We all remember the painful fashion moment when Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears went out in matching bedazzled denim on denim outfits complete with cowboy hats. So it may come as a surprise that one of this year’s trends is, well, pairing denim on denim. Just not like this:

Photo courtesy of denimblog.com

Designers this year have been influenced by the economic news, many of them are taking their cues from classic American staples, such a denim jeans and button up shirts. So the long time fashion don’t of denim on denim is getting a boost.

Photos courtesy of style.com (L to R , Diesel Black Gold Fall 2010, Helmut Lang Resort 2011, William Rast Fall 2010)

I do want to give Justin Timberlake some credit here, the look on the far right is from his clothing line (William Rast), so he obviously learned something from his earlier denim on denim debacle. Of course, as with any trend, denim on denim can be worn a variety of ways. Celebrities, stylists, and bloggers have all embraced the denim on denim trend and have their own opinions on how it should be worn. But really there are just a few general rules to keep in mind to give the denim on denim a modern twist.

In order to pull off denim on denim:
1. The top and bottom should be two distinct pieces - you don’t want to match the color exactly (refer to the picture of Britney above to see why). For example, wear a light colored top over dark jeans or vice versa.
2. Mix up the textures - wear a soft chambray button up over stiff, dark wash denim with neutral accessories.
3. Break it up by wearing a belt that clearly separates one piece from another.
4. And finally - keep it simple! Choose solid or slightly distressed denim and leave it at that, no need for acid wash or tie dye when pairing denim on denim.

Denim on denim is a neat trend that easily updates your wardrobe without having to go too far out of your comfort zone. Have an opinion on denim on denim? Vote in our poll from our last denim on denim entry here!

There are only a few days left for some (if not all) until class is officially back in session. In preparation for this madness, we at indiDenim feel compelled to give students everywhere a lesson in back to school style. While most of us no longer get to pick back to school ensembles for ourselves, we still know a thing or two when it comes to styling and wearing your basic Back to School Jeans. 

So take good notes and listen up as we’re about to tell you how to make the grade in denim style.

For your Everyday School Jeans
Cuffing your school jeans creates a cool yet effortless look for class.

For school days where you just don’t feel like dressing up but you still want to look like you’re put together, pick school jeans with a relaxed cut and a rise that sit comfortably on your hips and waist. Pair your school jeans with a vibrant top, along with a structured jacket and a statement necklace; you’ll be looking cool and comfy in no time.

School Jeans for a Study Date
Dress up your everyday school jeans and give it a more polished look by picking a sweet blouse to wear along your medium to dark wash jeans. You can choose to wear a knit sweater over it to give your outfit an overall feminine feel. An outfit suitable for a study date isn’t complete without universally flattering school jeans.

We sugest that you pick bootcut jeans since this cut looks sophisticated and slims every figure.

School Jeans for the Head of the Class
For a streamlined appearance, pick a chic button down shirt to pair with your school jeans. Skinny jeans are a great choice for this look. Pick a pair that’s fitted but not skintight, in a rise that flatters your shape. You can pair your look with skinny jeans tucked inside your boots for those fall or winter months of school.

Did you know that your mini-me could have a skinny jean? That’s right—now babies can join in the latest denim trend! Lack of potty training is no obstacle to wearing this snug style, because the baby skinny is designed to fit over diapers. In fact, diaper coverage takes up half the fabric needed to make an infant sized skinny jean. Made from super comfy, super-stretch denims, these jeans are guaranteed to keep your ‘chip off the old block’ chipper.

For those that think it’s bizarre to dress children like little adults,  consider that children’s clothing has long been inspired by their elders. For most of western history, our little angels were dressed to look like mini-adults in clothing that must have lead to some devilish temper tantrums. It wasn’t until the 18th century that children were allowed to have their own—more comfortable—clothing styles.

But why should youngsters be allowed to dress comfortably while we make ourselves fashion victims to the latest trends? The baby skinny proves that with the right fabrics and constructions, skinny jeans can be not only stylish, but also practical and comfortable. The fashion forecast indicates that moms may take up this style after seeing it on their tots. Hey, it wouldn’t hurt to take a little fashion advice from a toddler now and then.

