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When did you buy-

(52 Posts)
trisher Mon 25-May-15 10:59:40

Your first pair of jeans? I was looking at the seven or so pairs of jeans in my wardrobe and suddenly remembered the first pair I ever bought. I was 17 and had to go to the Army and Navy surplus store-no-one else stocked them. My mother wouldn't let me have ones that zipped up the front-they were mens and no respectable girl would wear trousers with a fly front!!! I had to have womens with a zip at the side. They were too baggy. I narrowed the legs then sat in a hot bath wearing them so they shrunk to size. I wore them with a big black polo necked jumper and thought I was very cool!

Grandma2213 Mon 01-Jun-15 03:08:22

My first trousers were Tartan Trews around 1961 when I was 14. They were very wide and soon I took them in by hand sewing all down the side seams to make them narrower! I can't remember my first jeans but I always aspired to Levis which I finally bought for the exorbitant price of about £5 when I was around 19. I wore them for years and years although I was never happy with the outside seam which seemed to curve around. Wranglers suited me better but I couldn't afford them till I was about 24 years old! I have since worn men's jeans, bootcuts and stretchy narrow legs (when I lost weight) depending upon my changing shape and size but I still love jeans! My bum feels good in them!

Nelliemoser Sun 31-May-15 11:21:26

late 60s early 70s I had a woven tapestry look Kaftan with a zip down the front. ?C&A I can't remember.
I really coveted it and bought it as there were no other ones in the shop, despite the fact that I should have had the next size up. It was always too tight even then, and I was only about 8 stone.

Maggiemaybe Sun 31-May-15 11:13:59

When I eventually got my own stylish flares, aged 15ish, my friends and I would walk into the sea to shrink them to fit, then let them dry on us. And this was on the North East coast, not the Med grin. Cue old ladies warning us that we would get arthritis when we got older. Luckily this hasn't happened.

Maggiemaybe Sun 31-May-15 11:08:37

My first pair of jeans were my sister's hand me downs. She is 13 years older than me. My school had organised a sponsored knitting event in the town square confused and we were told we had to wear trousers. I was 12, it was the mid 60s, and my jeans were pure 1950s. I was so embarrassed, but looking back I bet they were the most stylish jeans there. Of course they had a side zip!

Nelliemoser Sun 31-May-15 10:56:59

Trisher I had a charity shop fur coat as well. Exactly as you describe with a torn lining. Mine was back in the early 70s. Fond memories. grin

trisher Sun 31-May-15 10:07:05

Grannieanne I loved C&A as well, such a lot of great stuff and so cheap.
*baubles and Marelli- charity shop fur coats- forgotten all about them. Tatty old things no one would even look at now. Rotten linings and doubtful origins, but weren't they great!

PRINTMISS Sun 31-May-15 08:58:36

Never worn jeans.

nannymeryl Sun 31-May-15 08:49:19

bought a pair of black jeans when I was 16. hipster jeans with massive flares, thought I was the bee's knees!
loved to see young guys in hipsters though, yummy!!

Marelli Sun 31-May-15 01:02:19

I was allowed my first pair of jeans when I was about 15. My mother was really straightlaced and searched everywhere for a pair with a back zip. She seemed to think that if my jeans had zip at the front I would look unladylike!
Never did manage to lay my hands on an Afghan coat, but did come across a cracker of a (mixed) fur jacket which I wore until it fell apart. I worry now about what fur it was though.

Grannieanne Sat 30-May-15 10:22:18

I got my first pair in 1964 from C&A (I loved that shop!) they were named after a French pop star I'd never heard of, and they had a front fastener and flared bottoms. I got them for a school sailing camp, and very quickly realised that denim is fiedishly uncomfortable when wet! Also all the boys at the camp (I went to an all girls' school so it mattered) laughed at me for wearing boys' trousers. The final straw was when I got home my mother washed them and ironed them with the creases down the sides, because her brother had been in the navy and that's how sailors' trousers were worn. (I did love them, though)

baubles Fri 29-May-15 06:38:01

My mother must have bought my first jeans as I know I owned a pair of Levi's before I earned any money. I've worn jeans all of my life since then. From the shrink to fit Levi 501s and the flares which I embellished with butterfly motifs to the skinny jeans I wear now, I've loved them all.

