Who doesn’t wear jeans? Everybody does. If somebody doesn’t wear them, there just might be something wrong with them. Everybody needs to own at least one great pair of jeans. It doesn’t matter if you are a man, woman, or child; you need a pair. If you just wear dress pants all day everyday, loosen up. Jeans will not make you appear weak, or powerless, or whatever other snooty ideas you have in mind. They are for all – from the President of the United States, to Bill Gates, to CEO’s of companies, to students, and all walks of life in between. After trying, buying, and wearing dozens of brands, I keep coming back to Levis. Even within the Levi brand, there are so many options (baggy, acid wash, 550, carpenter, Silver Tab…) but when all is said and done, vintage 501’s are the best, for so many reasons.
When it comes to buying jeans, it can be an arduous task. It can take hours, days, multiple stores, and different cities to find the right pair. (And that is if you are a guy. For women, well, let’s just say that there’s a reason why God created Europe.) Just look at any local store’s selection. There are about 5000 different styles, brands, fits, washes, colors, looks, materials, logos, and sizes. Each of these is important to you. Before buying a pair of jeans, you need to first know what you want out of them. If you are one of those pretentious snobs who have to always wear the most expensive clothes, then you won’t be satisfied with Levis, of course you probably won’t be satisfied with any aspect of life, but that’s not what we are talking about.
Let’s just assume that you are not only concerned with brand names, when it comes to clothing. If you are more interested in how they fit and look on you than what the tag says, you still have numerous choices. You can choose from Levis, Wrangler, Diesel, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Evisu, Apple Bottom, Rock and Republic, DC, Abercrombie and Fitch, True Religion, Lee, Girbaud, Moschino, Pepe, Express, and numerous others. There are as many brands of jeans as there are people to wear them.
For me, I tried several of these. Some I ruled out just because of the cost. I don’t find it necessary to wear a $250 pair of jeans. The way those companies arrive at their price is simple. The first $30 is to cover the cost of the jeans; the remaining $220 goes into a collective Health Care pool that is used to help pay for the psychiatric bills of the buyers of the $250 jeans. Not to say that $250 jeans don’t fit well and look great, they do, but it is just a waste of money, no matter how rich a person is. But I guess egotism is an expensive habit to afford.
So now that I narrowed down the choices from 10,000 to 2000, the actual hunt begins. Your next step is to know your size. Every guy knows what size jeans he wears, and if he doesn’t, his girlfriend/wife/mistress will know it. My girlfriend knows mine. This is NOT the end of this problem. I am 6’4″, about 200 pounds, my jean size is 33×35. Does this mean that all 33×35 jeans will fit me? Absolutely not. I have some jeans that are 36×34, 32×34, even 35×35, it all depends on the particular pair of jeans that I am wearing. No two pair of jeans fit the same, not even if they are the same brand, fit, and size. I have actually tried on two different 33×36 pairs of jeans, made by the same company, (same style), and one fit much looser than the other. Don’t buy without trying them on first. I know trying on clothes is a horrible task. It ranks between dental visits and watching my baseball team (Phillies) lose an extra inning game, but it needs to be done.
So now that you have your size in mind, you need to head out and look at the jeans. Just go to any mall. There are hundreds of stores that will sell what you need. Everywhere from Kaufmanns, The Gap, JC Penney’s, Abercrombie and Fitch, you name it, they are easy to find. Now that you are in a store, and in the jeans section, make it easy on yourself and just go to the Levis section.
Levi Strauss is one of the world’s most popular, oldest, and best selling jean company. They have been around well over 100 years. There is a reason why. They are the best jeans that money can buy. I have worn every brand in every store but I always come back to the original. In fact, I found one pair of jeans, about a year ago, that are so comfortable, fit so well, so amazing, that I wear them all the time. They are Levi 501 original fit, original wash, original everything. The only thing is that they are re-issues. This means that they are not actually from the 1960’s or 70’s, they were made recently but look like they are old. Nothing is wrong with this. Why spend hundreds and thousands (believe me, look on ebay) of dollars for true vintage Levi’s, when the re-issues are just as good, for a fraction of the price. I got mine for $40. I don’t think I have ever gotten so much for such a small amount of money, except for my LOST Season 1 dvd box set.
My Levi’s 501, re-issue, original classic fit, made to look old, cool as hell, distressed, blue jeans are the most comfortable item of clothing that I own, even more comfortable than my authentic 1988 Def Leppard – Hysteria Tour concert shirt. My Levi’s fit me well, they have holes in them everywhere from my excessive wearing, they are faded in all the right places. I wear them everywhere. It doesn’t matter if I’m going to class, the bank, to play baseball, to visit my mom, or to the upcoming Lynyrd Skynyrd concert next month, these jeans will be there. I just throw on the jeans, an old t-shirt, and my motorcycle boots, and I’m ready to go. I don’t have to impress people with how I dress. I dress to be comfortable. I dress in what I like, not in what People magazine, MTV, or Paris Hilton says I need to wear to be cool. No thank you, I have enough confidence in myself. I don’t need your pill. If it was good enough for James Dean, it sure as hell is good enough for me.
Just try these jeans, you will like them. They can be found in most any store, in most any mall, in most any city. There is nothing fancy about them. They are just your basic denim, color blue. They will fit you exactly as you are built. They will not be baggy, loose, or come with bells and whistles. They will be blue, though. They won’t say hip words on your butt, on the leg, have designs on the thighs or come with 35 pockets, but they are blue, and have a button fly. If you just go out and buy a pair, you will not regret it. Money well spent.
