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If you’ve never gotten a pair of selvedge jeans, I recommend you give them a try. Like a pair of sturdy work boots or a heavy-duty work shirt, quality selvedge jean impart a sense of dependability and longevity. The fact that those things gain a glorious patina with wear is a major part of that appeal. Denim has this quality in spades, with the way the fabric uniquely fades with your own wear.
Gustin, a crowdfunding site for jeans and other workwear-adjacent clothes has been slinging interesting denim for years. Their price point has served as the entry point for many people into the sometimes arcane world of selvedge, where the echoes of washing recommendations like “wear them into the ocean” still linger. (Gustin does not recommend wearing your jeans into the ocean).
The point of this post is to say: Gustin has now introduced featured stock, where to begin they’ve produced a full size run of some of their most popular styles of jeans—including the 1968 Cone Mills denim and their “Okayama Standard”—meaning there is no crowdfunding-associated lead time. Order, ship, receive, try on—all within about a week, instead of 3-4 months.
My advice: Straight fit only (their slim and skinny fits have a rise that’s far too low. Straight fit’s rise is what I’d consider the minimum rise for any jeans, period).
Size considerations: I took my normal size in dress trousers, and out of the box they fit snug but not tight in the top block. The leg is straight, akin to a 501-style fit. They ease out/stretch a bit with wear in the seat and upper thigh in my experience.
Returns situation: They’ll give you store credit if you need to send a pair back because they don’t fit.
Length and hemming situation: They come in one length, about 36 inches. To get them to a reasonable length, I send mine to Railcar Fine Goods, who charges $30 for the hemming and return shipping, which is outrageously fair. You specify the length of the inseam and they come back with a beautiful chain-stitched hem. I add about a half inch to my desired final hem length to accommodate shrinkage in the length, based on my experience from various selvedge jeans I’ve had over the years.
Okayama Standard vs. 1968: I love their Okayama Standard. My brother bought a pair, in their slim fit, a few years ago, but didn’t wear them much and eventually grew out of them, so he gave them to me. I wore them, then grew out of them myself, then got back into them recently and have worn them more often. I love the fabric and wear them, especially in fall and winter. The rise is way too low, but I manage that by wearing them with knitwear or other things where it’s less of an issue. If Gustin ever makes a high-rise model, I think I’d get the Okayama Standard in such a fit.
Gustin sent me the 1968, which are photographed. These are excellent, too. Similar weight as the Okayama’s, but the color is just a bit different—a bit more of a true blue. I am excited to wear these in to get a glorious patina, so I plan to wear them whenever I am going to wear jeans for the next few months.
They have some other goodies featured besides jeans, too, like this heavyweight sweatshirt and heavyweight white tees.
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