High waist jeans. A fashion do or don’t? This year, according to fashion designers and celebrities like Katie Holmes and Jennifer Lopez, high waist jeans are continuing their comeback. However do high waist jeans work for every body type? And if you do decide to wear the high waist look, how do you style them without looking like you’re from 1974?

The key with high waist jeans is proportion. If you’re curvier on top or have broad shoulders, go with a flared or boot cut leg to balance your body out. If you’ve got a less curvy figure, head towards a straight or skinny leg.

To avoid going too retro when you wear high waist jeans, opt for modern styling and accessories. Pair the jeans with a simple button down (maybe plaid or a pattern if you’re feeling really funky) and tie it at the hem to emphasize the high waist of the jeans.  However, a simple fitted t shirt, tucked in with a fabulous belt or statement necklace would also be a good combination.

High waist jeans are a good trend, especially if you’re bored with your denim collection.  As long as you keep in mind your body shape, anyone can wear them.

To learn more about high waist jeans, visit our High waist jeans wiki page!

Jorts (alias: jean shorts) are our friends. Either that, or they’re our mortal enemies—It’s hard to tell. In any case, jorts never leave us for long; they seem to go in and out of style faster than Kanye West can embarrass himself.

If you are fan of jorts, you may want to join the Facebook group, I Love Jorts!, which fawns, “Spreading like the sexiest plague to ever wipe out lameness, jorts are a potent mixture of denim and leg.” Those who disagree can retort by uploading their latest photo evidence to nojorts.com, an anti-jort website.

As you can see, jorts are a controversial garment, one that indiDenim will have to take a purely neutral stand on. The rest of you can duke it out…

For those jorts fans out there who prefer a little bit more coverage, there is a wide variety of styles to consider.

Jeremy Priven shows us how to rock a bermuda jort.

Cuffing can give your old jorts a brand new look.

Cutoffs will take you from jeans to jorts in no time flat.

And don’t forget one of the newest additions to the jorts family—“pockouts”!

As much as we’re obsessed with everything denim, indi is all about customization. Consumers today expect increasingly more personalized products, customized to their style preferences and, when it comes to apparel, their bodies. In the world of customization there are two major camps: custom-made (i.e. a traditional custom tailor) and mass customization, which enables consumers to design their own individual products that are then manufactured on an efficient, massive scale, keeping prices competitive with non-custom products.

indi was recently approached by Custommade.com, a website dedicated to everything custom and specializing in artisan custom-made furniture and woodwork.  In the spirit of custom, we did an interview with Custom Made to share two perspectives of customization with you, showing the ins and outs of custom from different approaches yet with a fundamentally similar end goal: matching consumers with products that reflect who they are. We hope this interview will give you insight into indi, how this trend is evolving and where customization is headed in the future. Enjoy!

Question 1: What is your company all about?

indiDenim: indi is about changing the way apparel is sold. Traditionally, consumers have been expected to buy clothes that were made for the masses, not a unique garment specifically made to fit their bodies and style aesthetic. At indi, we believe in giving every consumer the power to design their own apparel and customize it to fit their unique bodies. We are also about making shopping a technologically-enhanced, seamless process. From the online visualization of our custom products to our completely automated systems for pattern generation and order processing, indi is technologically advanced throughout the consumer experience and behind the scenes.

CustomMade: President Mike Salguero’s words say it best! “In my travels I have come across some incredibly talented custom woodworkers, craftspeople and artisans who are unable to focus on their craft because they are running a business. Their dedication to their art is compromised by their need to divert attention to the marketing, advertising and sales of their creations. I wanted to assist these people and created CustomMade.com to help.”  We also believe that there are a ton of consumers out there interested in buying Custom, but they don’t know where to start…our site will help both makers and consumers to bridge the frictions that exist in this marketplace and will help them to get in touch with each other.

Question 2: How did you get your start?

indiDenim: Our “About Us” section of our site really says it best: “In our eyes, the way clothing is sold is an anachronism. The current system of mass produced, standard sized clothing is convenient for the companies selling the apparel, but doesn’t work all that well for a lot of consumers. We founded indi to change all that - rather than individual consumers of all shapes and sizes trying to fit into standard sized clothing, we think consumers ought to be able to get exactly what they want in a size that fits them.”

