need help..

[rocker4life]

ok..i'm going to buy some jeans tomorrow and i'm on the look for some cheap denim,like $40-$60.i have limited brands to choose from so can someone advice me:

my choices:

-another pair of rigid 514(just love it)

-rigid 501

-lee x-lines/stovepipes

-topman skinny

-zara slim jeans

-another pair of viktor(kinda expensive but i like another one,fit is amazing)

thanks

[denimdestroyedmylife]

VIKTOR

that's the flip bespoke cat, yeah?

my dalawa centavos

[tweeds]

john11f (was it him?) says viktor's all about the hype, though...not too high up in terms of quality.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

it is not about quality

it is about supporting your countrymen

anyway, he said he liked his other pair of VIKTOR

[jubei]

that might be true... but the thing is, a lot of Filipino consumers tend to scoff at brands that are embraced by the "masses" ( in this case, Filipino actors and actresses) despite the fact that they may have quality goods. They like sticking to elitist, exclusive labels (and mostly European ones at that).

I hear that he's offering selvege fabrics... so I would check him out, definitely.

Edit: WORD, DDML.

[derdankhund]

I've never understood supporting a company based on something as arbitrary as nationality...I buy from what companies I personally feel to have the best quality, design, etc, regardless of where they are based. The only time country comes into it is when I'm calculating the cost based on exchange rates...

[denimdestroyedmylife]

yeah, i guess i was being a bit reductive. but i like to support ninjas that do it themselves, provided that i am getting what i want. it is nice to know whose pocket you are filling. i get warm and fuzzy supporting a craftsman rather than a vast machinery that i cannot put a face to. then there's the issue of labor practices. i know not where the fabric is sourced from w/ VIKTOR jeans, but i'd be surprised if it is from a filipino EPZ. and from the sounds of it, he's cutting/sewing the jeans himself.

[rocker4life]

my first viktor was from his VP line,quite steep,about PHP5450($115).but the fit was very good i compared to my apc's and there is quite a similarities of course in the denim and the tightness of the fit.i got my viktor's to fit as i liked rather than the standard taper of the apc.

[denimdestroyedmylife]

bespoke jeans mufuggas!

[tweeds]

  denimdestroyedmylife said:

it is not about quality

it is about supporting your countrymen

anyway, he said he liked his other pair of VIKTOR

whoops

anyway, in light of recent events, give viktor your cash i say

[derdankhund]

ddml

i agree with you wholeheartedly...I guess I'm coming from a standpoint that most domestic US labels aren't necessarily better quality, and where they're being made certainly calls into question labor practices.

being an econ grad student, i'm painfully aware of how much of a double edged sword exporting labor is; on the one hand, it drastically lowers costs to the company and consumer and provides MUCH-needed income in a lot of lesser developed countries, but on the other, the very lack of regulation/economic infrastructure allows these companies to set their own backbreaking/underpaid labor standards. I guess it comes down to whether these workers would be better off if the company wasn't there at all. Add to this the damaging effects many of these sweatshop/sweatfactories have on the environment, and it truly becomes a complex issue. I've seen studies that argued for and against it; I suppose my stance would lie somewhere in the middle; only with better regulation (perhaps originating from the companies' home countries) can these types of relationships better everyone involved in the long-run.

that being said, i try to support the little guys as well, partly from a purely selfish standpoint that in general, the little guys produce much less, so what I'll be wearing will be that much more exclusive...

[Cynlix]

FYI, When I got my viktors a little under a month ago, they didn't have anymore selvage in stock. Anyways, I say go for the viktor again. I'm really digging the fit on them as well and I do like the quality. I stand by them so much that I'm going to go buy another pair as well when I go back to manila in Dec.

[rocker4life]

thanks again guys