I too had the smelly afghan, the charity shop fur coat worn over long cheesecloth skirts, a braided ribbon tied around my head and a much loved suede fringed bag hanging from my shoulder to complete the look. Sadly I have no photos of this get up, I'm sure it would amuse the DGCs no end. smile

chrissyh Thu 28-May-15 20:51:51

I had my first pair of jeans in the early 60s and, as some posts before, sat in the bath with them on - not exactly sure why but I think somebody told me that they would fit better - or maybe just to soften them up. I remember when bell bottoms came out, it was fashionable to cut your old jeans up about a foot from the bottom, and insert a triangle of either denim from an old pair or any material you liked - could make them as flared as you wanted.

eGJ Thu 28-May-15 08:24:01

Bought a pair of men's jeans in Leeds in the early sixties and got a tailor (lots of them there then) to make them fit grin (couldn't fit into them now!!)

Iam64 Thu 28-May-15 08:05:51

I bought my afghan waistcoat (couldn't afford the long coat I longed for) in 1968. It finally went to the charity shop a couple of years ago, having had an extended life in the dressing up box. It's one of those items I sometimes wish I'd kept up in the attic sad

janeainsworth Wed 27-May-15 22:58:01

One of my boyfriends appeared at our house wearing an Afghan coat. My Dad viewed him with deep suspicion wink

trisher Wed 27-May-15 21:38:38

ylangylang and patchouli-hippies forever!

AlieOxon Wed 27-May-15 20:45:39

I remember a smelly waistcoat with long, long fringes....it stunk of ylangylang forever!

grandma60 Wed 27-May-15 20:37:03

Smelly Afghan coat! That brings back memories. My first boyfriend wore one. Went well with the orange crushed velvet loons!

trisher Wed 27-May-15 14:53:00

No, but I sooo wanted one!

Katek Wed 27-May-15 10:38:32

I can't remember exactly....must have been in the early 70's from some hippy shop in Cockburn Street, Edinburgh! Prior to that in the mid 60's I had some 'ski pants' which had a stirrup for your foot. I much preferred my floaty cheesecloth maxi skirt in rainbow tones! I'm wearing jeans still but oh boy, am I grateful for Lycra mix. That extra ' give' makes all the difference. DH had purple crushed velvet loon pants with satin triangular insert. Did anyone have a smelly Afghan coat that smelt even worse in the rain?!?

trisher Wed 27-May-15 09:48:55

Wow celialillian think you qualify for the first ever jean buy. It was about 1963 when I got mine and I thought I was really trendy. You must have been streets ahead fashion-wise

celialillian Tue 26-May-15 17:34:16

My first pair of jeans was in 1954 I was 14 years old....if I remember right, there were no girls jeans in this country.my friend and I went to see a Doris Day film and she had on turned up jeans and a check shirt....we decided that was the look for us. We bought boys jeans and boys shirts. We thought we looked fantastic. I then had the idea that I wanted to look really American, I bought some gold coloured round paper clips. The ones that were pushed through the paper and the clips folded back. I sat on my bed and spent an entire evening pushing these clips through the side of my jeans all the way down the sides of the legs. They looked great, gold shiny studs....then I put them on and endured for weeks, the scratches from the studs all down the side of my legs, some even bled... just to look like Doris day. fashion can be so painful

numberplease Mon 25-May-15 23:00:48

I`ve never owned a pair of jeans in my life! When I was a teenager I wore trousers occasionally, but when I put weight on later on I stopped wearing them. Then 2 years ago, I got my courage back and started buying trousers again, but still no jeans. One of my daughters lives in them, but to me they look SO uncomfortable!

Deedaa Mon 25-May-15 22:33:44

I bought my first ones in 1963 when I was 17. I had to buy boy's jeans because girl's ones were always too short for me. In those days I had to wear a belt because they were too big round the waist (Oh if only!) When flares came in we used to sew up the legs of our jeans so that they were skin tight from hip to knee, I suppose nowadays you'd call them Boot cut. There was one boy at college who wore girl's jeans zipped up at the side. We all called him Poncey and suspected he was gay - perhaps he was, some of the boys must have been?

Iam64 Mon 25-May-15 21:24:34

I was 17 in 1966 and bought a pair of 30" waist Wranglers at the Army and Navy Stores. I was very skinny but couldn't wait for the store to get me a smaller pair due to the level of excitement I felt at actually owning a proper pair of jeans. I sat in the bath in them but they remained too big so I tightened them using mum's singer sewing machine, one of those you sat on the dining room table, and sewed by turning the handle.