Trendlet: Frayed jeans

So the hem on your jeans got in a tussle with a seam ripper and lost, you say?

Perfect.

Jeans featuring pant legs and waistbands with released hems - think very, very worn - are giving this summer's high-waisted bell-bottoms and slouchy boyfriend jeans a must-have look. Pair your light-blue or gray britches with stretchy tank tops or sheer blouses for some after-hours casual fun.

Here we have yet another look snatched from the pages of a 1970s fashion magazine. Back then, however, frayed hems were more organic (and cheap) because they were just old jeans.

In the mid-1980s - remember Al B. Sure!'s album cover and Donnie Wahlberg on the cover of Teen Beat? - Gen Xers actually paid for shredded jeans. Denim went high-end in the early 2000s, and again, to the chagrin of baby-boomer parents, people shelled out upward of $150 for jeans. At first they were very tailored and trouserlike. But each subsequent year, the jeans became more and more distressed.

This summer, thanks to the popularity of outdoor concerts like Coachella and Philadelphia's Made in America, fashions steeped in hippie history are hot with millennials. Couple that with our continued willingness to pay top dollar for all things distressed - jackets and shirts included - and we are saying bye-bye to deep cuffs and hello to loose threads.

The brunchin' fashionista, with a blazer and a colorful, vintage clutch; the clubbin' fashionista, with a leather peplum and strappy heels; the artsy fashionista, with fitted plaid shirt and a pair of Converse.

I like frayed bottoms, but something about the strings activates my OCD. So, I'd want to pair them with a swank pair of pumps for stature and style, but my feet would prefer vintage Chuck Taylors. For these reasons, I'm on the fence.

Depends on where you are going. I wouldn't wear them in a conservative office or to a really nice restaurant. But a well-placed rip or an unfinished hem adds panache to denim wearers of all ages who find themselves at flea markets or dinner alfresco.

215-854-2704 @ewellingtonphl

Model Susan Falkoff wears calf-length boyfriend jeans, Calvin Rucker, $289. Jennifer Goldenberg wears flare jeans, J.Brand, $259. Both available at First Impressions, 470 Germantown Pike, Lafayette Hill, 610-828-6775

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