Recently at a gathering in my family home I stumbled upon some photo albums that I hadn’t seen in years. Needless to say there were plenty of cringe-worthy ‘get-ups’ from decades past but one particular picture stood out. Decked out completely from head to toe in denim, there I was, 13 years old, looking quite happy with myself.

In retrospect to say my look was overbearing is an understatement. I wouldn’t mind the clothes weren’t even my own. I’d raided my brothers wardrobe, who’s five years my senior, and ‘borrowed’ (without permission of course) one of his newest pairs of Levi’s 501, matching denim shirt, denim jacket and doused myself in Dior Fahrenheit (also his!). At the time I’m sure I looked pretty stylish – at least that’s what I’m telling myself!

The cyclical nature of fashion (no matter how bad the photos are from the first time round) inevitably means most styles from past decades enjoy a revival in one form or another. Towards the end of ‘09 the denim shirt made a revival and this spring summer it’s the turn of double denim – wearing two items of denim in one outfit – last seen in the early 90’s.

This time round, it’s easy to avoid the disastrous stereotypical cowboy look (a la Britney and Justin see below) as there are so many different styles, washes and types of denim on the highstreet.

The key to rocking the double denim look is to mix colours and washes. Unless you want to end up looking like Britney or JT please do not wear denim jeans and a denim jacket/shirt of the same colour or wash. The double denim look is all about mixing and layering. The easiest way to achieve this is to combine a nice dark wash pair of jeans with a lighter denim wash shirt/jacket (not both!). Team with something like leather or lace for contrast and a pair of killer heels, brogues or some simple converse and you’re all set.