There are several ways to get white jeans “wrong”: too white, too tight, too transparent. It’s not to do with how much you spend, or the size you’re buying, but with the fabric and cut — so finding your perfect pair can take a bit of perseverance. Yet persevere I do because the right pair can simultaneously conjure up Jane Birkin, Jacqueline Kennedy and Elizabeth Hurley, and make a trip round the big Tesco feel like a stroll through a market in Capri.
White jeans are a supermodel favourite, though there are few tips to be found there if your legs aren’t of the supermodel variety, but the everywoman’s. You don’t have to be long-legged and slim to wear white jeans, but, personally, the spray-on or skinny-fit styles do absolutely nothing for me, and make my knees look a bit indecent (who knew the folds of a knee could become erotic?).
In terms of cut, I’d recommend straight-leg, loose boyfriend styles or flares. You can wear them full-length (leg lengthening, especially with heels) or cropped to just above the ankle, which will work well when we get to sandal-and-espadrille weather. The eroticism of a knee is down to fabric choice — the stretchier, the clingier, and the more transparent.
When it comes to colour, white jeans are a bit like whitened teeth. They look fresh and bright, and give everything a lift — to a point. Pass that point and suddenly you’re in dodgy territory. They shouldn’t glow in the dark — jeans or teeth. There’s as much nuance here as on a Little Greene paint chart, so choose your whites carefully.
I’m tempted by Frame’s Le Tomboy cuffed, an easy shape somewhere between jeans and chinos, rolled at the ankle, very Jackie O on holiday, which will come in especially handy if said holidays are in the UK rather than anywhere warmer. Or for a slightly dressier shape, there’s Le Italien wide crop (£224 and £308 respectively, frame-store.com), which you could wear with smart flat sandals or a bit of a heel.
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Also in the jeans/trousers hybrid camp are Toast’s Carpenter jeans in ecru, with a utilitarian mid-thigh pocket (£125, toa.st). A high-waisted, slightly tapered Barrel shape is great for everyday wear — find them at Levi’s (were £120, now £84, levi.com), Cos (£69, cosstores.com) and Gap (£54.95, gap.co.uk).
ELV’s denim is zero-waste, made from vintage pairs of jeans otherwise destined for landfill; the high-waisted White Match Boyfriend Jeans are a classic shape that won’t date (£370, elvdenim.com).
For different degrees of stretch, APC’s slightly cropped, loose-fitting straight-leg Sailor jeans come in stiff Japanese denim or a version with some elastane added to the mix, although not too much, and nowhere near knee-porn territory (£167, apcstore.com).
Raey’s Dad baggy cut comes in white or ivory (£140, matchesfashion.com). On the high street, Weekday has a great selection in expensive-looking ecru; try the Ace high wide or the Rowe extra-high straight (£40, weekday.com).
Once you’ve found your perfect pair, what to wear them with? The timeless white jeans looks have all riffed on monochrome. In the 1960s and 1970s Birkin wore them with white T-shirts and white lace blouses, Kennedy with black T-shirts and jumpers. In the early Noughties Liz Hurley settled somewhere in between with Breton stripes (in the 1990s she added a silver T-shirt).
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If you want something brighter, I’d stay relatively neutral so try a tan jumper or a khaki jacket. The most popular combination among fashion influencers is white and blue.
The podcaster and author Lindsey Holland has been wearing her Maison Margiela jeans (very loose-fitting and ankle-length with horizontal cuts midway down the thigh, £405, maisonmargiela.com) with an oversized blue shirt — bright, but long enough a workwear staple in corporate settings not to read as loud. On cooler days, see Alexandra Pereira’s glossy blue Staud jacket over white jeans and a white rollneck.
No, you can’t sit on the grass in them, although you could pack a picnic blanket, and park benches are best avoided too. But for me, that’s part of the appeal — after months of grass and mud stains, I’ve got a clean chair, positioned outside an actual restaurant, in my sights.
Instagram @charliegowans
