Banana Republic denim quality?
I found these light wash selvedge jeans (you may need to click the light wash option to the right of the photo) and I love how they look, but I'm unsure of the quality of Banana Republic's denim. I haven't seen them mentioned when looking into "denim land" so I'm a bit clueless. Anyone know anything about the quality?
Edit (forgot link): https://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?pid=572796022&vid=1#pdp-page-content
Slim Rigid Selvedge Jean | Banana Republic
Shop Banana Republic's Slim Rigid Selvedge Jean: The perfect partner when wanderlust strikes, these sturdy slim-fit jeans are cut from artisanal selvedge denim in a 14oz. weight, beloved for its rugged appeal and rich, dimensional wash that only improves with every wear. Non-Stretch, SLIM FIT: A Slim Fit, expertly tailored and modified for rigid...
8 Replies
The bleached pair on the far right? I'm not super familiar with Banana Republic's denim quality but for $100 you might be able to get something else either vintage or on sale. At the very least, wait for or look for a BR sale/code; since they're owned by Gap, you should be able to get a good deal. What led you to this pair in particular?
Also, them calling that pair "rigid" is a bit of a misnomer, they look like a bleached wash in a slim fit.
It's really hard to assess "quality" in clothing like this. People use "quality" to refer to quality of materials, quality of manufacturing, and quality control, and brands might do very well in some aspects but not in others. BR is a mall brand, their clothing is not really special but there's nothing wrong with buying it, and unless there's a QC defect (which is just luck of the draw), they should last you the normal length of time for a pair of jeans.
If you really care about getting high quality of materials and manufacturing, then you'll be spending much more on your jeans, but that doesn't even necessarily mean they'll last longer.
I'm more of a black denim guy, but I saw a pair that Dave Mustaine from Megadeth was wearing and I immediately wanted a pair of super-light wash jeans to wear with lighter band shirts. So I Googled "mens light wash jeans" or something like that and BR popped up in the results. I've seen BR mentioned as a reliable affordable brand on the subreddit, so I figured it would be worth a shot to look into their denim quality.
Honestly, I didn't know what rigid meant until I looked it up after your comment, haha. I'll see if I can wait for a sale for these. Thanks for the info!
In this instance, when I say quality I'm talking about both durability and how it feels to wear in general. I'm glad to hear that these seem to be likely around the same quality of another pair at this price.
If a guy like Mustaine's your inspiration then I'd probably not go with Banana Republic. If you're looking for a slim-ish straight fit, look for a pair of vintage 501s, you can definitely get them cheaper than the BR pair and they might match the look a bit more. Just make sure you check the measurements as vintage 501s tend to fit small.
seconding vintage 501s, they look better and are all over the place. If you're patient you can find pairs around $50
Not 501s, but I found these 512s that are pretty much exactly what I'm looking for in terms of color and fit and are half the price: https://tinyurl.com/2haub4tf
Thanks everyone for the help!
There’s a nice video by the iron snail on YouTube that discusses the difference in quality in denim, and what it means, and a lot of quality beyond a bare minimum threshold really encompasses things like material sourcing, method of manufacture and level of detail, which really buys you things like ethical concerns, variety in textures, and variety in fits and things like fades or colors, not durability
yep yep, quality is a hard topic because it's so much more than durability, and "will my mall brand jeans last as long as Japanese artisanal denim" depends on a lot of factors and there's no short answer