Okay. So you remember my pledge against designer jeans after my first pair ever (that I bought for $22 – 90% off) shredded in 6 months?
And then remember how all of YOU kept going on in the comments about how GREAT designer jeans are and how I must have just gotten a bad pair and how you can’t possibly imagine living without them?
Yeah, thanks for the resolve boost.
So every now and then, I have been checking out the clearance racks to see if I could find any. Note that I said Clearance racks because I certainly wasn’t going to pay more for them than I would a regular pair of jeans, but they are oh-so-comfy and nice-fitting. . .
And I’ve been picky. I mean, I wasn’t going to buy any old pair of jeans just because they were designer, on clearance, and I could manage to cram my body into them. No, they had to be flattering, comfortable, and CHEAP.
And, as an aside, if you’re wondering why I care about brand names and designers, be sure to check out Jennifer’s post where she was exploring the same issue. I commented and listed my reasons, and she called me shallow :) – a fun post for sure! And you might want to weigh in your opinion on the issue as well. . .or further back up Jennifer’s claim of my lack of depth.
Back to the story.
I finally ran across a pair last week. Citizens of Humanity. By the way, why do all designer jeans have to sound like New Age Cults? True Religion, Seven for all Mankind, Citizens of Humanity . . . anyway, they were soooo soft. . . and flattering, and nice in color and style. They were about 70% off, and just slightly more than I would pay for normal jeans.
SO I wandered through the dark hallways of deceptive marketing once again and took the plunge into the pool of brand-name-materialism.
And they were so great. They stretched out just right, they “felt good”, I was happy.
Until, on my second wearing of them, the metal placket on the back pocket popped off. It hung at this nice angle and left a hole where it belonged:
Classy, huh?
I DO love the quality you get with designer jeans. You just can’t beat it. Gee.
So I brainstormed on how to fix it, but since I don’t exactly have a riveting machine (where’s Stella from Project Runway when you need her?!?!), I couldn’t think of an acceptable solution that wouldn’t make the problem worse down the road. So I decided to email Citizens of Humanity and ask them what I could do about my problem.
They sent me back a form letter that said that this almost NEVER happens to their jeans and that this is a very rare occurrence (which I found ironic since it was obviously a form letter), but that they didn’t do direct exchanges since there were so many counterfeits on the market, so I needed to take them back to the store that I purchased them from (implied message: “as if you purchased them at a store and not in a back alley for $4.99”).
I was really asking how to fix the problem, but since this NEVER happens to their jeans, I suppose that they had no idea how to fix them.
So I decided to take them back to good ole’ Belk (seriously people: How DID that name get by the focus groups?!? If your name is Mr. Macy, by all means, name your store after yourself. Or if your name is Nordstrom or Bromberg or . . . .BUT NOT IF YOUR NAME IS MR. BELK!!!) and they said that I could exchange them, but of course since they were 70% off, they were sold out.
And, for the record, oh ye Citizens of Humanity, the very knowledgeable Belk clerk that was helping me examined them in hopes of helping me fix them, and pointed out that the rivets were barely in the pockets, and the figured that even if I could have exchanged them, it would have happened all over again.
However, I really liked the jeans so I didn’t want to just return them, so I attempted again to email Citizens of Humanity. I told them that Belk didn’t have any more and were there any other options?
I got an eerily familiar form letter back in response.
So, I had to take matters into my own hands.
I had to go to Michael’s today anyway, so I got some super-duper fabric glue. I’ve glued ’em, and they’re “setting up”. We’ll see if it does the trick.
Wouldn’t Citizens of Humanity be proud that their jeans were now held together by glue purchased for $2.99?
2.99 to fix a hundred dollar pair of jeans. now THAT’S funny!
That is plain craziness. I would have been so mad. Maybe once you reach the hype phase in marketing and can charge $300.00 a pair for jeans quality doesn’t matter anymore.
My daughter loves rippped, torn, faded out jeans at $80.00 a pair. I told her to get out the scissors and some bleach honey or get a job, LOL
This is hilarious. I am just like you. I will not buy expensive jeans that are already torn. I go to discount stores for a good buy not a rip off. how annoying. Last week I went to a downeast outlet and both or my shirts had wholes in the lower front the 1st time wearing them, just by the mid of day. so I emailed them and asked if it was because they were long and my jeans did it or if they think it is their thin fabric….. they apoligised and sent me two new shirts. how awesome. but these shirts are like 13 a piece reg. not 100 + but you get what im saying. so my whole reasoning for commenting on this funny post was to ask you if you have tried MIGHTY MEND IT. the as seen on tv that billy from oxy clean does.?? usually that stuff works and also sells at target. walgreens too. you should check it out if your fabric glue doesnt hold up. oh yeah. I tried subscribing to your blog…… i could only figure out how to sub. to the giveaway and was getting all the giveaway entries in my inbox? help?
celeste_joyce84@hotmail.com
Wow. That’s no good. I think you should just quit the name brand jeans. :) :)
Now I totally realise that Gap isn’t considered “designer” per say, but when I was in high school I just “had” to wear Gap jeans. It never failed that within just a month of so, they would have holes in them. The same thing happened with my Tommy jeans. It’s funny that when you spend full price on a pair of $30 jeans, they last forever. $100 jeans last for a few months. I love Old Navy jeans now. I don’t care whose name is on my butt, when it’s coming out of my checking account.
I wouldn’t pay too much for designer jeans either. It looks like holes in the metal tag. Is that right? Couldn’t you just sew it back on the jeans? Well, if the glue works you won’t have to. Just an idea. I desperately need some new jeans. I need to start hitting up the sale racks.
Thanks for the plug for my post! I am sitting here in my very comfy, soft pair of Levi jeans ($30) that I bought several years ago. What makes it so awesome for me though, is that they’re some that I haven’t been able to wear since getting pregnant with David – until now!
Renaissance Consignment Boutique on 119 has some good jeans……….I got some Miss Sixties for $33. Go check it out!
Giann
I bought Chico’s jeans and they are soft, well-fitted, wash well, pretty color shades and $35.00. What is all the hype about wearing $100 or $300. jeans? A little materialistic isn’t it? LLYB, k