Before recent “crimes against jeans” in which companies are charged hundreds of dollars for “window” jeans, clear jeans, and painted on mud jeans, people would spend the same amount of money on a relatively simple, if not bedazzled, pair of high-end jeans. But with changing fashion and tastes, these denim-focused retailers of yesteryear aren’t faring so well. Case in point: One-time denim darling True Religion has filed for bankruptcy. [More]
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$425 Convertible Jorts Are Proof We Live In The End Times For Denim
By 5.18.17 — Updated: 5.19.17
When fashion historians look back on this century, perhaps the spring of 2017 will mark the beginning of the Denim End Times, when clear plastic appeared in inexplicable places, and someone, somewhere, evidently needed to convert chaps into booty shorts. It was a nice run while it lasted, denim. [More]
Levi’s Slammed For Referencing AIDS Memorial Quilt To Sell Jeans
By 5.18.17
While it’s always refreshing to see big companies trying to do their part to give back to their customers and support important social issues, sometimes these efforts hit the wrong note. To wit: Levi’s is facing backlash on social media over a Tweet promoting its upcoming Pride collection. [More]
Today In WTF Fashion: TopShop Sells Clear ‘Jeans’ While Nordstrom Charges $425 For ‘Muddy’ Ones
By 4.25.17 — Updated: 4.28.17
In the annals of fashion, Spring 2017 may be remembered as the high-water mark for laughable, high-priced jeans. TopShop is now doing its knee-sweat inducing “window” jeans one better by just selling clear plastic leggings, while Nordstrom wants to charge you a small fortune for the privilege of looking like you fetched your pants from a flooded dirt-floor basement. [More]
Thieves Steal $11K Worth Of Jeans Over Two Days From JCPenney
By 9.21.16
Is there a thriving black market for Levi’s jeans? If there is, then a group of thieves from Georgia have quite a haul to add to it after pilfering $11,000 worth of the pants from JCPenney. [More]
Levi’s Turns A Schoolyard Threat Into A Style With “Wedgie Fit” Jeans
By 2.3.16
Has anyone seen Ashton Kutcher lurking around? Because we’re pretty sure we’re getting Punk’d by Levi’s and a new style of jeans it’s pushing for the spring, the “Wedgie” fit. [More]
Today In Weird Clothing Trends: Wearing Jeans Infused With Jade To Beat The Heat
By 7.24.15
Because no one likes having heavy fabric clinging to sweaty, suffocating legs when it’s hot outside, many people turn to a clothing innovation known as “shorts” to give those limbs some breathing room when the weather is hot. But over in China, Lee jeans has decided to push another option — denim infused with crushed jade stones, a method that theoretically keeps wearers cooler. [More]
Doctors Warn: Squatting In Skinny Jeans May Lead To Nerve Damage
By 6.23.15
If you’ve always had a sneaking suspicion that there was something not quite right about the trend of encasing your lower half in skintight denim, that feeling might be justified: Researchers say squatting while wearing skinny jeans can cause not only temporary discomfort, but nerve damage as well. [More]
California’s Denim Industry Trying To Get That Distressed Look Without Using Water During Drought
By 4.10.15
California is in the middle of a long drought right now, with state officials asking everyone to pitch in and do their best to conserve water. But that’s a bit tricky for the state’s denim industry, which produces about 75% of the “premium” jeans sold worldwide. Because getting that expensive, distressed vintage look is all about washing… and washing again, and again. With water, of course, which is in short supply. [More]
What Is Alibaba, And Can I Use It To Buy 280 Pairs Of Pants At A Time?
By 9.16.14
If you’re like most Americans, you’ve never heard of Alibaba or Taobao, even though they’re the biggest e-commerce sites in the world. That was the case for Bloomberg’s Sam Grobart, who was curious about the site because of its upcoming initial public stock offering, which experts think will be the biggest ever. So Grobart did what all business reporters do to learn about an unfamiliar company: he hired a factory in Pakistan to make $2,500 worth of hideous pants. [More]
Sales Of Jeans Are Down 6%, Everybody Panic
By 8.13.14
The impending demise of jeans is currently big news. Is it really news, though? Are Americans really eschewing indigo-colored cotton, moving on to elastic-waisted options like leggings and yoga pants? Current trends and the preferences of teens indicate that the next few years might be tough ones for companies in the blue-jeans biz. [More]
Why Won’t Old Navy Exchange My Jeans That Won’t Fit?
By 12.7.12
If you go shopping on Black Friday at a clothing store, you should take the time to brave the fitting rooms, no matter how long the lines are. Nick learned this the hard way, buying three pairs of jeans for $15 each. He made it out of the store unscathed, but when he got home, found that the jeans didn’t fit. Boo. Oh, well, he can just take them back to the store and swap them for the correct size, right? Not so fast! [More]
It Would Be Nice If My Lane Bryant Jeans Lasted Longer Than 2 Months
By 9.9.11
Andrea is very fond of Right Fit jeans from Lane Bryant. She likes them so much that she wears them until they literally wear out,then goes and buys another pair. Only that’s a more expensive plan than it was a few years ago, because Andrea has noticed the quality of the pants that she buys deteriorating over time. She reached a breaking point recently when her jeans, too, reached a breaking point–wearing out this week after being purchased in July. $50 is a lot to pay for pants that only last two months. [More]
Buy Your Jeans Now Before Cotton Prices Go Up
By 11.4.10
It’s been a bad year for cotton-producing regions in India, China and Pakistan and the price of cotton has skyrocketed since the summer. So before retailers begin tacking this cost of materials increase onto the consumer, the forward-thinking people at SmartMoney.com have put together a list of what items you should stock up on. [More]
Lee Declares All Facebook Contest Entrants Winners
By 12.5.09
Something appears to have gone wrong with a contest that Lee Jeans ran on Facebook, and the company was forced to change the rules partway through. However, instead of canceling the contest or changing the rules in their own favor, the change means that everyone who entered the contest before Wednesday, December 2, under the original rules, won automatically. Yay! [More]
How To Ruin Your Jeans On The Cheap
By 10.16.09
If there’s one thing my grandmother and I agree on, aside from the fact that Marlena being possessed was a dumb storyline on Days of Our Lives, it’s that it makes no sense to pay top dollar for deliberately weakened/damaged denim. The ConsumerReports blog ShopSmart has found a website that offers tips on how to distress your jeans at home, like using a pumice stone to cut holes, or a cheese grater to create patterns.
Revolutionize Your Butt With Winkers Jeans
By 8.21.09
Move over Snuggie, there’s a new clothing-based innovation in town—and instead of hiding your curves under a human fumigation tent, this one turns your butt into fashion fuel and then sets it on fire! Best of all, if you want to be the president of the Winkers club and not just a member, licensing is available. Oh yes, of course there’s a video clip.
Skinny Jeans Pose Even More Health Risks
By 7.23.09
We’ve warned you before: wearing skinny jeans can lead to health problems, including the least fun tingling sensation in the thighs ever, and also can lead to exceedingly sassy customer service. Now, we have even more dire warnings about the super-tight pants: blood clots, bladder and yeast infections, and fertility and digestive problems.
