I have been wearing them for so long that I still call them “dungarees.” I only hear that word in old English movies these days.
Now, of course they are “jeans” and a vital part of every American’s wardrobe. Despite Brett Favre’s best efforts for Wranglers (more room and all), I have always been a Levis man and will remain until my ashes are dumped into Lake Megunticook. (Don’t tell.). I have no idea why, other than to think I look the best in Levis.
It has been many years since I have bought any dungarees, simply because I wear shorts 11 months of the year. When it starts snowing I will don a pair of “big boy” pants reluctantly, most often to pump gas at Fowlie’s Overpriced Emporium, the coldest spot on Earth. With no memory left to speak of, I would estimate that I spent $20-$30 on my last pair. Probably at J.C. Penney’s.
I don’t know about you, but I depend on Men’s Journal Magazine to illustrate just how out of it I am. Now, silly, you are supposed to buy selvedge jeans. Why, you ask? Well, that is denim that has been “woven on shuttle looms resulting in a fabric with a closed edge that is less likely to fray. You can tell if a pair of jeans has been made from selvedge denim by turning the legs inside out and looking for two densely woven white bands running up the fabric’s vertical side.”
Consider yourself educated.
You better do the selvedge check since these bad boys can take, oh, $500 out of your wallet. I don’t know how your life goes, but if I spent $500 on “dungarees” I would promptly burn a hole in them around a campfire, smoking a Cuban cigar.
Let’s look at the Men’s Journal jeans lineup that I would not buy even if I won the Megabucks AND Lucky for Life.
There is the Raleigh Denim Martino Original Selvedge Raw. RDM makes “small batch” (honest to God) denims in North Carolina. These slim tapered (not for me) handcrafted pants are made from midweight, 12.5-ounce denim. Ready? $285.
If you want to go to the Gap, you can save some selvedge money, by getting “skinny fit” (nope) selvedge for a mere $108. For your info, “the cotton-poly blend keeps the slim leg-line comfortable, while the waistband is constructed from heavier threads for added durability.” When I wear jeans the waistband better have added durability, know what I mean?
Let’s get fancy. Let’s drop by Ralph Lauren. The “denim and supply” model will set you back $135, but these babies are made with “13.75-ounce selvedge denim washed in a resin rinse (got to have that) to maintain the deep indigo. The slim silhouette works for any occasion.”
J. Crew has them, too. But these $175 pants “are made with Japanese denim … rougher in appearance and feel than the U.S. denim and … yields greater variation in its fades.” You need that variation in your fades, right?
Want more Japanese? The Baldwin Denim Collection, The Steven will set you back $275. But these are 12-ounce Japanese-milled jeans and are “cold rinsed to soften the cotton-blend denim without losing any color. The result is a close, tailored fit that never feels too constricting.”
You may find these garments a trifle expensive but bear in mind that in 2011, the Japanese brand Momotaro sold a pair of handwoven jeans for $2,000. This was explained by the use of a loom traditionally used for fine kimonos.
Two Grand.
For dungarees.
Were they resin-rinsed?
Emmet Meara lives in Camden in blissful retirement after working as a reporter for the BDN in Rockland for 30 years.