Let’s Analyse The Degrees of Appropriate Denim Distress

From diddy little knee rips to thigh-less denim chaps; here is our guide to the degrees of denim distress.

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by Pandora Sykes |
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However you wear yours - skinny; wide-leg; boyfriend; mom; girlfriend; grandpa (lol) - there's a big movement going on in the denim community. We're calling it the Texan Ripped Denim Massacre. Except it's not really anything to do with Texas. Allow us to introduce you to the degrees of denim distress.

1. Baby rips

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As seen on Poppy Delevingne, the first (baby) steps of distress (scattered liberally, in miniature form, from hip to ankle) work best with an otherwise preppy outfit, like her pillar box red macintosh, crew neck sweater and court shoes. This is a good level of rippage for when you're keeping things pretty smart.

 

Tyler Distress Low Rise Boyfriend Jeans, £225 Paige at Net-a-Porter, Boyfriend Angie Jeans, £44.99 Mango

2. Peeping toms

 

If you just want to show you knee caps and nothing else, then opt for what I call 'the manicured rip': use a cheese grater to break down the denim on the knee, before carefully ripping a small circle from which your knee caps can peek through, surrounded by some tactical frays. As well as DIY on a regular pair though, you can buy some with teeny slits and make the holes bigger if you like (oi oi) or save yourself even an iota of bother with these perfectly distressed R13 ones.

 

MOTO Rip Stone Jamie Jeans, £40 Topshop, Skinny With Ripped Knees Jean in Light Blue, £197.05 R13 at Forward Forward

3. The 'I don't give a fuck' knee rips

 

This is what happens when you lovingly curate the perfect knee rips, above and then just get anarchic and wrench them to and fro a bit. Looks nice on black jeans, this. Just look at Bip! Lovely. Don't forget about black jeans. Distressed jeans doesn't just have to happen to indigo or stonewash denim, ok? Try a pair of jeans with small knee rips and just mess them about a bit. There is* so* much fun to be had in deliberately ruining your clothes. Brings out the naughty 5-year-old in us all.

 

Ridley High Waist Ultra Skinny Jean In Warm Charcoal, £32 ASOS, Ellen Knee Rip Jean, £12.13 Cotton On

**4. Put your foot through the rip and pray **

 

Rips as large as Margaret Zhang's can look positively scandalous in certain environs - but they don't half look brilliant when supersized, with a large portion of tanned thigh on show and a casual chambray shirt. Try these Boohoo ones and stick your foot through for a mega Zhangian hole; or if you're really brave you can go the full thigh-less hog with these THP Shop ones, created by Haute Pursuit blogger Vanessa Hong. Just remember: there's no way back with this. It's the final frontier of denim distress.

 

Adriana Distressed Bleach Relaxed Skinny Jeans, £25 Boohoo.com, Anya Jeans, £90.95 THP Shop.

**Follow Pandora on Twitter **@pinsykes

Pictures: Jason Lloyd-Evans, Rex

This article originally appeared on The Debrief.

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