Read more here

CustomMade: Custom Made started with one artisan working out of his home fourteen years ago as an online community for woodworkers to come together and post their custom creations online. In 2009, co-founders Mike Salguero and Seth Rosen saw the potential such an organization had and purchased the company, gave it a new look and feel, and started to change the way custom was looked at by artisans and consumers alike. Within a year, a community of 350 woodworkers has grown to over 1,000 of the highest caliber woodworkers,metal workers, and glass workers in the world.

Question 3: What are some of the challenges you face as a custom company?

indiDenim: Fit is very personal, and understanding the perfect fit for our customers is definitely a challenge. Because we’re custom we set the bar pretty high in terms of fit, just like our consumers. In fact, we guarantee that if for any reason our customers aren’t 100% satisfied, we’ll remake their garment at no charge or give them a full refund. Although this can be challenging, we absorb these costs willingly, knowing that we instill confidence in our customers that the end result will be a perfect-fitting garment that they can always re-order, time and time again.

CustomMade: Our biggest issues right now are related to getting the right people involved with our company.. We currently have 25 people working full-time on this idea, but we need more. We are always looking for marketing, web-design and development, and salespeople.  In addition, we have a challenge of convincing consumers to buy custom.. You would think it is a no-brainer, since they can get something locally made, handcrafted, with 5x the quality for a similar price, but the big-box retailers dominate the advertising out there, so it is hard for the little guy to compete.

Question 4: What are your focuses/strong points at the present?

indiDenim: indi provides an ideal shopping experience for the tech-savvy consumer. Our Jean Builder lets consumers see a real-time visualization of their jean change as they pick every style feature of their jean. Consumers can also save their designs in our community vault, where consumers can share designs via social media networks and/or choose any jean from the vault, customize it to fit them, and buy it. We also save our customers’ patterns forever, allowing them to re-order the same pattern with or without adjustments and get a perfect fit, every time. In short, indi provides the most personalized, technologically-advanced experience available, making mass customization fun and easy.

CustomMade: We have a group of the best artisans in the country in the fields of woodworking, glass working and metalworking.  These guys and gals are being serviced by our website. We also bring in about 1 Million visitors a year and expose them to the idea of purchasing custom, which is fun and a challenge, but we feel that we do it well!

Question 5: What is your vision for the future of the company?

indiDenim: We intend to get to know our consumers more and more, developing more style content on our site that would interest our audience. We recently launched new style pages and a DenimWiki, packed with useful information on denim history, mass customization, a glossary of denim terminology, and more. We will continue to understand our consumers’ needs from a user experience standpoint, but also a product standpoint, always striving to ensure our patterns fit every consumer perfectly. 

CustomMade: We want to be the internet’s one stop shop for anything custom. We are not interested in the manufacturing, rather we want to get you the consumer in front of the right provider of custom services.

Thank you to Custommade.com for participating in this interview! Let us know your feedback and feel free to share your comments!

There was a great article in the New York Times recently about the challenges Plus women face when shopping for apparel, despite the fact that Plus has been a category for nearly a century and represents a huge portion of the US population. The article highlighted some staggering statistics:

“According to a 2008 survey conducted by Mintel, a market-research firm, the most frequently worn size in America is a 14…[y]et plus-size clothing (typically size 14 and above) represents only 18 percent of total revenue in the women’s clothing industry.”

If the most common size two years ago was a size 14, how is it possible that total revenue from Plus apparel is only 18%? Shouldn’t there be more opportunities for clothing brands to serve literally the majority of women?

The article also defined some of the key dilemmas the apparel industry faces in designing Plus size apparel, which shed even more light on challenges for the end consumer:

“The most formidable obstacle lies in creating a prototype. If you already have a line of clothing and a set system of sizing, you cannot simply make bigger sizes. You need whole new systems of pattern-making.”

Unfortunately, most brands don’t do this. For the most part, clothing brands size up according to a much smaller, drastically different pattern than the actual body of a Plus woman. Instead, new patterns need to be made in order to accommodate women with different proportions, not just of a larger size. This means that out of the already limited selections Plus women have to choose from, many of Plus clothing doesn’t represent real Plus women.

