The Sartorialist Goes Shopping For Fashion Week - p3
Downtown to APC for some new jeans.
I took a pair of New Cure slim cut, unwashed denim into the dressing room - size 31.
The waist was perfect but the legs were a little tight.
I came out and asked the salesperson what he thought. He asked if I had any problem buttoning the waist, "no" I said "the waist is perfect but the legs are a bit tight."
Again he says "you had no problem button the waist? ", "no" I repeated. " oh, then those are too big!" He looked very serious.
I tried on the size 30.
I could barely button them closed and I could not bend my legs once I was in them!
This time I literally HOPPED out of the dressing room!
The salesperson rushes over and says "PERFECT!!!"
I will have to wear them around the house for a day to stretch them out a bit before I can get them hemmed.
I read my readers comments and emails and a lot of you also said to size down because the APC jeans stretch out - I'm trusting you!
If I lose circulation in my lower half or lose the ability to reproduce because of these jeans I gonna be super pissed - except they also mentioned I should not get my jeans wet either.
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Furniture Cleaning New York said ... (4:31 AM) :
post a commentDear Sart , if the size 30 are what you are wearing in the picture, it's true they look perfect on you !!!
I'm enjoying your blog more each day ,i'm looking forward to watching that video !!!
I think they look great on you--not too tight at all. It's hard to remember to size down. I keep doing this with women's jeans because they seem painted on at first, but two days later and they're falling off.
I covered fashion week for a weekly NY paper a few years ago and I thought it was bloody hilarious. I hope you have a great time like I did!
you look great in them--what are they like from behind?
I bought some APC jeans they end up being 3-4" too big in the waist. So that was good advice that you got. And it's true about them getting wet. I only dry-cleaned mine and then got caught in the rain and the color changed pretty dramatically. Pretty fussy for a pair of dungarees.
I have those from when they first came out around last year/season. I normally wear a 30" waist and I got a 27. They were SUUUUUUUUPEr tight on me and I could barely sit down without (embarrassingly) blousoning my skin over the waistband, and I'm not even fat (apparently, neither are my abs tight enough - back to the stepclimber for 40 more minutes!). But trust, they will loosen up. Now my 27s are a bit too loose on the waist for my liking that I have to wear a belt, but the tightness of the leg helps hold them up. The denim stretches out, so don't worry - you may need to wear them around the house for a few weeks. Just don't sit on any light colored furniture, or wear white leather near them, as the denim will crock and transfer the indigo dye.
So yes, the APC salesperson knows his product! :)
You should wear these jeans for as long as possible. Not just around the house for a day, but everyday. These jeans should be worn for about 6 months or so before their first wash. Ya wash them, you lose your color and your fit ...
Okay, so I don't understand this fashion trend, but I'm envious that you have the physique to wear these jeans. Good luck with them, take them off if your toes turn blue.
Thanks for a morning laugh! I have a vision of you hopping out of the dressing room and of the 'serious' sales assistant - it's very clear!!
I hope you enjoy your new jeans! I bought mine (Crate not APC) and I'm still trying to get used to the tightness. I love em though!
i'm still waiting for my unwashed APC hipsters to stretch out and it can still be a bit rough bike riding in them even after 10 months! (though i don't have them on heavy rotation due to the rigid denim, getting caught in the rain in them set my break-in progress back a couple months as well). the whole process takes a bit of dedication and the ability to subject oneself to a degree of uncomfortableness. the overdyed black new standards, however stretched out perfectly and are not unpleasant in the least.
APC wearers tend to go the skinny route. they do stretch a TON. i'd bet that the pair you bought that felt too tight will eventually wear like the ones in this pic. i wouldn't worry too much about it. haha, now all you have to worry about are honeycombs, hige, fading, etc. oh the world of dry/raw denim...
lovely pickup! the salesperson was absolutely right - you shouldn't be able to button up easily when they are raw else when they stretch out you will have to belt the jeans to your waist.
All unwashed denim stretch, not just APC. It seems like your first time buying unwashed jeans, I hope you were notified about the shrinkage.
Love the blog btw.
hehe, very entertaining post! I'm not sure I would've gone with such a tight fit, but alas I dont have any APC jeans experience. I do have various Diesel and Rock & Republic jeans though and they did stretch quite a bit over time.
Scott, my grandmother used to say, while working herself into one of her many-boned girdles, "Il faut souffrir pour etre belle"--one must suffer to be beautiful.
Definitely a fashion mantra.
