WORKDAY BLUES: Dungarees £30, top £10, both from Top Shop.

Only six months ago jeans were being written off as more Jeremy Clarkson than Kate Moss. Once an emblem of youth, it seemed that they were only worn by middle-aged men while the 20-somethings went for combat trousers.

The consequences were dramatic for Levi, the top brand of the 1980s. Sales dropped by 13% and the company recently had to lay off 30% of its US workforce.

But now denim is making a dra-matic fashion comeback - proving once again just what a durable fab-ric it is. Suddenly it is everywhere - from jeans to fitted skirts and spangly dresses, all in the new indigo blue.

Teenage band Bwitched re-introduced 70s-style flares while Kate Moss - probably the most stylish of supermodels - posed top-less in a pair of jeans for the front of last month's Vogue. There has also been added interest thanks to the hype surround-ing Gucci's £2,000 customised jeans. Who would wear cut-off jeans with feathers and embroidery Well, Natalie Appleton of All Saints for a start.

Caroline Baxter, fashion editor of Zest magazine, says: "Denim is huge for summer 1999. It has never gone away totally but this year every design-er has incorporated a denim story in their collec-tions."

Slightly flared boot cut jeans will continue to be popular this summer - but the new denim story for men and women is the carpenter jean with its workman-like side hammer pocket. Worn baggy with a T-shirt and trainers it is a great casual look for either sex.

The return of denim means that there is a huge choice of jeans in the shops.

Gap jeans, which are popular on both sides of the Atlantic, have a good selection of styles - clas-sic fit, slim fit and boot cut - varying in price from £38 to £42.

This summer they also have the carpenter style in a choice of indigo blue, sandblasted and stone wash for both men and women (£42) as well as a baggy pair for trendy kids (£24).

Carpenter jeans are also avail-able in dark denim at Top Shop (£30) and Kookai (£45) and the work-man theme continues with dungarees (£59 Kookai and Top Shop £30) featuring the same hammer pockets.

But the sea of indigo doesn't stop there. Gucci's customised jeans are not the only designer denim around. Stella McCartney included cowgirl dresses in her collection for Chloe and there were strapless shifts from Matthew Williamson.

Included in the denim comeback on the High Street are pinafore dresses and ankle-length skirts from New Look and Oasis, often in a wrapapron style, as well as knee-length pencil skirts and strappy denim dresses.

Next has embraced the denim look wholeheartedly. It has indigo pinafore dresses in both long-length (£34.99) and knee-length (£29.99) which can be worn with either little T-shirts or, daringly, nothing at all.

Top Shop, River Island, Oasis and New Look have flirty separates which go with anything. When it comes to accessories, Oasis has flip flops in denim for £9.99 and denim bags are available from most high street fashion outlets.

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