Designer jeans

[VMan]

Don't bring up J. Lindeberg jeans. I bought a pair this past summer and lost weight as right after I got them. Never wore them once. It's a sad tale. If anyone wants to buy them off me, let me know. They have no tags, but I've only put them on once in the fitting room.

What's the size?

 

[High_Roller]

They're tagged a 36, but they're very slim cut and fit more like a 33-34. They're a lower rise faded black jean (and when I say faded, I mean faded to almost grey. Neat color going on) with a slim leg and slight flare right near the bottom. They have burgundy stitching on the back of each leg in a zig zag pattern. Not for conventionalists, I suppose. I think the inseam is a 34.

 

[VMan]

They're tagged a 36, but they're very slim cut and fit more like a 33-34. They're a lower rise faded black jean (and when I say faded, I mean faded to almost grey. Neat color going on) with a slim leg and slight flare right near the bottom. They have burgundy stitching on the back of each leg in a zig zag pattern. Not for conventionalists, I suppose. I think the inseam is a 34.

Damn, they sound really cool, but I take a 31/32. I don't think there's any chance of them fitting

 

[High_Roller]

Well I told you they fit before I lost weight. You think I would have needed to lose anything if I was a 31? LoL.

If anyone is interested, though.. let me know.

 

[Brian SD]

On the subject of designer jeans - some general guidelines are: PDC - fit perfectly and comfortably, and they are stitched to eliminate certain unsightly qualities that other jeans may put on your body, and give you a truly stunning sillhouette (not to mention being extremely comfortable). Hand-done fading lines in the most perfect areas, and absolutely impeccable (sp?) color-fading. PDC jeans tend to run a little large on the waist. Sevens - Super trendy and of course you won't go wrong wearing these around (you'll probably get more brand-oriented compliments than PDC, as they are much less subtle in their design), but in general they do not fit as nicely as PDC does. Diesel - Extremely trendy, very comfortable, but the general absurdness of their washes will go out of style quickly I think. They are generally tighter and lower rise (some down to 7.5" rises). Dolce & Gabbana - I don't know what to say about these, they look nice and are generally much slimmer than other jeans (I.e. I can fit a 28w with PDC, but 30w with D&G is about right too). They are nice jeans but I wouldn't recommend them, as the only ones in the same price range with the afformentioned designers (PDC, Diesel, Seven) are not very special or nice-looking. The higher end Dolce jeans are just way too expensive to buy unless you can casually spend upwards of $400 for jeans. Levi's Premium - They are very nice, but for the same price you can get lower-end Sevens, and for $30 more you can get PDC. I don't know anything about J. Lindeburg but from how they were described earlier I definitely would like to investigate them. I hope this helps.

Edit: PDC jeans usually only come in 34" inseam, you can get them tailored to your height, but I wouldn't try to if I was under 6', because you would lose the fit of the jean by moving the inseam too far up the boot leg.

 

[unappliedscience]

I differ on the fit of PDC jeans. They tend to run large. My size 30 PDC jeans are bigger in waist than my size 31 Seven jeans. I would say Seven jeans are most true to their tagged sizes and PDC a bit bigger.

 

[Brian SD]

unappliedscience - yes you're right. I just measured mine and my PDCs are a bit larger.

 

[MikeF]

Having worn everything from Levis to Sevens to PDCs, I find that Diesel makes the best jean overall. While I like Sevens and PDCs, the reality is that most of their jeans will be out of fashion in two years' time. To put it slightly differently, Seven jeans look like Seven jeans, and not like any other jeans.

Diesel, on the other hand, at least *used* to make jeans fashionable enough to wear now but timeless enough to wear two years from now also. Unfortunately, it's getting harder and harder to find Diesel styles that don't verge on the outlandish.

The one thing Diesel definitely has going for it, besides a timeless look (which, let's face it, Levis can offer), is incredibly high quality construction and fabrics. I've yet to wear out - or even put a hole in - a pair of Diesels. On the other hand, both I and my wife have ripped PDCs. Diesel is also, at least in Canada, about 35% cheaper than PDC or Seven (but considerably more expensive than almost anything else).

