As a bona fide Texan who grew up in cattle country, I want to comment on your article on jeans (‘They add 10 years to my age!’ What happened when a millennial and a gen Zer swapped jeans, 12 March). Jeans are, and were, working clothes. In the right pair, you can rope a calf, ride a bull or attend a barbecue. They are not items of conspicuous consumption. Levis 501s are the choice of barflies and sorority girls. Working cattle people prefer Wranglers, which have room for the body to sit, ride a horse, drive a tractor and walk with boots on. A pair of Wranglers sells for as little as $30 (£24) in the US – a price that working people can afford.
Ida Swearingen
Crackington Haven, Cornwall
I burst out laughing when I saw the “gen Z” jeans. I am a boomer. I wore jeans quite identical in style, although they were bleached – so not so blue – in the 1970s in Saskatoon, where they were the height of fashion at the time.
Everything old really is new again!
Jacquie Tremblay
Radville, Saskatchewan, Canada
The swap left out a lot of your readership. I have been wearing jeans since I was a student. What style won’t make me a laughing stock now that I am 85?
Margaret Squires
St Andrews, Fife
Boomers were mentioned briefly, but not a single word on gen X. A great many of us wear jeans, but I’m not going to be looking for £300 jeans when the world is falling apart.
Lee Lewis
Shrewsbury, Shropshire
Yes, I’m a boomer, and yes my mortgage is paid off. This is partly because I never spent so much on a pair of jeans.
Phil Young
Edale, Derbyshire
