Weekend Edition #22: Lock, stock, and barrel jeans
Weekend Edition #22: Lock, stock, and barrel jeans
Rolling through the barrel, and why it's striking gold right now
Howdy!
I’ve spent the last few weeks out west in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Between juggling camp schedules, time zone adjustments, remote work, a work trip across the Atlantic, trail runs, hikes, and swimming in the local hot springs, I’ve been admiring how the myriad types of people who converge on this small town dress. From rangy rock climbers, generational ranchers, and fancy Texans, to backpackers, river guides (I just bought my second pair of Tevas, and these are coming back to New York with me), families on their way to Yellowstone, and influencers from LA, there is a huge cross-section of style.
I figured it was just a function of my surroundings (when in Rome and all) that I was being drawn to a cowboy aesthetic more than usual. I’ve added to my bandana collection, I really really want these flats with their adorable tiny western buckles (I’ve been eyeing them for months), and I’m even more obsessed with denim than usual. But then I read
’s deep dive on suede, and then the algorithm served me ’s Substack about how her time in Sun Valley, Idaho (not far from Jackson) is inspiring her autumn outfitting, followed by Allison Bornstein falling down the rabbit hole and landing on country cousin as her dominant look for the season...and I realized that while western style has been riding across the fashion landscape for awhile, the trend is now a stampede.And the most interesting part of this trend, to me, is the barrel jean. Hear me out. I’ve been paying attention to this shape since B Sides launched their Lasso jean a few years ago. B Sides is a vintage-inspired denim brand and was started by my first boss at Abercrombie & Fitch, Stacy Daily, and her best friend, Claire Lampert. Their denim “obsession has taken them from Colorado, where they work with a local cowboy who specializes in unearthing rare specimens, to industrial rag houses, where they pick through massive palettes of old garments in search of that perfectly imperfect pair.” Stacy has always had the best eye and their denim is really great. I wasn’t ready to lasso the Lasso when it first launched (it’s on the more exaggerated side with an extra inset leg panel), but I did test the waters with Tibi’s Brancusi jean when I found it on sale on Net-a-Porter in 2020. The Brancusi (so named after the artist and his 1923 bird sculptures) gently balloons out at the thigh and has more of a nipped-in shape at the ankle. It’s a good starting point for this shape.
But now I’ve ridden fully into the ring. I own and love these Everlane jeans. I just bought the
recommended Nili Lotan Shon pants in ‘wood’ from Terra on the town square in Jackson. Now I’m trying to figure out why I think this shape is exactly right for right now.
Sure my eye has adjusted over the last four years (that’s how style shifts work), but it feels like there is more to it. I wanted to see what others were saying, so I typed “barrel jean history” into Google, and as they say, the rest is history. Just kidding, but Google did return former fashion editor Jane Herman’s newsletter, which is a fantastic follow. She connected the barrel shape to the cowboy’s bowed legs (from horseback riding), further emphasized by their chaps. I then Googled “vintage cowboy photos” for further research, but as I was working through watermarks, I remembered I had a coffee table book on my coffee table, literally two feet from me, titled West: The American Cowboy. It’s a fantastic photography tome featuring Anouk Masson Krantz’s stunning black-and-white images of 21st-century cowboys and cowgirls. As I was turning the pages of this beautiful book, the kindling sparked in my brain.
Those bow legs, the leather chaps, the wide stance. They all visualize a way of moving, a way of walking, a way of being. A strut. An attitude. Also known as:
swagger
Good ole American swagger. Showing off our confidence, our sense of importance, our idea of a good time.
It might be our #1 export.
And I think that is what feels so right about barrel jeans, and the larger Western trend right now. It’s nostalgic and patriotic, bombastic and optimistic. It’s also fun. I think the tipping point this summer has been the confluence of these factors. First, the Olympics, where American spirit and positive patriotism (coined by the great
) were on full display. Second, this election season. Every four years, the country comes together to analyze every other part of the country. We become armchair experts on the people in Iowa, the Midwestern wall, and the Sunbelt, and their lifestyles and hopes and dreams. I think the daily focus on our vast, diverse country — our patchwork project of democracy - wedges itself into our subconscious wardrobe choices, too., in a separate discussion with Kara Swisher on the astronauts - aka space cowboys - currently stuck in space, also spoke about how he helps NASA mentally train astronauts to use nostalgia as a mindfulness (and survival) tool when they’re out in the universe looking back at the thin blue line of atmosphere protecting our planet. Essentially, accessing the power of nostalgia and happy memories can keep them grounded and stable while floating in zero gravity. So does the exercise of imagining their futures when they’ll be looking back on this time.This season is always one of transition, but this year, it’s also a defining moment for our country. We’re looking backward and forward, to create a more perfect present.
And that takes swagger.
Giddy up!
X Lindsay
I love barrel jeans - to me they are officially permanent part of my denim wardrobe. Loved this and all the cowboy vibes!
Loved this newsletter! Tracing why barrel, why now, was so fab.