My friend and co-worker JJ asked me to promote his girlfriend’s designer jeans boutique on my blog. (Do you think the next person will actually PAY me to advertise on my blog?) Anyway, I said sure. I kind of owe him because he helped me get my job. So I got thinking about my desire for denim and all the “it” jeans I’ve sought after throughout my life. Here’s what I remember:
Elementary School: Guess jeans. I had a friend who had stitched the upside down triangle on a cheap pair to imposture the Guess brand. My first exposure to the extremes people did with designer envy.
Junior High: Ghirbaud jeans. The price tag of $60 was so steep just for that little white strip across the fly.
Early High School: Gap jeans. The Gap was the store to shop in 90s—especially for jeans. But poor cut and fit has quickly moved them towards the bottom of the denim food chain.
Mid High School: Lucky jeans. I felt so scandalous every time I unbuttoned my jeans and revealed the tagline “Lucky You” along the inside of the fly.
Late High School: Abercrombie & Fitch jeans. These were the first jeans I remember that actually looked good and felt good. And $50 bucks was a good price. Everyone had them my senior year.
Early College: The Freshman 15 prevented me from wearing jeans for about 2-3 years.
Late College: Seven for All Mankind—the first jeans I remember with a $100+ price tag. My first reaction: who the hell would pay $130 for a pair of jeans? I quickly understood as I watched these jeans trailblazers catch the eye of numerous males. I still was wearing my forgiving khakis and corduroys, so I watched in envy.
One month after graduation: I finally gave in.
I bought my first pair of $100+ jeans during the summer of 2004. I remember this so clearly because it was such paradigm-shifting moment. I was in AZ visiting some family, when I went to the Scottsdale mall (awesome mall, btw) to kill some time. While in Nordstrom’s I thought I’d humor myself and just TRY on a pair of Sevens. Big mistake. Once I slipped on that $150 of sexiness, I stared into the dressing room mirror in awe and thought, “I cannot NOT have these.” Seriously, I just couldn’t leave the store without them. And worse, I couldn’t believe I really spent $150 to have them. So from that moment I’ve been determined to find good-looking jeans—even as prices grow increasingly insane—without EVER paying full-price again.
Before JJ met his current girlfriend, he was a victim of bad jeans, but now he’s so proud of his new jeans. One time JJ got in trouble for wearing jeans at a trade show. The booth manager told him, “JJ, you’re not allowed to wear Levi’s.” But JJ retorted, “I’m not. These are Diesels.” I’m sure his girlfriend would have beamed at JJ at that moment.
It may be easy to justify expensive jeans that make you look good when you’re single, even if you could support a child in Africa for an entire year instead. But with the right effort and a little luck, you can find fantastic jeans without ever paying full price. This weekend is an opportunity just for that. Namedroppers is having a monster sale off big, BIG names. 50% off on Thursday. 70% off on Friday and Saturday. 80% off on Sunday. That will bring the price tag to a reasonable $60. They are located at 2350 Parleys Way (2100 South) in Salt Lake City. Don’t pass it up.
**So if you want to date Jenny, she gets uncomfortable if a guy knows about designer jeans more than she does. It just seems wrong to her.
