Unlocking the Appeal of Men's Vintage Jeans

The vintage jeans market is one that is very fluid, with trends continually changing. New styles grow quickly in popularity while last year's designs rapidly fall into the un-cool category (only to re-find a new audience several years later no doubt). It is also a market that generates huge revenues for the major brands, with powerful clothing companies, adding a jeans range almost by default to take advantage. Hence jeans may be simple, but they are big business.

If you don't believe me, let's assume the average price of a pair of medium quality jeans in today's money is £35 and now multiply that by the number of pairs of jeans you can find in your home at the moment. You can very easily arrive at a figure of several hundreds of pounds and that's not taking into account any jeans you have previously discarded, passed onto friends or sold on. That figure may surprise or even worry you. What may also surprise you is that all that expenditure does not have to be lost cash because the second-hand market for pre-owned jeans is also very vibrant and your wardrobe of un-loved jeans, whatever their style, could be sold onto new owners, generating useful funds for your next pair of denim delights.

Denim jeans vary wildly in colour, although the classic "blue jean" variety of the original Levi's is still dominant. But there were phases when very light blue colours were the norm, or stone-washed mottled fabrics were big hits. In today's stores the dark blue selvage denims from Japan's premium factories are highly desirable. These high quality denim fabrics are designed never to be washed by the owner for fear of spoiling their unique look. That makes them almost treasured items, only to be worn on the most important occasions. Of course that by definition means that more than one pair is required and other, less vulnerable, jeans are required for casual wear. All good news for those selling jeans on the high street and equally good news for those that rely on a steady flow of extra product into the vintage market.

So when you are next on the high street take a look in all the different types of shops that include denim jeans on their inventory. You will find traders of many different types, keeping their own particular slice of this varied jeans range but the selection doesn't stop there though. Venture online and you'll find that an equally diverse range of traders are supplying jeans to the internet shopper. Jeans, jeans jeans, when will ever have enough of them.

It appears that our love of men's vintage jeans will go on forever with vintage clothing stores always stocking a full range. Sue looks at the history and trends that seem to recycle in this part of the fashion business

Top Urban Men's Clothing Styles You Must Know

Urban males see clothing as a form of self expression and they tend to stick to what works. In some cases, the occupation of a man can determine his fashion but there are trends in urban fashion that are worthy of note.

In the hip-hop urban male scene, complex graphic T-shirts, dark or muted colored hoodies, baseball caps and baggy jeans dominate the scene. In addition to this, athletic sneakers, tracksuits and sports jerseys are still trendy and if you are looking for nice outer wears, leather or puffy jackets are very much perfect.

For an urban male hipster, skinny jeans, a nice blazer and a faux-hawk, will do the magic. You can add plaid fedora, a 5 o'clock shadow, an '80 throwback T-shirt and thick-rimmed glasses so that you can add a sense of panache to your fashion.

Moreover, majority of urban dwellers are the attorneys, bankers, traders, and so on, whose daily wears are the suit and tie. The classic black and gray for the two-piece are favored by most urban men while white color is preferred for the shirt and monotone colors or conservative designs for the tie. Individuality cannot be ruled out in this ensemble as bright, full colored dress shirts are used by those who prefer them.

In the urban jungle, the popular clothing you will find there are torn jeans, high boots, worn leather, spiky metal accessories and ratty tees. However, in today's world, the qualities of punk clothing are higher than what we used to have in the past. The clothing are also flexible as you can get an old or new material and once you just tear it up or wear it out, it is qualified for the jungle. To cap it up all, a knit beanie, a mohawk or shaved head, piercings and tattoos will close the deal.

Urban males also fancy assorted necklaces as well as bracelets and they can go to any length to get them. There are even predictions that demand for drop-crotch jeans and color turquoise will go up among urban men. These trends and others should be watched out for because they may soon find their ways into the urban fashion world. Quality urban clothing should be purchased from the right source so that there will be assurance of excellence because there are those who are only interested in what they are going to gain and not quality.

Evergreen White

Do you see white in your future? No, I'm not referring to a wedding but rather your summer wardrobe. Nothing spells summer like white. While the temperature rises you can stay cool and look fantastic in white. White will add impact to your summer wardrobe and will keep you looking fresh and inviting. To get the most from wearing white I have a few suggestions.

#  White reflects light so wherever you wear it you will bring attention. Having said that, if you have any body parts you don't want to appear larger don't accentuate that area by adorning it in white and wearing a dark color next to it. What you can do is wear white from head- to- toe so no particular area has focus. For example, if you have large hips don't wear white bottoms with a dark top because the eye will be drawn to the bottom. Instead, wear a white top and white pants and use accessories to take the focus away from the problem area. Or wear white on top and black on the bottom.

#  Wear black and white combinations with accessories to create impact. Wear a white skirt with a black top, black shoes, white handbag, and a black/white necklace. Handbags and scarves that have a black and white pattern will also bring some pizzazz. Experiment.

# To change your look, wear white with bright colors such as pink and green. Again, choose accessories that will add interest. A pink or green bag, pink jewelry, pink shoes etc. You can also try 3 color combinations such as pink/black/white green/black/white or red/black/white.

#  Wear white only until the end of the summer season and don't wear white to a wedding unless you are the bride.

#  Wear white T-shirts with jeans and choose a finer fabric to wear with suits for a more professional look. When you wear whites pay attention to your undergarments - avoid lacy bras - choose to wear nudes, they will not show under white.

