Denim to go anywhere with you.

Ah—jeans. They’ve been around for almost 200 years and have undoubtedly stood the test of time, ever-popular as both fashion garment and work wear.

On a holiday, when luggage space is limited and I’m forced to choose my most comfortable, versatile, yet presentable (pics have to go on Instagram, after all) pieces of clothing, I always find myself gravitating towards a pair of jeans. It was only through my recent travel experiences that I realised the true versatility of a good piece of denim.

Here’s the picture—I had a big six-week trip planned at the beginning of the year visiting various parts of Taiwan and Japan, travelling through multiple flights, bullet trains, subways, and car trips. I hadn’t considered – until I actually booked my tickets – I would be visiting the rainy Taipei, humid Kaohsiung, cold and dry Tokyo, and snowy Kyoto, with a measly 20kg luggage weight limit over the span of my entire trip. Add to this the fact I booked the trip a little over a month before I was due to leave, which meant even less time to plan.

In the end, I packed two pairs of jeans—one traditional denim and one black—and went on my way, 14 hours across the globe.

A good pair of jeans can traverse countries and climates

On holidays, jeans are not only easily paired with dressed-up or dressed-down outfits but the dark and rough denim also means they’re incredibly low-maintenance (i.e. less laundry). Surprisingly, they also kept me warm enough in the snow but weren’t uncomfortable in the humidity, which was a huge and unexpected bonus.

A good pair of jeans is hard to come by and I had been on the hunt for ‘the one’ for a few years until I stumbled into Tea Tree Plaza’s Jeanswest one fateful afternoon. I found myself drawn to their massive back wall of jeans in different styles, colours, and cuts. What caught my attention was the ability to not only choose the size of the jeans but the length of the pant legs (i.e. short, regular, or tall) and this was also the day I found out that I had shorter than average legs. Tragic, I know.

With their diverse yet easily comprehensible range, I was able to decipher what style I liked best—a high-waisted 7/8th skinny in an indigo blue—picked it up and never looked back. My trusty pair of Jeanswest jeans have now hiked with me up the steps of the old mountain town of Jiufen and along the grey pebbled coasts of Sanxiantai, ridden with me on bicycles through the lush green paddy fields of Taitung’s Mr. Brown Avenue, pranced through the snow-white plains of Miyama, and waded through Kyoto’s red sea of 10,000 torii gates. They not only accompanied me through the physical journey but now hold a plethora of irreplaceable memories.

Now that I’ve conquered Asia, I’m setting my sights on Europe and, though I’m not sure exactly when I’ll be going or who I’ll be going with, I will without a doubt be bringing along the perfect travel companion—my indigo blue high-waisted 7/8th skinny jeans.

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