All unwashed denim stretch, not just APC. I get the feeling you haven't had any unwashed jeans before, I hope the sales people also made you aware of the shrinkage.
I don't agree with the jean theory. If they are supertight when you buy them, then they should be tight when you wear them in...andthen after a wash they will be tight again...
ENID P.
Buy a size that fits now...Then again if it doesn't work I guess you tell them ehat happened and you can return them.
Sartorialist,
Yes, APC jeans always stretch out. But in fact, after you've worn them and broken them in a bit, it's always a good thing to wash them in the shower, whilst wearing them. Whenever my jeans need washing, I put them on the towel rack next to my shower and after I'm down cleaning my bod, I reach out, grab my jeans and slip them on and let the water just soak the jeans. Superior denim molds to your body and APC jeans will do just that.
Eye have a pair of APC "new standard" bought roughly 18 months ago @ a size below. Worn dutifully unwashed for 5/7 days; week in week out.. And like most intrinsically valueable things they have aged gracefully. All the best!!
haha, this post reminded me of the Friends episode when Ross got stuck in his leather pants! We need a grand total of all your new Fashion week pieces too.. how many different pants, shirts etc :)
the jeans in the photo are the size 31 not the size 30 that I bought but they should stretch to fit like the 31.
The people at APC told me to dry clean them.
sexy sartorialist? the pants are making the statement. Are you going to balance the sexy with an upper body garment statement?
Sartorialist,
I have been told by APC to dry clean them also but after much consideration, I thought "How absurd to dry clean something that was meant to be casual and gruff?" Forget the dry cleaning (the chemicals keep the color and the crisp but ruin the cotton and besides, jeans are meant to fade and APC's fade gracefully) and instead do the shower thing. Since my days of being an APC devotee, I have moved on to 45RPM jeans - I bought their most expensive pair at $800 - and after wearing them straight for three months, I finally washed them - as I always do, in the shower - and once again, they came out beautifully, molding perfectly to my waist, hips and legs. Ultimately, APC jeans are comfortably priced so we can buy new ones as often as we like.
i had the same experience as you sartor.
the salesman asked if i can fit my hands into my pockets easily, i said "it's a bit of a squeeze", he said "then you're doing alright".
Tight or not, I have to admit that it's SOOOOOO nice to see men in close-fitting pants again, after years and years of cargo pants/shorts!!!
Don't wash raw denim. Ever. I've got pairs of raw denim that have gone years without seeing a washing macine. They will fade without washing, and it will be the best fade you've ever seen. The dye gradually wears off. After a few months they begin to smell. Just hang them out to air and they'll be sweet again. Persist and you will be rewarded. If you must, dry-clean after a year's wear. I know I sound gross, but it's the way to do it.
I wear Levis from their vintage range. Much better quality than APC and you can buy the right length. Altering the hem on jeans is wrong. You'll never match the orginal stitching exactly anyway (it needs to be done on industrial machines). And like a poster said, jeans should be casual - so don't go tailoring baby!
Go for the Levis Vintage 1947 cut which is nice and slim. Only an opinion.
Silly question for all you denim washers -- how do you let it dry after the shower?
I'm I really the only one who thinks this is ridiculous?
OK, jeans are meant to be worn and washed. The point is that they EVOLVE, like people, changing character: fading strategically, molding themselves to their owner, becoming a true second skin. They should reveal a history. Therein lies their sex appeal, utility and comfort.
you are quite the little comedian
this made me laugh because i had the same experience
but i didnt listen to the educated sales person
and now i am stuck with baggy apc jeans
jeans are the most overrated item of clothing in the modern man's wardrobe.
about not washing jeans: nice fashion tips -perhaps-,but ewww!.
More than 2 months not waching them is just decaying material in my opinion.
About men in tight jeans: healthy butts will be revealed...
I'm about two weeks into wearing a new pair of APC New Standards. I'm totally washing them in the shower!
May I suggest horseback riding? My friends think I'm crazy to ride in my good jeans, but it does the trick to stretch them out! I haven't tried this with APC of course, but you never know. Just don't ride on a muddy day! You WILL be washing them then.
Hemming APCs can be done entirely properly, because when I bought mine from their Paris flagship store, they did it for me in a couple of days.
I bought a size down, walked around the Jardin De Luxembourg like a retarded robot for a couple of hours, and they soon loosened up.
Six months on, they're now a bit too loose and I'm thinking of washing them. There are slight 'honeycombs' (the creases behind the knees) and 'whiskers' (the creases at the crotch) that look pretty good. Don't worry about trying to keep them boxfresh. As someone else said, that really is not the point.
