Ralph Lauren Jeans question

[HalfCanvas]

I tried on some Ralph Lauren jeans today -- I'm not sure of the style name, but I think they were made in USA and were $115 retail. The jeans come in different inseam lengths. I tried on the 32 x 32, and the waist was cut very big. For them to fit, I would have to wear the jeans really low on my hips -- basically, I'd have to sag them.

The 31 waist fit perfectly everywhere -- which is rare for me to find. However, it only comes in 31x30, apparently. The 30" inseam was wearable for me, but it had very little break when I was wearing a leather blucher with a 1.25" heel. With trainers, the length would probably be perfect. Even with the blucher, I didn't mind the length, but it's definitely a touch shorter than I usually wear.

Does anyone have experience with RL jeans? Could I shrink the hell out of the 32 waist so that it fits right? Or should I just go with the 31 and hang dry them? If I hang dry the jeans, will the inseam shrink?

I'm pretty dead set on buying the jeans, since they were exactly what I was look for (dark wash, slim fit with a slight bootcut -- 18.5" opening -- and slightly longer rise than the Earnest Sewn Hutch, which has slightly too short a rise for me).

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by HalfCanvas

I tried on some Ralph Lauren jeans today -- I'm not sure of the style name, but I think they were made in USA and were $115 retail. The jeans come in different inseam lengths. I tried on the 32 x 32, and the waist was cut very big. For them to fit, I would have to wear the jeans really low on my hips -- basically, I'd have to sag them.

The 31 waist fit perfectly everywhere -- which is rare for me to find. However, it only comes in 31x30, apparently. The 30" inseam was wearable for me, but it had very little break when I was wearing a leather blucher with a 1.25" heel. With trainers, the length would probably be perfect. Even with the blucher, I didn't mind the length, but it's definitely a touch shorter than I usually wear.

Does anyone have experience with RL jeans? Could I shrink the hell out of the 32 waist so that it fits right? Or should I just go with the 31 and hang dry them? If I hang dry the jeans, will the inseam shrink?

I'm pretty dead set on buying the jeans, since they were exactly what I was look for (dark wash, slim fit with a slight bootcut -- 18.5" opening -- and slightly longer rise than the Earnest Sewn Hutch, which has slightly too short a rise for me).

No, shrinking jeans typically doesn't work, it will shrink back to what it was earlier. Regular RL jeans (not RRL, but RL) aren't great quality, but if they're what you want, they're probably fine, but not at $115... if you're gonna spend that much for jeans, there are a lot better options, including Ralph Lauren's own RRL bootcuts which would be MUCH better, and probably cheaper (on ebay) and outstanding quality. Some of them were designed by 5EP founder Godmother.

 

[j]

The only way I've shrunk jeans that worked was to put them in the dryer. But yeah, I'd suggest finding another similar pair of RRLs or something. Find the style name and see if you can get measurements etc.

 

[HalfCanvas]

The quality struck me as very good, actually, which surprised me. I'm not into Nudies, or APC, and the like. My closet is mostly filled with the old PDC and Earnest Sewn. I hadn't even thought to look at the RL, but passed by them while on my way out of Bloomingdales. The fit and wash were spot on -- except that I'm nervous about the length shrinking up (a problem I have not had with hang drying, however).

I had a coupon that knocked the price down to $95, and I used a $50 Bloomies gift card that I won in a raffle. So, all in all, I'm happy with the price given how much I like the fit and wash. And, to be sure, I honestly couldn't tell any quality difference between these jeans and, say, Earnest Sewns. They were certainly better than the Sevens and Varvatos jeans that were selling for near $200.

I'll keep my eye out for RRL on Ebay, but buying jeans on Ebay is something I normally steadfastly refuse to do.

 

[j]

So which ones did you get? When you wash them, you can stretch the length a bit while they're wet, then hang dry. You can get maybe 1/2" or so of extra length this way.

 

[drizzt3117]

Originally Posted by HalfCanvas

The quality struck me as very good, actually, which surprised me. I'm not into Nudies, or APC, and the like. My closet is mostly filled with the old PDC and Earnest Sewn. I hadn't even thought to look at the RL, but passed by them while on my way out of Bloomingdales. The fit and wash were spot on -- except that I'm nervous about the length shrinking up (a problem I have not had with hang drying, however).

