Forever in Blue Jeans: $3,000 for custom jeans? Ladies and gentlemen, I don't think so.
Even just one hundred years ago, and sometimes even now, custom clothing used to be the only type of clothing one could get. The factory was either your mother or a female relative that sewed everything by hand until the invention of the sewing machine. They would buy, trade or borrow patterns, buy or trade fabric and then began to make dresses, pants, shirts and coats. If you were a man and you didn't know someone who could do this because you had no family, you either married quickly, befriended a seamstress or learned to do it yourself. The good part about this was that for the most part, all your clothes fit your body fairly well and you had great pride in the fact that it was made only to fit you; this feeling didn't dissipate simply because you were poor either because many poor families had AT LEAST ONE outfit or article of clothing that was special and made with care and as fine a cloth as could be afforded. After the Industrial Revolution, clothing fast became mass produced and available for very low cost, sometimes cheaper than even a garment made in your own home. The convenience and cost effectiveness of mass-produced clothing relegated the custom clothing market to luxury companies mostly. Custom clothing, which became expensive due to the amount of hand labor involved, became less and less a sign of poverty for these echelons of society and more a status symbol as can be seen in the world of bespoke suits and haute couture dresses.
There's no need in this day and age of technology and globalization that any of us shouldn't be able to design and rock custom gear. Custom clothing is more widely available now BUT not all of it is actually well-made. And what's worse, some things masquerading as "custom made for you," are STILL made mostly with preset patterns based on "basic" body types. Well, you don't have to take that anymore!
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At the very opposite end of the fashion spectrum from a suit, with its formal demeanor and structured nature, is the ultimate casual clothing item: jeans. Denim jeans went from a workman's staple to a socialite must-have in less time than it takes for President Bush to finish a TV Guide crossword puzzle. Everyone in the world usually has at least one pair, if they can afford them. And there's many people who ONLY have jeans in their wardrobe and you couldn't easily get them into anything else (my sister). Jeans are great for wearing everyday but now there's "evening denim" suitable for more ceremonious occasions, with people split on it's appropriateness at such gatherings. You can buy jeans made with embroidery, rhinestones, genuine gold thread, rivets, feathers, fur, shells, sequins, beads, glass, paint, platinum dust, wood, crystal, pearls or even animal bone. The limitation of the composition of a pair of jeans is the imagination of the designer themselves. Just when you think you've seen a pair of jeans with everything on it, there's a new company pushing the envelope, both price and style wise, even further than before with stunning results, mostly. While this post is by no means exhaustive on the subjects of jeans, it hits most of the important points. LOL
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The forerunner to the jeans we know and love today was first made and used around the late 15th and 16th centuries. India exported a thick, strong type of woven cotton that was sold near the Dongarii Fort in Bombay. The fabric was used in the making of clothes for the working class because it was inexpensive, durable and readily available. Wealthy people for centuries wouldn't be caught dead in the stuff because at that time it had no prestige, for one, and was very stiff and somewhat rough to the touch. For a short time it was active, the Genoese Navy used the fabric purchased in a suburb of Turin to make pants because they could worn wet or dry and suitable for any job on the ship that needed attention. The raw material for the fabric that used in the sailor's pants was called serge de Nīmes, giving us the probable origin of the word denim. Up until the 18th century, jean fabric was actually made out of many different materials, not just cotton; however, the booming slave trade and increasing number of cotton plantations in the New World insured that denim was made almost exclusively out of cotton for the next three hundred years using dye derived from the plentiful indigo plant giving them their trademark color.
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Jeans faded slightly from the international consciousness but was later revived, for the most part, in California during The Gold Rush. The thousands of miners wanted and needed sturdy articles of clothing that could take the brutal punishment of the dusty, rough environment of the typical mining encampment; miners at this point were typically going though clothing all the time, making it difficult to work steadily throughout the day. Leob Strauss, an immigrant, who moved from New York to San Francisco in 1853, started selling clothing to miners and others. Jacob Davis approached Strauss with an idea to keep the stress points of the jeans worn by miners from being torn. The idea: rivets. Davis didn't have the money to patent the idea and Strauss helped him by putting up the needed cash. The rest is, as they say, history. Shortly after this point, Leob Strauss changed his name to the much more marketable and much easier to pronounce (at first glance) first name, Levi.
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Jeans were shown throughout Western films in the 1930s and on the legs of rebels with and without causes during the 1950s. Fewer jeans were worn during and after World War II and, thanks to soldiers who wore them on their off hours, the world was "re-introduced" to jeans, which became for decades after a sign of Western decadence to many countries, becoming hard-to-get and, subsequently, extremely expensive, even now. Levi's had the biggest share of the jeans market, both domestically and internationally at this period. It was at this time after the war that Lee and Wrangler emerged to seriously try and gain a larger share of the jeans market from Levi's around the world.
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Jeans were worn mainly at "dude ranches" and many East Coasters who went to visit these locations in the West brought a pair back with them to wear on weekends around their homes, but never publicly. Jeans were quickly becoming a sign of the counter-culture after gaining some notoriety from films like Rebel Without a Cause and many schools across America banned them from their campuses, really only staving off the inevitable adoption of jeans as daily wear for all ages and socio-economic groups. This became apparent as the proliferation of jeans became widespread during the 1960s and early 1970s, worn by hippies, idealistic college students, "rebels" and even some adventuresome adults. These "waist overalls," as they had been called because they were based on full body overalls but only came up to the waist, were rechristened "jean pants" by young people and the name has stuck.
