For more than 150 years people have been wearing denim. Over all that time it has never completely gone out of fashion. However, it´s popularity has sometimes waned.

For decades, if you walked down your average street practically everyone would be wearing denim jeans. But, for the past few years that has not been the case.

Around 2010, people started to wear colourful cotton skinny jeans, instead of traditional blue denim ones. The athleisure trend also had an impact. More and more people chose to wear joggers or leggings instead of jeans. For the first time, in many years, denim jean sales fell.

However, this year, that has changed. Without a doubt this popular fabric is coming back into vogue.

Baggier jeans

This is partly down to the fact that a lot of fashion designers have decided to reference the 80s when putting together their 2017 collections. During this decade, absolutely everyone wore denim shirts, and jeans. As a result, designers have started to include denim items in their collections again.

During the 80s, the cuts were very different from what we have all been wearing recently. They were high waisted, and far baggier than the skinny jeans we have all got used to wearing, these past few years. From the looks of things this looser cut is set to make a bit of a comeback, in 2017.

The double denim trend

Another 80s trend we are starting to see re-emerging is double denim. Pairing a light blue shirt with a dark skirt, shorts or jeans is a popular look.

This is a slight departure from the double denim trend of the 80s. Back then, as much as possible, people tried to wear the same shade of blue top and bottom.

Some men and women are taking things a step further and opting to wear triple denim. Again, the key to pulling off this look is to wear different shades of blue, which creates an interesting contrast and provides definition.

Denim pencil skirts

There are also more denim skirts becoming more widely available in the shops. Most are short, with unstitched hems. However, there are also signs that designers are starting to target those who prefer something longer. Denim pencil skirts have started to appear in many summer ranges, and there are early signs that, by the autumn, these will be a wardrobe staple.

Washed out and stone washed denim

Whilst there are plenty of dark denim skirts and dresses in the shops the majority of the shirts and jeans are light blue. Again, this is a reference to the 80s, when pale blue stone washed jeans and jackets were the height of fashion.

Unusual uses for denim in women’s fashion

This traditional fabric really is everywhere, even on the beach. Some designers have opted to make bikinis and swimming costumes using lightweight denim fabrics.

For firms like Levi Strauss & Strauss, this denim revival is no surprise. Over the 150 years they have been in business they have seen demand wax and wane. However, at some point, this iconic fabric always comes back into fashion.