Shopping for Jeans

Series Summary

Designer jeans began with Jordache in 1978. Thus began the “brand name craze” in the jean industry that still exists today. Before this fashion milestone, jeans were predominantly work-wear. Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis sought the patent for what we now think of as blue jeans, denim pants with a zipper that are reinforced with copper rivets, in 1873. Jeans were used for laborers and factory workers until becoming a counter-culture fashion in the 1950s and 60s, considered unfit for many public restaurants, cinemas, schools, and businesses. Jordache found a new use for the clothing item, quickly followed by dozens of companies, and brought jeans to the level of high fashion. A pair of blue jeans (as if such high-fashion items could still be called “jeans” at all) in Diesel’s recently launched Black Gold line will cost upwards of $400-$1000. In today’s department stores and fashion boutiques, designer jeans can be purchased for a range of prices, starting at around $100. In this free video series, an experienced fashion designer and clothing care expert will demonstrate how to wear and care for denim jeans. Learn to shop for jeans, make jeans softer and wear in a new pair of jeans. Get tips on how to customize jeans, patch jeans and make jeans look vintage. If jeans are a staple in your closet, learn everything there is to know about caring for and wearing jeans from an expert.

Video Transcript

"My name is Mitra Chester and we are at Deluxe Resale Boutique in Eugene Oregon and I am going to talk to you today about shopping for jeans. The first thing you need to think about when you shop for jeans is where to go. If you already have a style or brand or label that you know fits really well for you, you would probably go to the boutique store or shop that has those available. If you have no idea whatsoever you might try some place that has a variety of sizes and styles at your disposal. So if you're interested in new jeans you can try a shopping mall or a department store that offers a lot of different brands. The price is probably going to be a little higher but they also will probably offer different lengths, as in petites and longs and a larger variety of sizes. If you like used or vintage jeans you could try a resale boutique or even a thrift store if you don't mind digging through a lot of different things. Today we are going to look at a resale boutique in Deluxe and the first thing you want to look at when you are actually at your store is maybe limit down what you are looking for. So the things to think about are the different fades available. We have light fades. Kind of medium blues, dark and there is also a lot of tones of gray and black out there right now. So if you have a certain look you are going for, you want to consider that. You also want to think about fabric content. So certain ones are going to have more give to them and others are going to be more restricting. This one is not going to have as much give or this one might have some stretch in it. So you want to think about that based on your shape and your needs. Another thing to think about is cut. There's a lot of styles available and that are very popular right now. So you have your skinny cut where it is tailored the whole length down, or your basic strait leg where it is just going to be strait. There is also trouser cut which is going to have a fuller leg maybe a cuff, kind of a strait pocket and usually a flap or a slit pocket on the back. There is also the classic boot cut which works for pretty much everyone. Other things to think about are the rise height. So certain styles are going to have a higher rise. The rise is measured from the crotch to the waist. And others are going to have a lower rise and these work for different people or different people have different styles that they prefer. And basically what it comes down to when you narrow down what you are looking for and you found your place is trial and error. So you are going to try on some different styles. When you are selecting your size, depending on where you are at and what brand you are going for it is going to vary. I would not be married to the idea that you are a specific size. And it is definitely better if you are willing to try on maybe some bigger sizes or smaller sizes. Because it will vary based on the cut and the brand and the most important thing is to get something that fits your body type really well. So basically those are the steps you want to take to narrow down how to shop for jeans for you."