The minute the clocks go forward and there's an actual queue for an outside table, white jeans come out of the bottom drawer. They're a proper spring and summer thing for me, the kind of item that makes an ordinary Tuesday feel like you've made an effort without trying on six different outfits first.
I won't pretend they're sensible. White jeans are a liability the second anything wet, greasy or red comes near them, and I've learned that the hard way more than once, including a disastrous moment with a bolognese that ended with me scrubbing my own lap in a pub toilet while my mate kept watch at the door. They're a terrible choice for anything involving mud, a car journey in the rain, or sitting on a bench that hasn't been wiped down, and if you've got kids or dogs who jump up without warning, you'll know within the hour whether today was the day to wear them. They're also not a great pick for the depths of winter, not because of the cold exactly, but because white against grey skies and slush just looks like you've lost an argument with the weather.
Where they genuinely earn their spot is everything bright, outdoors and slightly dressed up. A long lunch, a garden do, a weekend where you know you'll be sat on decent chairs rather than floors. As for how they age, decent denim with a bit of weight to it holds its shape and doesn't go grey and tired looking the way thin, cheap white denim does after a few washes. Wash them separately, always, on a cool cycle, because even a stray navy sock will leave a shadow you can't shift. Line dry if you can, tumble drying thins the fabric faster than you'd expect and that's when they start looking more cream than white. A spot of neat stain remover dabbed on the second something lands on them works far better than waiting until laundry day, by which point it's set in for good.
Keep them away from anything that bleeds colour, so no denim jackets with dark rivets resting against the thigh, no leaking tote bags, and definitely no new dark tops that haven't been washed yet, because the dye transfer is real and it doesn't come out. Dark shoes are fine, dark bags rubbing against the leg for a whole afternoon are asking for trouble.
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