To Anon 2:31
I think we all know it is completely ridiculous but that is what makes it so funny.
that is too funny! wow! who would know that they would stretch out that much!
Okay, I feel compelled to make my first post! I love my Paper, Denim and Cloth unwashed jeans, and I have to agree with the shower/cold water adherents here....my newest pair will never even see the inside of the washer. The older pair hangs dry after washing in cold water, and the results are still fantastic 2 years later, but washing does break down the fabric and encourages stretch.
Keep up the excellent photos/stories!
For anyone else who thinks this is ridiculous, try reading the denim board over at Superfuture. Raw denim is their religion.
good choice on the 30...i think slighter more streamlined would look even better :)
i'm a 32 and i bought 31's. six months later and they are pretty loose. i still love them though.
i wish i read all this before i bought my most recent pair of jeans. they fit like a glove when i first got them and then a couple weeks later people were saying "whoa those jeans are so baggy on you" and i thought i had just lost weight from working out...but sadly that isn't the case as the rest of my clothes still fit the same. :(
my mom recommends dry cleaning designer denim...but i buy alot of levi's and those wash fine in the regular wash...just not too often of course.
Does anyone else have visions of the Sart hopping around like Kramer in the too-tight jeans on "Seinfeld"?!
Finding a good pair of jeans, along with a well-fitted bra, is one of the trickiest shopping expeditions on the planet. You look great - maybe you need to get a backup pair?!
Let's see.
So far: simple blue denim jeans that shouldn't be washed, or need to be worn for ever without a wash, or are better-off washed while being worn in the shower, or should be dry-cleaned, etc.
Of course a fit that is too tight in a denim jean will stretch. Of course with washing and drying a denim jean, and wearing them again, they will shrink and then stretch again - everytime. As well as fade to a beautiful patina.
All this at a cost of hundreds of dollars for something that's a variation of the classic and standard-setting American Levis or Lee's et al (available at a tenth of the cost)...but with a designer label.
My regrets to all of those deeply invested in this charade, everyone duped into this false sense of value, but these are the Emperor's New Clothes. - JCH
I broke a nail trying on these jeans at the APC shop in Soho. I decided against buying them but am now tempted to go back and give them another try..
Emperor's new cloths aside.
Scott, if your in the market for another pair of jeans or cords...Michael Bastian's jeans use Italian engineering and tailoring expertise to full advantage. He would have made G. Agnelli proud. At the very least, take them for a test drive. You know where the dealerships are.
JCH, if you think modern-day levis and lee jeans will stand up to APCs (at a price point of $140) or even Levis Vintage Collection (around $200), you are sorely mistaken. And APCs cost significantly less than a nice pair of trousers at retail.
Congrats on the jeans, sartorialist, don't neglect to document their evolution!
Sart, I'm curious - how are you planning to wash these? Nice fit, by the way!
I bought a pair of apc's washed cures when i was in new york over the summer (I live in sweden). I downsized to 26 but they are already too big for me... Does anyone know how far down they go?
Wash 'em, don't wash 'em... have them dry cleaned (oh no! that'll ruin the cotton!). Have 'em hemmed, don't you ever have 'em hemmed! You people, these are jeans. There are no rules, except that they should make your ass look yummy. I had my APC New Standards hemmed because my legs are shorter than a beagle's. I washed them when they started smelling bad. So the color is a little bit less 'raw' now. I still look great in them, AND I can worry about other things than how to best care for THE most casual item in my wardrobe.
The jeans look great - they'll definitely stretch out to be just right. You also mentioned that you're going to get them hemmed - I would actually recommend against that. When you finally wash them, you're going to lose a couple of inches of inseam, and so it might be best to leave them a little long.
Going off the denim thing but sticking with APC...
APC's quality is suspect. I think their jeans are OK (my girlfriend's ones are quite nice) but their menswear (which I know better than their women's range being a guy and all) is increasingly nasty. The fabrics chosen for their shirts seem like the cheapest they could source ditto their knitwear. Finishing, especially buttons, is appalling. As for their shoes, my god they're bad. APC are brilliant at marketing their Parisian rock and roll bohemian lifestyle but I think they're taking liberties with the prices they're charging. Frankly, I think their quality is sub Gap but with designer prices. They were once great, but no longer.
