I’ve always hated the phrase “smart casual”. I didn’t know what it meant when I was young and I don’t know what it means now. I mean obviously I know what it means – that you can go somewhere “smart casual” and wear jeans and a jacket – but what I want to know really is, does anyone seriously believe in it?
Personally, I don’t think jeans for women are ever smart. They’re not supposed to be.
Comfortable – yes. And sexy – of course. But denim is not a fabric that goes well with the concept of dressing up. Indeed it’ the stock recourse for girls when they’re dressing down.
So ask yourself this – would you wear jeans to an important meeting with a client you had never met before? Or a job interview?
No – the meaning of smart casual is “not dressed up for a gala ball, but still pretty much dressed up”. In other words, suits and dresses. Lipstick, jewellery and a posh jumper don’t make jeans for women smart casual. The jeans make the whole outfit relaxed, effortless. But not smart.
I accept of course that designer handbags, expensive jackets and Manolo Blahnuks make the wearer of jeans look incredibly glam and Boho and chic. Of course they do. In fact the mixture of super-trendy smart pieces and the more relaxing influence of a pair of jeans for women is one of my favourite fashion looks. But it isn’t smart. It makes you look like a movie star hiding from the paparazzi.
Personally I think jeans for women do more to accentuate and transform the figure than a tone of designer clothing. And what they do better than anything else, is take those positive artifices and make them available to the everyday wearer.
What I mean is, you don’t have to don an artfully designed cocktail dress or a red carpet stunner to accentuate the positives and gloss over anything you want to have glossed over. All you need is the expert assistance of a proper jean fitting, and a couple of decent pairs of the right kinds of denim trousers for you.
You can wear low riding jeans for women, for example, if you want to call attention to your sexy midriff – or just to lengthen your upper body a little, if you have longer legs and a shorter top half. And if you want to bring out the booty naturally bestowed on you by Mother Nature, you pick a pair of jeans for women with the back pocket designed to finish just below the curve of the bum (for an accentuating look). Or designed to ride higher on the buttock if you want to change the shape of your rear to something fuller.
See, jeans are designed to bring effortless sexiness and comfort together in one package. They don’t take any of the smart look from catwalk and red carpet clothing any more than they copy their fabrics. But they do take its spirit, and make it more accessible to more ladies!
