InJeanious!
High Country Denim ‘Jean-eology’ Calms our COVID Blues By Gail Greco Funky Tulip
W
e’re going above the fray this summer, the pandemic having woven a silver lining into our beloved denim jeans. They’re flared at the bottom with a dramatic swinging bell shape or just a hintof-kick at the ankle and with a higher give at the rise. And, that’s not all. Displayed in store windows and beckoning fashionably on sidewalk mannequins all over the High Country, this season’s new relaxed jeans are responding to our needs, walking us back to serenity, hope, and the promise of fun again! “The change is subtle and friendly, with looser jeans maybe even more flattering and even cooler to wear now in the hotter weather,” informs Lisa Ireland, owner of Funky Tulip women’s boutique in Blowing Rock. The state of our jeans is particularly near-and-dear to our hearts here. Denim is in our DNA, a High Country “jeaneology” that began with textile giant Moses Cone, known as the Denim King. So, it’s metaphoric that his Cone Manor, located on the Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, is also taking on a fresh new look. From doorknobs to rooftop, an exciting structural facelift at the historic 1901 home is underway at the now National Park Service property, scraped down to the bare wood, looking like—well—the distressed rips on some trendy jeans... carpenters and artisans diligently repairing years of the manor’s
54 Summer2021 2021CAROLINA CAROLINAMOUNTAIN MOUNTAINLIFE LIFE 46——Summer
At Boone Belles
Mountains of Denim by David Westwood
peeling skin with putty, paint, and passion. Right now you can’t get into Moses’s and wife Bertha’s summer home to visit the rooms during renovations, but you can ease “in” to your roomier new jeans that are literally hanging out at Funky Tulips’ The Denim Bar. Step up to that bar and try on a charming wide-legged pair, for example, with a floral fabric calf-to-ankle inset for everyday wear—but still chic enough for the Denim Ball, the annual fundraiser that the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation hopes to hold again. Denim worn to a ball in the High Country is our glass slipper, but one we find easily. Take Watsonatta Western Wear in Boone, and wow, jeans are stacked practically from floor to ceiling. Same at Mo’s Boots where buyer/manager Kelly Hardy pulls out a pair of the popular Carhartt men’s work jeans, always baggie, but maybe even more so now. He shows us a 34-inch waist you think’s gotta be a 42-incher and he can’t keep them in stock. He’s not surprised: “The working class never stopped during the pandemic,” he beams. “The reason, the stimulus...more than quadrupling our sales.” Hardy’s wife, Michelle, manages the so-called Mosey’s women’s department at Mo’s West Jefferson. “We started seeing the ‘widees’ in fall, and now for summer the capris are flared, too!” she says. “At the Atlanta Apparel (buyer’s) Mart I attended
Rachel O'Hare at Lililu
this year, anyone selling jeans at all had the wide-legs. So you’ll be finding them now wherever you shop.” That includes Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, already in full supply of relaxed Levi’s just as the jeans giant’s CEO Chip Berg had promised in spring: “We have rushed to respond to customers searching now for more comfortable jeans,” and he forecasts: “We believe this option in jeans is here to stay. It’s not a trend.” He’s probably right. From subtly distressed to more tailored but dazzling prints cuffed, cropped or full length, the new look “adds fun and possibilities, expanding your jeans wardrobe,” explains LeAnn Gregory, a manager at Lililu on King women’s clothing shop in Boone. “Any age can wear these jeans, and we help them find the right fit for their body type so they can dress with confidence. Tops also complement the look either tucked, cropped or long and tied at the waist,” she adds. “Initially, older women were hesitant, but once they try them on, and with our chunky wedges, they feel so light and comfortable, they go for it. Definitely a wardrobe addition that’s catching on fast!” Jeans brands at Mast General Store are coming in traditional true-blue indigo but washed lighter, reports Sheri Moretz, “and some with decorative hems like eyelet are versatile enough for a football game
