true religion

Ask the MB: White-Stitched Jeans

January 30, 2012

Q: What do you think of white stitched jeans for a younger male? I got a pair tonight and I love them but some of my friends disagree. Thoughts?
—Heath

A: While your youth is a slight mitigating factor, please consult the Venn diagram below as a guide. (In other words, your friends might have a point.)

Ask the MB: Bootcut Jeans

September 30, 2011

Q: Bootcut jeans these days are nose-diving on the stylishness scale. Sources ranging from GQ to random style bloggers now treat bootcut jeans like they're the next shiny square-toed shoes. Why is this? When did this happen? It's frustrating because straight jeans are too tapered to fall properly around any shoe. Unless you get a size that's too short, they just bunch up at the ankle and look sloppy. As a result (and the only way to alleviate this sloppiness), we've got the fashion industry telling us that it's also a great look to roll up our pants legs, because, as we all know, men want to emulate the bastardly Huck Finn and the magnificent Opie Taylor. Please, enlighten us.
—James

James, we don't know what happened to bootcut denim but we haven't worn a pair of bootcut jeans in a very, very long time. In fact, we were wondering if one could even buy a pair anymore and did a quick inventory of well-known retailers and their bootcut denim stock.

Retailer	# of Jeans	# of Bootcut Jeans	%
Barney's Co-Op	135	1	.7%
Bergdorf Goodman	24	2	8%
Bloomingdale's	178	31	17%
Neiman Marcus	151	19	13%
Nordstrom	260	41	16%
Saks Fifth Avenue	215	24	11%

Among these retailers, Barney's is the most forward-looking, so this data predicts that in a year or two wearing bootcut denim might exceed shiny square-toed shoes in unstylishness, and perhaps even become the equivalent of wearing Crocs.

As for your bunching dilemma, a proper straight jean is not tapered below the knee. Hence the name. If it is, then it loses it claim on the name and becomes a skinny or slim jean. We encourage you to avoid those as much (well, almost as much) as you avoid bootcut jeans.

If you're looking for a good straight leg jean, our all-time favorite fit is Adriano Goldschmeid's Protege. 17.5" at the knee, 17.5" at the leg opening. Perfect. Cut to the proper length, these won't bunch.

Don't Diminish Your ASSets

September 5, 2007

True Religion Brand Jeans 'Luke Heritage Fox' Bootcut Jeans via Nordstrom. $282.00.

We're perpetually perplexed by the apparent success of True Religion jeans for men. Where do they get off charging $282 for their denim?

True Religion works great on select women, and men with significant amounts of extra chub, but if you work at staying in shape, why would you ever consider hiding a potentially winning asset behind long, deep pockets with flaps and large shiny buttons?

You wouldn't.

This brand is headed post-peak. Avoid, even if on sale.