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.