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Designer jeans as we know them got their start in the 1970s with brands like Jordache and Gloria Vanderbilt, with slick advertising campaigns by Jordache showcasing images of topless women on horses wearing nothing but jeans. But the designer jeans really got their biggest endorsement with Brooke Shields proudly proclaiming that nothing came between her and her Calvins. The wild popularity of this campaign, and why it was wildly popular worldwide, is still talked about and studied to this day by everyone from advertising/marketing classes to art classes to women's studies classes. Calvin Klein boldly placing his name on the back pocket of the garment solidified and ushered in the designer jeans era we are all still awash in today. But in the early 1990s, $70 jeans were seen as "astronomical" in price when today one can spend as much as $10,000 on a pair of custom Escada jeans, considered the most expensive pair of new jeans in the world. One of the most famous pair of jeans, within the fashion world, that used to be the most expensive pair (at $3,500) was made by Gucci in 1998, shocking the world with their cost and outrageous design cues of shredding and feathers; these pants are widely heralded as ushering in the world of ultra-luxury jeans.
Venus in Furs (And Blue Jeans)
These days, jeans are made by everyone for everybody in every single price and style bracket. And many people wear them well and some truly do not (muffin, anyone?). Sometimes finding the perfect fitting jeans is almost as hard as finding someone who did know the mortgage disaster was coming, because no one apprently did except the two presidential candidates.
While many companies like Escada and APO have made custom jeans designed only for your bum for an entry price that would make even the most bully broker blanch, Makeyourownjeans.com has made well-fitting jeans designed to your exact specifications available to everyone with prices starting at $48, less than half of other companies like Indi, a company I actually respect and admire; I have never used Indi however. I have used MYOJ and the jeans fit exquisitely and I couldn't ask for much more than that. While the snob in me will not allow me to fill my closet completely with jeans branded and designed by me, these jeans augment my True Religion, Rock n' Republics and my solitary pair of dVbs. MYOJ offers you the choice of denim quality and weights, threads, buttons, pockets, embroidered embellishments, fabrics, rips, patches, distresses, zipper or button flys, and far too many choices for the average people, in my opinion. Another wonderful option is the fact that they will clone one of your favorite clothing items, right done to the millimeter. Never again worry about whether or not you'll ever see that beloved pair of jeans or shirt again if they get too worn out!
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The company has been featured in O Magazine and is run by the tireless Harry Shahari, CEO of Makeyourownjeans.com. After a little prodding and cajoling (and a call to a colleague at our British subsidiary who owes me several favors), Mr. Shahari's secretary blocked off a little time for me on his schedule so I could ask him a few questions. Mr. Shahari's company can be reached here.
Posh: What made you decide to offer custom clothing online for the price of ready to wear?
Harry Shahari: We wanted everybody to try out owning an item of clothing which has their input in the design and makes them proud. We love our work and keep the profits as secondary [laughs]. Okay, not completely secondary. But we love to innovate and try out new things on our website and offer tremendous value.
Posh: There's been a many custom jeans makers online, some good and some now completely defunct. Why has your company managed to outlast and actually surpass them?
HS: Yes, we began growing from the day we started and have managed to continue that growth and expand at a very healthy rate without increasing the price, something our competitors worldwide have barely been able to do with as much success. Our experience in the fabric industry [owning and investing in a textile factory], 40 years plus since my father started the business, has given us tremendous expertise and unparalleled infrastructure to carry out this craft very efficiently.
Posh: Are there other items of clothing you make not mentioned on your website?
HS: We also make custom skirts which we plan to sell online soon.
Posh: Your jeans come in a staggering array of styles, cuts and designs, even styles not available on any brand I've ever seen. Where do all your ideas come from?
HS: We listen very carefully to our clientele and we can act very fast due to our in-house facilities. We have our team of designers who always come up with something new and innovate and our customers teach us a lot by suggesting cuts, styles and accessories they want. It's our connection with our customers that has kept us at the top of the custom clothing market, tempering our needs as company with the desires of our customers and coming to middle ground where they are continually pleased and we remain profitable. Custom clothing manufacturing has it's pitfalls due to the amount of choice we offer but we've managed to overcome those issues by making everything easy and clear.
Posh: I think your jeans compare more than favorably to any mid-priced brands I've seen (for example, Lucky, Diesel, Levi's, etc.). For those who might be skeptical, how do you think your jeans compare to luxury brands like True Religion, Blue Blood or 7 For All Mankind, etc.?
HS: We use the same denim fabric which brands like Levis and those brands you mentioned use, so we are the best on that part. We also use more hand-distressing techniques, where applicable, which make our jeans softer than the ready-made jeans available to most consumers today. It's like we break them in for you without making the jeans less sturdy but keeping them on the cutting edge of fashion and style.
Posh: Your company offers custom clothing, especially jeans, for considerably less than your nearest competitors. How you achieve this without sacrificing the quality of the garment?
HS: Again, our expertise helps here, we have our own fabric unit and we buy from our own unit; we get a price advantage that many other makers cannot and will not get. The smartest thing, I feel, for any garment maker to do is own a textile mill.
Posh: What's the turn around time on sending jeans, shirts or sport coats to you for cloning?
HS: Our production time is around two to four weeks. We usually ship before this period and once we do ship, we inform our customers quickly and send them the shipping details.
Posh: Although I think I can imagine why, what do you think is the reason custom clothing has become so accessible to masses?
HS: [Laughs] It's because of my company, of course!
Mr. Shahari's company offers custom khakis, shirts, jeans, slacks, suits and even traditional Indian clothing items. If you have questions, comments and advice, please reply!
I can't believe my wife cooperated for this!