Sart, you're lucky you didn't twist an ankle hopping around those uneven planks APC calls floorboards. In my experience, and i have nearly two dozen pair of raw denim, APC are by far the bucking broncs of raw jeans; they're like rawhide. It's always best to listen to the salesperson, especially if he's wearing the product. Words of caution, stay away from subway stairs and walk-ups, ignore comments from teenage boys in baggy jeans as you frequent the Lower Eastside and remember, you can always have the length shortened and the waist taken in by your tailor.
You look really sexy, so if you do lose the ability to reproduce APC is guilt of a crime against humanity!
I've had quite a story with my pair of GStar row, which I had to change three times before finding these that really fitted. The main issue however was not waist but lenght as the REALLY shrink a lot. Nevertheless, I also think dry cleaning jeans is ridiculous.
Does anyone else think that the APC military style boots is worth $588
Funniest post ever! But actually, are those the jeans in the photos? They look like they fit just fine Haha :D In my experience, most jeans do stretch out after a bit of wear.
This may sound like a stupid question but I having buying alot of jeans lately that are just too long (i think there is a 6' 2" minimum for jeans nowadays) and someone told me I can get a european hem on them. Would any dry cleaner or tailor be able to do that? I don't want to waste my money.
BTW - these is the funniest comment thread I have ever read on this blog
I got a bruised tummy (from the back of the button) and lost sensation in parts of my thighs (when ridig my bicycle) the first few weeks of wearing my favourite jeans ever... and it was worth it.
Yours look great!
Damn it's reassuring to hear about a man suffering through the travails I thought only we women found in denim!
lol, funny post. but seriously, about the apc and pricing, are the goods really worth the price? i had a designer denim thing going on for a few years, but after all the ~$150 denim i bought, i wear my american eagle jeans bought on sale the most..
I could barely function for a week ... a little saddlesore, but soon enough, my APCs were every bit as amazing as my selvage-obsessed friends had claimed they'd be.
Levi's promo spin: "Over 125 years after the birth of the Blue Jeans in 1873, Levi Strauss & Co. in 1999 established the sub-brand Levi's Vintage Clothing, resurrecting the past by creating exact reproductions of original jeanswear from the 130 year old design archives. With classic styling and focusing on authenticity, attention to detail for each garment is labor of love @ Levi Strauss & Co."
If one must have the trendy $225 retro Levi jeans, they're often available on eBay for the Buy-It-Now price of $99. Similar discounts available on other trendy brands, including APC - just know your size and consider the quality you are getting for your hard-earned cash.
Thank you, Delon, for your appraisal of designer prices versus inherent quality. Good for you; you are using your eyes and your dollar-savvy. We should all consider purchases so wisely.
Shoreman, one can certainly see how any pair of jeans left unwashed for months at a time will undoubtedly "stand up"... all on their own! LOL.
I'm happy you're happy with your APCs, Sart, and I'm happy for anyone else who loves their jeans. At whatever the price point.
I do love my jeans; always have...but I'll stick with the working man's traditional - they still look great - and not veer toward some trendy designers'-named, inflated-priced, short-lived fashion-oriented style alternative when I lay my money down. That's me.
The bottom line? Jeans are for fun. - JCH
Hey there Sartorialist,
Just wondered how the APCs were coming on now? I am guessing if you've been able to give them some regular wear they must be coming along very nicely now (both with comfort in fit and wear of denim) !!
I have a pair of new standards, which although well over a year old really haven't changed much as I haven't worn them enough yet.....I really must pesevere with them !!
you are lucky to have that sales advice. We do not have such a smart APC sales in here(hong kong) but i am smart enough myself to judge my own size. I am a size 30 and brought my APC in size 27. The sales guy/girl was originally giving me a size 29 for fitting. Well, that was comfort enough to fit in my wallet/id wallet/phone/keys/coins in all five pockets but what if i don't put anything in them? So, i decided to try size 28. It was a little tight at first but i can easily breath and belive that it can barely fit my gun in pocket. So i give the size 27 a try to see how tight it will be. It was tight enough to squeeze my boxer all up and felt like there is a strong arm holding my lower waist. I know i can't put a gun in my pocket anymore with this jeans but I sort of like how it looks around that area. Finally, i brought size 27 and wore them for 3 months no wash without a day off. And you know what, i am now searching a good looking belt to fit them.........
One more thing, go to wedsite apc.fr, you will see how they suggest you washing them. I like the extreme way and prepare to buy a new pair for testing.
How often do you have to washed your APC jeans after the first wash? Do you treat them like any jeans after the 6 months?
Hi, just visited your blog first time, and found it quite interesting. Nice post indeed. Thanks for sharing it to all
Regards
Prabhat
Furniture Cleaning New York