I had a coupon that knocked the price down to $95, and I used a $50 Bloomies gift card that I won in a raffle. So, all in all, I'm happy with the price given how much I like the fit and wash. And, to be sure, I honestly couldn't tell any quality difference between these jeans and, say, Earnest Sewns. They were certainly better than the Sevens and Varvatos jeans that were selling for near $200.

I'll keep my eye out for RRL on Ebay, but buying jeans on Ebay is something I normally steadfastly refuse to do.

I'm sure RL jeans quality are just fine compared to other mass market brands (and yes, I lump ES into mass market brands). They should last a long time and be just fine. RRL, on the other hand, are a superb jean, especially for the price.

 

[nastyandy]

If you are deadset on the jeans, and the shorter inseam was okay, then go with them, and have them drycleaned when you need to clean them. This will prevent shrinkage and will also preserve the color, which will fade if you wash them.

 

[HalfCanvas]

Oh, I got the 31 x 30 (inseam probably actually measures like 31 1/2 or so). I'll try that trick, J. Thanks. I think the length should be okay as long as I don't get significant shrinkage, and if I can actually stretch it a bit, all the better.

BTW, I can't remember the last time I bought anything at retail. My normal rule is to buy things at 60% off or greater (with my usual being in the 80% range). So, that should tell you something about how much I ended up liking these jeans.

 

[j]

I had a pair of RL jeans that I wore for a reallllllly long time and they held up great. The Hayden I believe. They were very dark when I got them and I wore them and washed them until they were pretty light, and they still looked pretty good. I gave them up because I didn't ever really like how they were cut - too relaxed. But they definitely took a beating.

 

[whodini]

HalfCanvas, I used to wear Diesel, 7fam, etc. until I saw some pairs of RL jeans on sale in a store. The fit was perfect on me, ended up buying a darker pair soon after, and both pairs really were all I wore for a year or more until this forum shamed me into going dry. I still haven't found a pair that fits as well as they did. Really well-cut stuff and good construction but the denim itself felt pretty average compared to other "designer" brands. Glad you're happy with your purchase, however, if you one day compare your new jeans to the RRL line, you'll see why I haven't looked back since.

 

[Thurston]

I don't think RRL is made anymore. I don't see RRL on the site anymore. Polo introduced a whole new line of jeans over the past two months and definitely closed out all of their regular lines. I've been very impressed with them. I'm sure that's what the OP saw at Bloomingdale's for $115

 

[Joel_Cairo]

Originally Posted by Thurston

I don't think RRL is made anymore. I don't see RRL on the site anymore. Polo introduced a whole new line of jeans over the past two months and definitely closed out all of their regular lines. I've been very impressed with them. I'm sure that's what the OP saw at Bloomingdale's for $115

rrl has never been on their site, IIRC.

 

[nastyandy]

Originally Posted by Thurston

I don't think RRL is made anymore. I don't see RRL on the site anymore. Polo introduced a whole new line of jeans over the past two months and definitely closed out all of their regular lines. I've been very impressed with them. I'm sure that's what the OP saw at Bloomingdale's for $115

GQ just did a spread on Ralph Lauren a few months ago and featured quite a bit of RRL stuff.

However, I don't think the new product has been fully distributed to their stores yet.

I was in a RL Boutique a few weeks ago in DC and they only had women's RRL, but anticipated eventually getting in men's.

 

[whodini]

Originally Posted by Thurston

I don't think RRL is made anymore. I don't see RRL on the site anymore. Polo introduced a whole new line of jeans over the past two months and definitely closed out all of their regular lines. I've been very impressed with them. I'm sure that's what the OP saw at Bloomingdale's for $115
Tell that to the RRL flagship stores and various hand-selected boutiques around the country (Blake in Portland, OR and HTC in LA off the top of my head). Don't think it was relayed here from SuperFuture, but HTC posted pics of the new RRL jean collection for '07 in various fits/washes including a few raw. RRL was listed on the polo site a long while back. Too lazy to check now, but a page still exists although it is not directly linked through the site. Again, if you search around SuperFuture you'll find more information, including a few theories on why RRL was removed from their main site, but the fact of the matter is that the line definitely still exists if only in flagship/boutique form.