore a pair of (non-ripped) jeans, her grandma was totally bemused and horrified. Why would she wear a garment that was so unfeminine, that was basically clothing for men doing manual labour? She just couldn't get it at all. And yet these days they're perfectly unremarkable attire.

FASH84 · 02/06/2018 08:52

I want to know what OP wears that ripped jeans are so out there... OP have you succumbed to the delights of Bon Marche??

MissusGeneHunt · 02/06/2018 08:55

Wore them through the mid 80s to late 80s, loved them! If I had any with just a knee rip, not a tight fit, I'd probably still wear them, but would risk the cry from DS of 'muuuuummmmm.... You're sooooooo embarrassing!!!!'....!!

DontDrinkDontSmoke · 02/06/2018 08:56

They look phenomenal on my 13 year old DD who has legs up to her armpits

I’d not wear them because my fat bits would poke through and that’s not a great look.

ForalltheSaints · 02/06/2018 08:57

Fashion. Which some people blindly follow however stupid it looks on them. Such as trousers three inches too short.

MissBax · 02/06/2018 08:58

They're more comfy for me (and my thunder thighs)! and not expensive - mine were £20 from New Look.

HateIsNotGood · 02/06/2018 09:05

I'm 55 and I'm sure it's not new as I recall wearing jeans like this for many years even if they aren't fashionable.

When I was 40 I was shopping for some jeans and came across a distressed/artfully torn pair which I really liked but refused to buy them as I told myself I wasn't paying for pre-ripped jeans when I can easily do it myself.

I couldn't forget the jeans though and the next day I went back and bought them - they were my most comfy and favourite jeans ever.

I think the rips and distresses aren't always so well done in the current trend as they're more mass-produced now.

acatcalledjohn · 02/06/2018 09:07

I don't get it either OP, and I'm early thirties. To me it makes the wearer look like they've had a rough day.

But then I'm no fashionista

savagebaggagemaster · 02/06/2018 09:07

OP I agree with you and people are allowed to ''get' or not get' others' tastes. It's called having a subjective opinion. I saw a pair of pre-ripped and pre paint splattered jeans on sale in TK Maxx a few weeks back. If they'd been dungarees they'd have matched what the painter/decorator wore.
Personally I am not a fan of the eternal wheel of fashion with all its 'seasons' and some catwalk designers trying to convince us that something is 'fashionable'. It's such an artificial construct and a matter of personal taste. It's also really annoying when the shops take it all on board offering cheap imitations and styles whilst ignoring all the basics that people actually want to buy, eg a top without cold shoulders or a few years back, a pair of trousers that aren't hipsters!

BertieBotts · 02/06/2018 09:10

It provides a bit of texture.

I wouldn't pay masses for ripped jeans specifically but I wouldn't avoid them either. I'm neutral to them if that is a thing. Would wear ripped or non ripped.

Springersrock · 02/06/2018 09:11

I like them, I have a few pairs with a rip at the knee

I don’t like them with rips all over, I have a rip limit

MisstoMrs · 02/06/2018 09:13

I have a pair that I love - they are super comfy and an amazing fit. I wear them for gardening and decorating now as they have authentic tears and paint on them. I also have a non-deliberate pair that are part of mumiforn; they must have got torn when I was playing without DS in the park and I didn’t norice but it won’t stop me wearing them. I guess maybe that’s why I like the look - because it suggest relaxed, chilled out and happily focused on other things.

That said, I think it’s gone too far - I saw a girl the other day whose jeans were in pieces, they were flapping all over the place and she just looked really awkward and embarrassed. A bit like someone else I saw who was wearing a skirt with two thigh high splits. I imagine in her head it was subtly sexy. In reality, striding down the high street, every step she took her leg stuck it completely through the split. you could see her pants. I felt really bad for her. We’ve all had those wardrobe fails.

NoIsACompleteAnswerSometimes · 02/06/2018 09:25

My jeans were so ripped at the knees ( cos they're old, not fashionably ripped) that I cut them off and use them as housework shorts!

BluthsFrozenBananas · 02/06/2018 09:26

I used to wear ripped jeans in the 80s. There was even a special way to make the rips look authentic and like you’d just cut holes in them. You used the blade of a pair of scissors to scrape at the fabric over the knees to weaken the threads, then they would rip on their own as you wore them.

I still like the look of ripped jeans, but my milk bottle white, chubby middle aged knees would not look good poking out. And these days my jeans go at the inner thigh long before they have a chance to wear through at the knee .

BluthsFrozenBananas · 02/06/2018 09:27

*NOT like you’d just cut holes in them.

Mrsramsayscat · 02/06/2018 09:44

My teens (and older ones) wear them, and I think they're vile. And I think cold shoulder tops are the worst fashion invention ever, as well as looking cheap.

mookinsx · 02/06/2018 10:14

I love the fashion. But always find I can't bend my knees in the god damn things without ripping the rips!!
Infuriating!

Claystone · 02/06/2018 10:14

I'm old. I think they look silly. But then I couldn't understand short denim shorts with tights underneath either.

FriendlyOcelot · 02/06/2018 10:27

FASH84

Bon Marche

LightAsTheBreeze · 02/06/2018 10:31

I wore very baggy worn out Levis bought in Flip at Covent Garden in the early 80s, I only wear jeans that aren't faded or ripped now though. . I think the worn out look must have been going for ages

Bluelady · 02/06/2018 10:34

There's a lot of blue water between ripped jeans and Bon Marche.

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