THE majority of trends owe their origins to a common impulse among the fashion industry. Occasionally, however, there is a popular stirring which appears to start entirely of its own accord. The current craze for enormous turn ups on denim jeans is just such a trend. True, it has been something of a hallmark in the work of Austrian designer Helmut Lang for the past few years, but the real source for turn ups today is in American prisons. Deprived of belts, inmates took to rolling up the hems of their baggy standard issue trousers. This look was then copied by black city kids and has now crossed the Atlantic.
Strangely, while the baggy jeans with jumbo turn-ups style is the essence of cool in London at the moment, it has yet to be picked up here. For Irish youth, obviously, turn ups are still equated with poor fit. But the essence of the present fad is that the turn up is just so deep (around six inches is about right), it quite clearly has to be intentional. While a narrow leg will look more flattering on women, for men a roomy pair of jeans is most effective. Bigger (or at least longer) is definitely better, so if you are going to buy new jeans this summer, ignore the sales talk about a snug fit. To turn up looking hip, you're going to need turn ups.