At indi, we’re proud to have a Plus pattern specifically designed for Plus women, and we are committed to customizing all of our patterns to fit every consumer. Unfortunately, most of the larger brands that have introduced Plus sizes (which certainly is a step in the right direction) morph smaller patterns into disproportionate ones.

For more fascinating information on the Plus market, read the full article here.

Stretch denim has been hugging our booties since 1978 when Peter Golding designed the first stretch jean. Before the invention and inevitable popularization of stretch denim, denim lovers who wanted a tight fit were forced to squeeze into stiff, uncomfortable jeans. How did they ever survive?

Of course, stretch denim wouldn’t be stretch denim without our BFF, spandex. Spandex is a marvelous invention—each fiber is made from alternating stiff and soft segments. The soft segments allow the fiber to stretch and the stiff segments help the fiber snap back to its original length. This allows spandex to stretch up to four times its length and then retract. You go, girl!

Not all of spandex’s traits are desirable—spandex does not take dye easily and it’s not comfortable against the skin. But when combined with its soulmate, cotton, spandex is almost unstoppable. Spandex fibers are wrapped in cotton to create cotton/spandex yarns. When these yarns are woven into a twill, the resulting fabric is (you guessed it!) stretch denim.

Stretch denim, you’ve come a long way since 1978. Today’s fabric designers have created new breeds of stretch denim by adding additional fibers, such as polyester, and by inventing new yarn constructions. These new stretch denims have unmatched recovery and threaten to eradicate jeans that stretch and then stretch out. Bye-bye baggy butts!

Stretch denim means that denim lovers never have to choose between fashion and comfort again. As designers continue to enhance denim, jeans may become a regular at yoga class.

Finding the perfect jeans is probably the biggest shopping challenge in existence. From the nightmare of limited sizes and retail inventory to unflattering trends, we all have our denim disaster stories to tell. Custom jeans certainly help the situation drastically, but whether shopping or designing the perfect jeans there are some key tips to always keep in mind:

1. Dress Your Body Type: Nothing is more upsetting than trying to dress a trend that just doesn’t work for your body. Whether you are pear-shaped or apple-shaped, take a look at your proportions and learn what works best for you. This tip alone will get you well on your way to finding the perfect jeans. Learn how to dress your body type here.

2. Know Your Measurements: Jean sizing, as you’ve probably experienced, varies from brand to brand, especially between premium and mainstream brands. Knowing measurements like your natural waist, your pant size, your inseam, etc. are key factors in getting perfect-fitting jeans. Learn how to measure yourself here.

3. Flatter Your Frame: While it’s important to know what doesn’t work for your body, it’s just as important to know what does. Flatter your finest features. For example, pear and hourglass shapes can accentuate their small natural waists with a mid to high rise pant.

4. Make Trends Work For You: Before you try wearing a trend you have to have, say skinny jeans, know which skinny jeans will work best for your body. Skinny jeans made from stretch fabric, for example, give a slimmer look and more comfort for any body type. Whether designing or buying, have a specific type of skinny jean in mind like “stretch fabric, dark wash, mid-rise skinny jeans” and you’ll get a much better result.

5. Determine your Price Per Wear (PPW): When buying jeans it’s important to make a good investment. Price per wear (PPW) means how much you spend on a jean for each time you wear them. By investing in a good pair of jeans up front, you greatly reduce your PPW. For example, if you bought a jean for $60, washed it 3 times, and it:

A/Doesn’t fit anymore
B/Becomes stiff
C/Deteriorates

Then you may only get 6 or 7 wears from them, which is not a great investment. That’s practically $10/wear! Be smart and invest in a jean made from quality fabric and with premium construction.

Drum roll please…

The lucky winner is…Tabitha T Council! Congratulations Tabitha! You won a FREE pair of custom jeans from indiDenim! We just love our free jean Fridays…

While Facebook and Twitter reigned supreme on the sharing front, we saw an increase in sharing on Stumble Upon, Google, YMail and Gmail. We love seeing some of the same determined entrants in addition to an influx of new designers looking for their perfect pair of free custom jeans.

To all of our participants- thank you for entering! Remember, we’re giving away a pair of free jeans EVERY month, so keep entering! We’ve already started getting entries for July, so start designing your custom jeans to get your new pair!

Congratulations again to Tabitha!