Custom-Made Jeans

[Yet Fung]

Anyone know of companies that make custom-made jeans?

So far I only know of:

- Levis

- Serfontaine

- Some dude in New York

And by custom-made, I mean more than waist/inseam. Anybody think it's a good idea? Or is it half-baked and riding the customization trend? Who here would pay for a pair? And how much?

[TheGrapist]

Earnest Sewn's stand alone store, An Earnest Cut and Sewn, will make custom jeans, and they have a pretty nice denim selection. If I had money to burn, I'd probably do it. However, I'm pretty sure that as long as you're not some odd size, you'll be able to find whatever you're looking for from some company or another already made.

[LA Guy]

Unless you have a very unusual body shape, I wouldn't go for it.

The most important thing for any piece of clothing is fit, but unlike, say, a suit a shirt, or a pair of shoes, there is not real metric for determining good "fit" on a pair of jeans, and unlike a suit, are there is not a limited number of templates for you to work with. For example, there is a Neapolitan silhouette and a Roman silhouette (in suits), and these are reasonably well defined with specific characterisitics. There is no analogous "silhouettes" for jeans. Even if you know basically what you want (say a mid rise, regular fit, straight leg jean), there is no standard model for such a jean. The APC Rescue, the Rag & Bone RB6, the 55 Levis 501, all fit the criteria given, but have radically different looks and feels.

Unless you have a design in mind (in which case, you may as well be a designer for all the effort you are putting in. It seems scarcely worth the trouble just for one pair. I guess that you could specify trims, but that seems a bit precious. I think that the R for 45RPM , an Earnest Sewn, and the Jeanshop programs are the closest one gets to "bespoke" jeans, and for good reasons.

www.styleforum.net

Edited by LA Guy on Mar 27, 2006 at 01:20 PM

[Yet Fung]

Yes I agree, I forgot about 45RPM, but they take measurements to ensure that the fade on the thigh, and the honeycombing aren't out of place. I assume most people can find jeans that fit right, maybe with a little hemming involved. My biggest gripe is with the so-called distressing which leaves poorly placed whiskers/honeycombs/fades. Of course you're right about the fit, everyone has an opinion on what the standard model should look like. But all of that aside, I honestly wonder how many people have jeans where the fade is nearly down to the ankle, and the knee whiskers are halfway up the calf. Even if that isn't the case, they almost never match up to how they wrinkle once the buyer has put them on.

[snugglepony]

i'm going to be working with a local designer next month to get a pair of bespoke jeans made... he can source various raw selvage denims and seems excited about working with me on the details. i'll start a new thread and post pics &c. whenever we start work...

[frideswide]

Check out http://www.d26ya.com/index.html

If you're passing through Shikoku while you're in Japan, definitely worth the visit.

.