I dream of jeans

I don't really wear a lot of denim. Even when I wore jeans every day, I had a hard time finding ones that fit well, so I've never really owned more than a handful at a time. Now, I only wear them once in a blue moon, and I have... one pair? Really. Huh. And they started out as Brian's, so it's not like I actually bought them or anything. Weird.

I've never actively disliked jean jackets, but I don't think I've ever owned one before. Maybe when I was a kid, but certainly not since I've been buying my own clothes. But I was a little too optimistic about the weather last week and left the house without a jacket, only to find myself shivering five minutes after I set foot out the door. I was going out that evening, so I popped into forever21 on my lunch break to pick up something to keep the chill off.

Nearly every mannequin had a little denim jacket on, and they were nice and cheap, so I figured I might as well go for it. It worked pretty well with my flowy pink dress, and then the next day with this green paisley number. On the days when I haven't worn it, it's mostly because I don't want to get too repetitive, not because it wouldn't work.

What's funny is that I think I would have recoiled in horror from a denim jacket last fall. I was favoring more distinctive, overtly vintage pieces, and something as humble as a denim jacket would have been far too normcore to create the kind of drama I was going for. What I'm liking about it now is that it makes things feel a little fresher, a little younger. It has a nice way of bringing something really dressy and over the top back down to earth, which feels more appropriate for the warmer weather.

Is there a piece that you guys previously would have wrinkled your nose at that you now find indispensable? Or, alternately, something that you used to wear all the time that now makes you wander what you were thinking?