Throughout the pandemic, clothes have been a useful measuring stick for our confidence, or lack thereof. It’s no surprise that in the dog days of the pandemic, sweatpants sales were through
the roof. The New York Times reported last April that even as clothing sales overall plummeted 79%, sweatpants sales were up 80%. The rollout of vaccines is having the opposite effect on apparel sales. Customers’ cautious optimism seems to be reflected in the clothes they’re buying. All the jean stats are now pointing upwards: Levi’s expects revenues to grow by about a quarter in the first half of this year. At L.L. Bean, “pants with buttons and zippers have begun outselling those with drawstrings or elastic waistbands” over the past few weeks, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The good news is that pants didn’t remain in stasis during quarantine. You may have heard that skinny jeans are dead. The teens are saying it, and even the designer Mike Amiri, who made a killing on thigh-hugging jeans, unceremoniously dumped them last month. Not unlike folks who learned how to bake bread or became master yogis during quarantine, jeans, too, picked up a few new tricks. Look no further than the legendary Diane Keaton, who took her dog for a walk in peak denim: huge and voluminous with pockets large enough to stash your keys, wallets, and all your hopes and dreams.
Diane freakin' Keaton!
BG004/Bauer-GriffinThe jean comeback is reflected everywhere you look: a recent American Express commercial shows a woman getting back into her jeans. “It’s coming back to you now,” a narrator says in a gentle tone before letting out a sigh of relief. “Real pants.” The woman buttons her last button, and she smiles. Jeans are back—and they have come to represent a return to normalcy. And if you haven’t gotten back onto the hard pants express yet, you’re in luck: Levi’s just so happens to have a massive sale going on right now.
