Worn out before they're worn?

Do you want a pair of jeans with the holes already there? Fancy buying something that is old before its time - worn out before it's been worn? I couldn't help taking this picture of the shop window at Primark in Newcastle this week. Of course I know that torn jeans are 'in fashion' and that pre-ripped clothing is nothing new, but it just struck me as funny that the shopkeeper thinks that tatty and torn goods are a great advert for his store! It is almost like he or she is proud of their already rubbished clothing!

That started me thinking about why pre-torn fashion may have caught on. Once I started thinking about it, I couldn't help but notice how scruffily most people were dressed all around me, including in church! Don't get me wrong - I welcome casual clothing and dressing down in preference to all the pretend preening of yesteryear - but I sense an issue especially for the young in this latest trend.

I am concerned that just as 'power dressing' can make you feel good about yourself and boost confidence, pre-ripped and faded clothing can have the opposite effect on the wearer. It is almost as if they are saying 'this is all I'm worth'. That's wrong, of course, because these young people are of infinite worth to God and special in his eyes, but is that how they see themselves?

When denim jeans were first invented by Levi Strauss and Jacob David in the USA in the early 1870's they were a really welcome invention for the factory workers on the East Coast, farmers in the midwest, and miners on the West Coast. Typically during this period, if you saw rips or any type of holes in jeans it wasn’t really a fashion statement. It was literally a sign that these people did manual labour and were below the poverty line. Apparently, wearing torn and “holey” denim pants didn’t become a fashion statement until the 1970s, when jeans were commandeered by the punk rock movement. There followed an 'anti-fashion' surge in the US which held to the notion of not caring what clothes you wore. From that, ripped clothing became associated with protest and social anarchy. That all seems to be common on this side of the Pond today too!

If you or your teenagers need ventilation in their trousers I wouldn't worry too much, but I would recommend making sure that they know they are loved and valued just as they are. Young people use up a lot of emotional fuel as they go through their pressurised lives, and their tanks get empty quickly. Hugs and assurances of love and care, may not influence their choice of clothing, but might make a big difference to what goes on under the surface of their hearts!

And they're free!