In Praise of the Denim Shirt
Mick's Bizarre Hierarchy...
I often, as often as possible, go ‘triple denim’—shirt, jacket and, jeans. There have been moments when I’ve considered purchasing a denim Newsboy but on consultation, my mate kindly pointed out that I was way too old to get away with it.. didn’t. Speaking of age, that’s the great thing about denim shirts, whether you’re ten or a hundred and ten, they’re age-appropriate. My triple denim ensembles are partially a ‘fuck you’ to those tutting over double denim but ultimately, it’s due to a love affair with the fabric. An affair that’s lasted as long as I can recall. As a child, my nan wouldn’t allow me to wear jeans. She thought of them as ‘common’ but I’d desperately wanted a pair of Tesco Bombers. Eventually, I whined long enough for my mum to send a pair of jeans up from London but they weren’t right. It was ‘brushed’ denim. They may have been good quality but they weren’t what the rest of the kids wore.
My desire to fit in was only part of it. As a child left his own devices, I spent a disproportionate amount of time lying on the living room rug, watching telly. Back in the sixties, they showed a lot more old movies and, back in the 40s/50s they made a lot more westerns. Between those and the multitude of sixties TV shows set in the Wild West, I was never short of Cowboy action and cowboys, of course, wore jeans…
Yet, my obsession with denim shirts is a relatively new occurrence, it began maybe a decade ago and has grown, without any sign of abatement, ever since. To the uninitiated, a denim shirt’s a denim shirt and there’s not much more to say about it. Oh, how I envy those people. Free from obsession and blissful in their ignorance. The thing is, there are shirts made of denim and then, there are Western denim shirts. The latter comes with that yoke over the shoulder, Mother of Pearl snaps on the front placket, along with the pockets and sleeves. Sometimes pockets will feature two snaps, others have one but most good ones have three on the wrist of the sleeves.
As I’m somewhat insular, in other words, I live in a bubble, it’s come as something of a surprise to discover that practically every clothing company does a denim shirt. Even Barbour? Without having tried them all, I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that most are decent but for my part, you’ve got to go with either a Hipster brand or preferably, one of the big three—Lee, Wrangler and Levi’s. As ultimately those three still rule the denim shirt jungle. While the likes of RRL and a multitude of other ‘Hip’ outfitters will provide you with a shirt in a superior fabric, it’s difficult wearing a denim shirt in the relaxed manner it’s meant to be sported, if you’ve pulled up two hundred quid for it. Well, it is for me. They’re intended to be worn for work. I suppose if that entails typing into a keyboard, you can wear that a hundred-quid denim shirt with no risk of it getting ripped/covered in paint/ ETC, ETC. You’ll look a right sap but please tell me, when has that ever bothered the modern-day Hipster?
Though the Western-themed shirt takes precedence in my denim shirt hierarchy, there are sub-divisions. One is the San Quintin/American prison vibe. This category is difficult to define as its parameters exist exclusively in my sadly dysfunctional mind. The denim needs to be thinner though, that much I do know. I had a great one but unfortunately, I can’t get an image of it up but it was a Denim & Supply number. If you think I’m alone in this, which I did, you’d be wrong as there’s a Hip denim company who’ve produced ‘MOMOTARO 8oz Washed Selvedge Jail Pocket Shirt’. The blurb for it includes the line; Paying homage to the traditional American prisoner's uniform, this shirt features the large chest pockets which were apparently made with the horizontal opening to make it hard to hide anything.’ So, it’s not just me. I found it reassuring to be honest…
There’s a third branch of my denim shirt tree; The Visiting Professor vibe. The button down collared version, sported with a knit tie is an old favourite sported for work. When I go full Robert Redford I combine those two with a corduroy sports coat.
I’m confident other companies produce decent button-downs but Ralph’s Polo version’s always stood me in good stead so I tend to stick with that one. Though, in truth, the logo can be a nause when reaching for the American academic look but…
So, there you have it, the ability to turn ‘I like denim shirts.’ Into a six minute read.
