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How jeans conquered the world (2012)

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Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#31

A far as male pants/trousers go, your choices are basically jeans, corduroys, or khakis (chinos). Corduroys are uncomfortably warm, IME, and of the remaining two jeans are a clear winner for convenience: they don't need to be ironed (chinos look terrible as soon as they get even slightly wrinkled, jeans do not), and they better conceal small spills and stains. Not much more to it than that, for me.

I wash my jeans every 6-12 months, with occasional febreezing after I wear them. This is way more convenient than having to wash and iron my other pants.

My other alternative are my Outlier pants https://outlier.nyc/

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#32
post #30
post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you seen: http://www.makeyourownjeans.com/ I've been meaning to order from them for a while, and have heard really good things about them.

I would suggest a modicum of caution. That price point is impressively competitive with Levi's while promising extensive customization. That's a potential warning sign. You might be better served looking at http://companiondenim.com/

Or maybe Levi's is just "comparatively overpriced" to pay for the brand/image, their extensive advertising and their world-wide dealer/distro network, whereas the other you pay for a website and .. the customization? Who knows, two ways of looking at such things =)

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#33
post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Blue Owl in Seattle is good too. These denim stores are mostly focused on raw denim, which is generally a much higher quality garment than available normally.

The quality difference would have to be substantial. I bring in a very high income for my area, and the thought of spending $300-$400 on a single pair of jeans is pretty out there. An $80 pair of jeans, which will often be on sale for $40-$50 will last me for 2-3 years and are of average quality. It seems to me like one would have to justify these jeans on the fashion/novelty aspect, and not quality/value as it just…

A huge chunk of that price is because these guys are importing them from Japan, and selling in brick and mortar stores in the US. You are paying a significant sum for the convenience of ordering them. If you know what you want, you can order them from rakuten with a bit of google translate directly. Also, the law of diminishing returns and all that. The sweet spot is generally $75-$150, even for fancy raw denim jeans if you look out for deals etc.

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#34
post #18

A far as male pants/trousers go, your choices are basically jeans, corduroys, or khakis (chinos). Corduroys are uncomfortably warm, IME, and of the remaining two jeans are a clear winner for convenience: they don't need to be ironed (chinos look terrible as soon as they get even slightly wrinkled, jeans do not), and they better conceal small spills and stains. Not much more to it than that, for me.

> A far as male pants/trousers go, your choices are basically jeans, corduroys, or khakis (chinos) Why, what happened to cotton lycra, herringbone, linen, traditional business suit trousers etc?

It's interesting but sad that you're being so heavily downvoted for suggesting options outside the subcultural norm. When I was a young hacker coming to work in jeans was frowned upon and I had to put up with a lot of hassle for looking too casual. I've been surprised and disappointed to see the emergence of 'casual conformism' which encourages comfort but retains hostility to anything too different from the common tribal signifiers.

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#35
post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. But I'm a West Coast software engineer specifically to avoid that ;)

Just saying, your list of options there is pretty limited. You could also do something like these duck cotton jeans: https://www.ironheart.co.uk/bottoms/ih-666d.html

Huh, these look like they might actually stand up around the farm. Which is something I can never seem to get "city" jeans to do.

Normally you have to trade off how often you have to replace them with how much they cost. For me, Levis red tabs (when found at Costco) are still pretty much right at the price point where the frequency of replacement works out the best value for money.

Of course, like everything, it depends on what you're using them for - for city life, your $200 fashion jeans will last much longer than they do on the farm where they're done in 10 minutes. With the amount of time they last, the idea of spending hundreds of dollars on a pair of jeans that will be destroyed quickly just makes me cringe.

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quality difference would have to be substantial. I bring in a very high income for my area, and the thought of spending $300-$400 on a single pair of jeans is pretty out there. An $80 pair of jeans, which will often be on sale for $40-$50 will last me for 2-3 years and are of average quality. It seems to me like one would have to justify these jeans on the fashion/novelty aspect, and not quality/value as it just…

A huge chunk of that price is because these guys are importing them from Japan, and selling in brick and mortar stores in the US. You are paying a significant sum for the convenience of ordering them. If you know what you want, you can order them from rakuten with a bit of google translate directly. Also, the law of diminishing returns and all that. The sweet spot is generally $75-$150, even for fancy raw denim jeans…

I see that makes a lot of sense. The jeans I am wearing now were originally ~ $80 so $75-$150 is much more reasonable to me. They do look really nice, I was just slightly shocked by the $300-$400 prices.

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#37
I must be a weird one, but while I used to like jeans, I stopped wearing them a few years ago. I only wear cotton pants those days.

Every time I wear jeans, I'd feel itching very soon, particularly when it's hot, or when I wear the same pants two days in a row.

I'm not sure if either I didn't notice this before, or did I change, or the production process of the jeanswear has changed.

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The quality difference would have to be substantial. I bring in a very high income for my area, and the thought of spending $300-$400 on a single pair of jeans is pretty out there. An $80 pair of jeans, which will often be on sale for $40-$50 will last me for 2-3 years and are of average quality. It seems to me like one would have to justify these jeans on the fashion/novelty aspect, and not quality/value as it just…

A huge chunk of that price is because these guys are importing them from Japan, and selling in brick and mortar stores in the US. You are paying a significant sum for the convenience of ordering them. If you know what you want, you can order them from rakuten with a bit of google translate directly. Also, the law of diminishing returns and all that. The sweet spot is generally $75-$150, even for fancy raw denim jeans…

You can buy Japanese selvage denim jeans in Tokyo for around $150 or less.

You can buy SF / NC made denim for around $100. I think that fair for a higher quality product made with fairly paid labor [http://www.tellason.com/tellason-stock-straight-leg-fit/]

If you want denim of the same quality of Japanese selvage, made in the US, then it is back to the $200+ range [http://www.tellason.com/ankara-straight-leg-selvedge-jeans-1...]

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#39

I stopped wearing them 2 years ago and don't miss them at all. Of course I still have some and will put them on sometimes when its practical, but modern denim just doesn't seem to be as hard wearing as it used to be, and I'm also sick of the weight and poor fit. I was especially annoyed a few years ago to find my favorite brand had slightly shortened the zipper, thus eliminating the whole benefit of being able to pee…

I must be in a tiny minority in that I don't even own a pair of jeans. I wear khakis/chinos mostly, don't really care if they look a bit lived in sometimes (though some hold their shape better than others), and turn them into work pants when they start getting a bit frayed.

Re: How jeans conquered the world (2012)

#40

I stopped wearing them 2 years ago and don't miss them at all. Of course I still have some and will put them on sometimes when its practical, but modern denim just doesn't seem to be as hard wearing as it used to be, and I'm also sick of the weight and poor fit. I was especially annoyed a few years ago to find my favorite brand had slightly shortened the zipper, thus eliminating the whole benefit of being able to pee…

> I was especially annoyed a few years ago to find my favorite brand had slightly shortened the zipper, thus eliminating the whole benefit of being able to pee standing up because it was difficult to get my hand inside the smaller opening and uncomfortable to have it pinching me while I use the toilet.

Button fly is the only way to fly. Started as a skeptic, now a total convert.

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