Best inexpensive jeans

I hate to say this but since all of the above mentioned possibilities are equally evil in my eye, I would say that GAP 1969 generally have some really nice looking fits, and they use Kurabo denim (the same denim from PDC). I would put my money there, they're probably the best bet for under $100 and could sell for more if they needed to.

I'd say if you have a nordstrom rack around you should go check out their denim selection. They frequently have diesels, PDC, sevens etc for about 70 bucks. Another option would be Saks Off 5th, but I havent seen anything quite as cheap there (more around 90$).

Yeah, I second Nordstrom Rack. They have some pretty nice denim deals there occasionally. I picked up a few pair of JP Da'mage jeans there for ~$80-$90 each not too long ago.

nice avatar Garrett...

Another option is Last Call (Nieman Marcus). I picked up a pair of Ernest Sewn jeans for $80.

None of these are really answering his question, though. What's the best pair of jeans you can get at the mall for under $100, assuming that you're not getting them on sale, and aren't doing a lot of legwork to find them?

I suggest RL Polo jeans as a possibility; though most of their cuts don't do much for me, if you are looking for a looser fit they seem to use quality denim (I beat my pair to death for a year or so with little damage) and the washes are mostly tasteful. Edit: Oh yeah, and they are only like $60 MSRP IIRC.

My vote is with GAP 1969.

I also pick Gap. Good fabric, decent fit and sewing quality. Washes can be a bit hit and miss, (but then the same could be said of all brands) but the simple rinse wash jeans are good value. They had some very nice lightweight plain weave jeans this summer which wouldn't have been out of place in a 'premium' collection. Lee (in particular Lee Europe & Lee Japan, do some very nice inexpensive jeans), same goes for Edwin and Uniqlo (do the malls have to be in the US? )

Good call CTGuy, I hadn't thought of J. Crew. I had a pair of dark rinse jeans from them that honestly, if I knew then what I know now about washing them (or not washing them, as the case may be) I might still have them. As it was, they shrank too much and I had to give them up. But they showed no signs of stopping after constant wear for most of a year, and they looked good. I never think of them as a place for jeans but their jeans have always been surprisingly good. Gap jeans use mediocre fabric in my experience - the pairs I've seen/had have gotten the short-fiber fraying syndrome really quickly.

I dont know how to respond, I would just say that I think the GAP 1969 fabric is a very nice quality, and yea they do rip in the knees but theyre more durable than PDCs or Rogans...

I've got a couple of pairs from H&M which seem quite sturdy, didn't cost a lot and come in a plain dark rinse with no fake fading and so forth. I'm surprised nobody has mentioned H&M yet.

I was thinking of the regular Gap line, not the 1969, so maybe that's where the discrepancy comes in. I haven't really seen the 1969 line much aside from new in the store.

the best mall jeans i ever picked up were selvage jeans from Banana Republic that were on sale for $25, retailing for $90. *I* would just go to sears or JCPenney and get a pair of regular 501xx shrink to fit, or preshrunk for about $35, or Old Navy as a coworker wears a pair he got for $25 that look pretty damn good....for me i like my jeans REALLY cheap or $$$, i'm not too keen on anything that's available 'in the middle-range' prices around $100