I’m a fairly frugal guy, so it comes as a surprise to most folks when I tell them I own a pair of $295 jeans. The thing is though, they are the only pair of jeans that I own… and I bought them in 2015. So, as it stands I’m into these jeans at around $35 a year and they easily have a couple of years left in them. When retirement finally comes, I’d bet I’ll be down to somewhere around $25 annually.

That’s the thing about Denim. If you buy into planned obsolescence, it’s one of the more expensive textiles on the market. Take your typical Levi 501 as an example and you’re out somewhere around $50 a year if you aren’t too rough on them. Move up to a special edition Levi or a Lucky Brand, or whatever… and they can easily cost you over $100 a year.

To me, the key with denim is to spend more up front on a quality Japanese sourced fabric that is cut and sewn by someone that really knows what they are doing. Easy suggestions would be jeans from people like Naked & Famous, Iron Heart, SugarCane, etc… But, I think I’ve stumbled onto something even better.

Ciano Farmer Denim Co. is a tiny shop in Denton, TX that makes jeans and other denim products using the same tools and techniques that Americans used in the 1800s. They cut and sew one pair of jeans at a time to your measurements using the exact materials you want. Prices start at around $200 per pair and go up from there.

Sounds like a luxury product, right? If you are like me and work in a shop environment quite a bit, this is absolutely a frugal buy. But don’t trust me, do your own math…

Details here.

The thing about travel tees is that they are often super thin and stretchy… So if you are chubby, you look more so… and if you are athletic, you look as though you are trying to flex. I prefer my t-shirts to be thick, boxy, and soft enough to be comfortable, but not so soft as to look modern. Does that make sense?

In any case, the 72-hour Merino is about the best travel garment that I’ve found. It’s merino, so you get all the good shit that comes with that. But also, it’s just cut right and you don’t look as though you are wearing travel clothing.

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Smoking deal on my favorite denim Sherpa jacket… Taylor Stitch creates “buy it for life” clothing and usually you gotta pay for it. Not this time.

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I maintain that the best sweatshirt in the world is made by American Giant. However, it’s not the most comfortable. The most comfortable sweatshirt that I have been able to find is actually a collaboration between Todd Snyder and Champion. These sweats are made of French Terry in the US and they have a price tag to prove it, but if you wear a sweatshirt every day in the winter, these are 100% worth the mass exodus of cash from your account. Seriously.

Details here.

Feels like everyone makes an MA-1 these days, but no one makes it better than Triple Aught Design. While I don’t own one, a buddy of mine does and the detail work and construction is unmatched. Sure, it costs damn near $300… But ya get what ya pay for. In my opinion, this is the best on the market.

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Crazy comfortable shoes made out of recycled bottles… All that, and they still look somewhat timeless, no?

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This is pretty interesting. Reigning Champ has been working with a Japanese Dye house in an effort to perfect the black dye process on western materials. The result is a black with crazy depth and no blue. Apparently, this process took over a century to perfect and the dye includes all kinds of shit in it… Things like tea leaves and bark.

Crazy, no?

Details here.

The Brown Buffalo makes some of the best bags in the world. Their attention to detail is overdone and insane. And now, they are making a house a slipper?

I haven’t laid eyes on these yet, but I pretty much guarantee these are built like a brick shithouse… and do the job of a slip-on.

Details.