Need jeans recommendations. And length advice.
Hi everyone.
I'm in the middle of wardrobe overhaul. I was mostly a jeans guy, that too a skinny/slim fit type. And lately I've realized that a looser fit suits me better since I'm already slim. So I bought my first pair of proper chinos at age 37. And they look great. 😊 I have been experimenting with overshirts and have realized that that's my thing: jackets and overshirts. I love layering.
Now I'm confused with trousers. I see a lot of you wearing olive fatigues as trousers. While I dig them, it's a tad bit too loose for my taste. I saw one guy rocking a straight fit. So that's on my list. I want to buy jeans next. Any brand recommendations? I stay in Stockholm.
Also how to alter them. I always alter them after buying and then later realize that they are always a bit long and creates a puddle on top of my shoes. What's the foolproof way to measure the length so that it's not that high and not that low.
20 Replies
If you are done with slim and not sure about enormous pants, look for something mid-rise with a straight leg.
Levis 501s are a classic. Not sure about availability/price in Stockholm, though.
Are there places you can shop secondhand in person to try them on
Levi's 501s are on the slimmer side of straight which I think is what you're looking for
also fatigues aren't a monolith, while it's not slim the OG-107 isn't that generous/wide of a leg but 10,000 variants exist from fashion brands than run the gamut of leg width
Do you do your own alterations?
I'm gonna 3rd 501s.
There are lots of other really great denim brands out there too. If you go the way of raw, unwashed jeans, you will want to cuff them and wear them for a while before washing and altering (and make sure you wash before you hem because of shrinkage).
if you want recs on fancier denim I'm happy to give you some
when you eventually go to hem, google and find a place in stockholm that does "chainstich hemming"
that is what you will likely want on your jeans if you want to keep a traditional looking hem
depending on your style you can definitely also just chop them and leave the hem unfished like @jawntanamo_bae 🥀 was doing yesterday in his #waywt
Thank you, we got Levi's here. Will head to the store tomorrow!
There are many second hand shops around my office. I can try the fit out at the official Levi's stores as well. Thanks for the insight on fatigues. I'll try some tomorrow.
No, usually at the same store where I buy them for free.
Saw it. I won't be able to pull that off yet. 😊
I read somewhere in this Discord that entry level denims from Levi's are not of good quality & their vintage and premium range is what are recommend. Should I take that advice with a pinch of salt?
that was a message that I wrote
lmao
if you read it a few days ago
no, that's reasonable advice.
Then if you want them hemmed shorter, ask for it.
read that full thread for all the info on current levi's practices ^
Yeah, usually the first one is free and I get the first one always wrong.
This is the line that scared me, "You’re better off buying cheap jeans at gap on sale than buying base Levi's"
Shoukd I still buy the 501? I can get them for cheap at the factory outlet near Stockholm.
depends on how cheap you are getting them for
if you are buying base levis 501s on a deep sale is probably worth it
but not full price thats for sure
also there are so many great pairs of jeans in second hand stores for way less (including lots of 501s) at least here
in the us
but I wouldnt be surprised if the same is true in sweden considering their international popularity
I'll check out the 2nd hand stores first then. The problem is that Stockholm is pretty expensive and to alter a second hand jeans at a good tailor would be costlier than the jeans itself.
Well, not exactly but you get the drift. E.g. Uniqlo jeans retail here for around 600 sek and alteration charges are around 200 sek at a tailor.
600 sek is like $56 usd. Uniqlo jeans are about $50 and up in the US, so that doesn't seem that much more expensive. I thought Uniqlo would hem pants for free, but I'm not certain. 200 sek = $19 usd, which is about what I would pay for hemming in the US.
I went to Levi's and tried the 501 and for some reason it's way too loose for my liking. 😔 Then I went to Arket https://www.arket.com/sv_se/men/jeans/product.park-cropped-regular-straight-jeans-blue.1077160001.html and tried their regular straight fit crop jeans and they felt slim fit to me. 😔
But I liked their material, fit look (and not the fit itself), so planning to order their Relaxed line instead of Regular line and see if it's loose enough for me. https://www.arket.com/sv_se/men/jeans.html
Any advice?
Have you considered a tapered fit instead?
All the comfort of a wider top block with all of fit of a slimmer lower block
Fit pics would help alot here
My thoughts exactly, the Arket Relaxed line is tapered. I didn't take pics omat Levi's. Here's the Arket regular straight fit. Looks too slim to me.
I agree that its a bit too slim
Lets see how the next arket ones look!
levi's 550s are also an option for a more tapered jean fwiw and, at least from what i've seen, slightly less expensive on ebay, etc
Will try out Nudie Jeans too tomorrow. Let me click pics