 

[LA Guy]

While I much prefer the styling of Paper Denims, I have to agree with Mikef that Diesels seem undestructible. I tend to be quite hard on my clothes, and my jeans in particular, and it is a miracle if a favoured pair (which is washed at least once a week) makes it over a year and a half without disintegrating - so I go for whatever pair I like at the moment, secure in the fact that they will most likely not outlast my whim. I've just worn out a pair of Sevens (at the crotch and seat, so that is that, and I've worn out at least a couple of pair of Paper Denims, although in their defense, they lasted nearly 2 years. A favorite pair of Levi's Premium didn't even see out the year. On the other hand, I have a pair of three, nearly four year old pair of Diesel Kratts (the "flattened wash" that was popular in about 2000,) worn constantly for about a year and a half and still regularly after that, that only now seem to show some wear. Amazing, really.

 

[VMan]

While I much prefer the styling of Paper Denims, I have to agree with Mikef that Diesels seem undestructible.  I tend to be quite hard on my clothes, and my jeans in particular, and it is a miracle if a favoured pair (which is washed at least once a week) makes it over a year and a half without disintegrating - so I go for whatever pair I like at the moment, secure in the fact that they will most likely not outlast my whim.  I've just worn out a pair of Sevens (at the crotch and seat, so that is that, and I've worn out at least a couple of pair of Paper Denims, although in their defense, they lasted nearly 2 years.  A favorite pair of Levi's Premium didn't even see out the year.  On the other hand, I have a pair of three, nearly four year old pair of Diesel Kratts (the "flattened wash" that was popular in about 2000,) worn constantly for about a year and a half and still regularly after that, that only now seem to show some wear.  Amazing, really.

LA Guy,

By worn out, do you mean the wash faded away, or the jeans literally shredded apart?

 

[LA Guy]

Shredded. It depends on your gait and activities where your jeans wear out. Mine invariably disintegrate at the crotch first (save your jokes.)

 

[j]

LA Guy, I would think the disintegration might have something to do with your washing them at least once a week. That seems very excessive. Would you wash (or clean) any other pants once a week?

 

[LA Guy]

Well, I don't wear other pants as often and as hard, so I don't need to wash them as often. I usually allow two, maybe three wearings between a wash; and for a favorite pair of jeans, this comes frequently. I know some guys who will wear their jeans until they are ripe; but for some reason I love the feel of a fresh laundry.

 

[norcaltransplant]

I must be the aberrant jeans shopper. I've tried Seven, PDC, and Diesel after reading about them on this forum and others, yet, I still haven't been impressed enough to add ANY of these brands to my closet.

PDC seem to be the most expensive and most difficult to find on discount. I also swam in the two pairs I tried on. I tend to favor slim cuts (think twiggy body type).

Diesel: I was closest to buying a pair of Diesels in distressed wash, but couldn't be swayed against buying Diesel compared to my standbys (see below).

Seven: I couldn't get past the psychological barrier of having the "swish" stiching on my butt (I've been trained to appreciate a nicely swishing "swish"...). Sevens also fit way too low. Now where did my inseam go to?

My jeans:
Helmut Lang- the dry clean only label sucks, but they can be definitely worn a few times before heading to the cleaners. HLs just look classic...and a bit more dressy than standard Levis.

Theory: All cotton with a bit of lycra. Theory cuts waaay too slim, but they are extremely confortable if you buy a size or two larger than your normal trouser size. My fav.

Hugo Boss Red Label: Nice slim cut. I bought them for $40. Their wash still looks good after two months of wear. I can't complain so far.

 

[unappliedscience]

I don't think Seven look too trendy. Yeah, you can tell just by looking at it that it's Seven but I always thought their washes tend to be subtle compared to, of course, Diesel or Energie, or even with some PDC models that have holes around thighs.