How to Dress for the Business World

# Treat your business clothing as an investment and choose wisely. Make sure you buy classic styles that suit your body shape, are comfortable, have quality workmanship and quality material. This is no time to try the latest fads. Take your time and shop around for the best price and the best service. Be aware of the return policy and if possible purchase your wardrobe items at a store that can do professional alternations if necessary.

# For business situations match your handbag, shoes and belt. Black shoes should be matched with a black handbag. This is not a time to get creative with your accessories or to wear colored shoes.

# Do not neglect your outerwear. Purchase a good quality coat that can be worn with either pants or a skirt. For cooler weather don't neglect your outdoor footwear. For skirts choose long knee-high boots.

# Keep shoes and boots in a good state of repair. Scuffed shoes with worn heels will ruin the look of your outfit.

# To complete your look choose soft leather gloves that will add a nice touch as well as keep your hands from getting chapped.

# Choose clothing material that reflects the season. Heavy fabrics and tweeds are best for Fall and Winter and will look out of place during Summer, as light linen fabrics will look out of place during Winter.

# Always wear a belt where there are belt loops. Choose a good quality leather belt and don't be tempted to wear a flashy or plastic belt. If you don't like belts choose pants without loops.

How Get The Perfect Shoes

Every man should know the mens dress shoes details before even considering buying their dress shoes. It is important to understand that these details define the quality in the shoes.

Instead of repeated spending on replacing damaged dress shoes, it pays to have a few quality ones that can last for years. The high quality mens dress shoes are eventually going to be more cost efficient than the cheap poor quality ones that are not made to last.

Mens dress shoes details are the foundation in building and shaping the dress shoes. It provides the comfort and firmness within that men are always sensitive about. Let us begin going through the mens dress shoes details:

* * Leather * *

Most mens dress shoes are made of leather. It is important to know what constitutes good leather since this material covers about 80 - 90% of the dress shoe.

Leather quality is graded from 1 to 5 with 1 being the highest quality. However, we can never find these grading on the dress shoes and neither would the sales personnel at the shoe department know.

Generally, base on laymen's sight and touch, we focus on a smooth with consistent fine grain on the leather for mens dress shoes details. The leather should feel rich and supple.

A good example of good quality leather would be napa, a type of calfskin. Calfskin are fine leather from skin of young calf or even lambs. These hides have fine grains and shines with high polish.

All leather hides naturally have blemishes or scars on them. The high quality leather will have little scars on it and hence the higher price. The difference in durability for high and low quality leather is small in variation so it is not a determinant in the pricing for leather mens dress shoes.

Blemishes on leather dress shoes can be hidden by using sealant products. It smoothens the leather and cover-up the blemishes. Therefore, if the leather itself has less polished finishing (i.e. glassy finish) or as naked as it is, it represents lesser possible concealment of blemishes.

One of the most important mens dress shoes details lies on having high quality leather that has minimum blemishes and also barely touched-up with any artificial sealants.

Still it is difficult for any layman to assess the quality of leather unless you really know leather very well. Instead of trying to assess the leather itself, the focus should be more on the construction of the mens dress shoes.

Mens dress shoes details start from the inside since dress shoes are made from inside out. Blemishes and faulty workmanship are usually concealed on the outside. So focusing on the inside will allow us to find difficult areas of cover-ups.

An important point of focus is the insole. High quality mens dress shoes have insoles made from leather rather than layers of cardboards. These leather insoles are durable and prevents unnecessary foot odor because it allows the foot to breathe and absorb perspiration.

It can also be easily replaced when worn out as well as helps in shaping the bottom of the dress shoes which are not possible with cardboard insoles.

* * Lining * *

Leather is still the focus here. High quality leather should still be used to work on the lining. A good example of such leather would be calfskin.

Make sure that the lining is smooth at the folds around the seams and edges. Fine stitch is important along the lining because a fine binding and clean finishing defines the workmanship of the mens dress shoes details.

* * Stitching * * 

Stitching is something that is not usually noticed among mens dress shoes details. We would recommend careful inspection of it.

Good quality stitching on mens dress shoes should be as inconspicuous as possible. It should be concealed from the top to the bottom of the dress shoes.

Remember to ensure that the inside of mens dress shoes do not have any exposed knots because these can cause a lot of discomfort for the wearer.

On the sole, a welt finishing involves stitching the leather in between the edge of the sole and the turned-in edge of the upper. These stitching should be hidden within the leather and should not have any loose ends revealed.

* * Soles * * 

Soles are the foundation of mens dress shoes details. It is the easiest to wear out from walking.

A good investment for mens dress shoes would be having leather soles. One good point about leather soles is that it is definitely more formal and refined looking than rubber soles.

Leather soles are usually tanned to make it more lasting. The light tanned hue on the sole avoids possible cover-up of blemishes and scars.

It also avoids exposed stitching. The stitching along the soles should be well-hidden under the channels cut within the soles. These represents the quality required for mens dress shoes details.

The soles can be made into various layers, from single to three, and it all depends one's personal choice, or to fit the formal dressing.

Make sure these soles are shaped as closely as possible to the foot to assure comfort for the wearer. Dress shoes soles should never be glued to the shoe. We should expect stitching around this area. It allows possible changing of the soles when worn out but not for those with glued soles.

* * Heels * *

Another important aspect about mens dress shoes details is the heel. Leather comes into play again. The heels are actually layered with leather and nailed together with brass pins.

This creates a tight reinforcement for the leather layers to create a cushion effect as well as sustainable support around the heels.

Make sure the heels are not oversized as this disrupts the balance for the mens dress shoes and can make walking with such heels very uncomfortable. For added durability, some heels are further attached with brass tacks to the sole.