$350 Jeans

Vivian · ‎03-11-2010

On CBS's Sunday Morning, there was a feature on the history of jeans in America. There's a man who risks life and Iimb by exploring old mines to find denim clothing discarded by workers over 100 years ago. The stuff he's unearthed is worth thousands as historical artifacts. Then the report noted the fact that almost no jeans, iconic clothing of America, are made in the US anymore. However, they found a couple of entrepreneurs who are making jeans here, the way they were made many decades ago. One man in California actually uses the ancient original machines to create his jeans...nice, huh? Well, if you want to buy these genuine American jeans, you'll have to shell out close to $350. I'm sure this jeans-maker takes great pride in his work but I found myself feeling both angry and sad that US jeans manufacturing has become an artisan craft for wealthy people. That goes against the whole purpose of what jeans were created for in the first place.

FUTURE · ‎04-11-2010

Yeah, I won't be buying those. Why can't they just make them in America, the new way, and charge $100? I'd buy those!

raven-blackbird · ‎06-03-2010

even buying them for a 100 bucks is against why the pants were made in the first place.......they were a cheap alternative to the pants of the time.........they stood up to the environment, and the work that was being done...........double stitched, riveted pockets, button fly.............jeans ARE Americana......they are every bit the American icon as Uncle Sam and mom's apple pie.....they should be made in the US..............................raven

We're not in Kansas anymore ToTo

Mistic · ‎12-08-2010

I do love my jeans. But $350 to get an American made pair? Not in my budget at the moment, or in the future. Sad indeed.

If you want to change the tenor of your interactions, you must become aware of the impact of your words...Karen Casey

sylviahomeatlast · ‎03-11-2010

cloth was ""de Nimes"".

sylviahomeatlast · ‎03-11-2010

I have pricey jeans but I draw the line at $350

hckynut · ‎03-10-2010

Nothing I wear cost anywhere close to $350, but I haven't bought a new pair of hockey skates for many years now. Fact I still have a pair I've only worn about 3 times. The old ones still are holding up just fine after years of use and abuse.

All the clothes I wear in a week probably didn't cost me more than $100.

hckynut(john)

mewsmomtoo · ‎03-05-2014

Glenn B*ck, the radio talk show guy (webbie won't let me use his name) started a company called "1791" and they make 100% American made jeans, from the material used to the way the jeans are manufactured. They range from $160-$190. Here is a little story about them:

Glenn found that jeans, an iconic American product, were no longer being made in America.

Rather than sit back and complain about yet another industry going overseas, Glenn decided to do something about it and tasked the nascent 1791 clothing line, staffed by only Tim and LJ, with making a new line of jeans that would be made entirely in America. And they had to do it as soon as possible – since that is the only deadline that Glenn ever gives his employees.

A year later and the jeans are finally ready. The premium 100% cotton ring-spun selvedge jeans are 100% “Made in the USA”. They are woven in Greensboro, NC at Cone Denim ™ Mills, and are cut and sewn in Kentucky at a factory established in the 1920s.

In a profile of Cone Denim ™ Mills, Businessweek explained the appeal of selvedge jeans:

Aficionados crave “selvage,” or “self-edge,” jeans, which are more durable than the modern variety and develop a kind of patina over time. They’re made on narrower fly-shuttle looms that create a continuous, un-cut edge—something jeans devotees can tell instantly from the characteristic edging inside the legs or when the bottoms are rolled up. These jeans began disappearing in the 1970s as U.S. mills switched to high-speed looms to compete with fabric going into cheap apparel. The newer machines operated much faster but produced a less idiosyncratic product. More recently, Japanese companies discovered a market for old-fashioned jeans, which have since caught on with hipsters around the world. White Oak stays open by “targeting a niche business,” says Kenneth Kunberger, International Textile’s chief operating officer. “The only place in the world where these Draper fly-shuttle looms are running right now is right here.”