Question:
I just don't know what I'm gonna DO with him!
He used to buy Levis, back when they were $30+ a pair ... back before Walmart "cheapened" them. The old Levis were very durable and lasted a very long time. Now they don't.
I had the "bright idea" of getting some very cheap jeans ($10 a pair), and even if they got torn up after a few months, it wouldn't be the end of the world.
Well, his $10 jeans didn't last even a month. He snagged his pants leg on something the other day, and ripped a big L-shaped hole in the knee. I spent two hours sewing them up (Ever tried repairing the middle of a pants leg with a sewing machine? Arrgghh! ). In the end, I was sooo proud of my repair work. You could barely even tell that they'd been torn.
Two days later, he came home from work, with a hole in the crotch area, just below the zipper. The same jeans I'd just spent two hours repairing. I'm not sure if I can fix them this time, but I'm going to try in a few minutes.
It's really not his fault. He does a lot of bending, squatting, and crawling around at his job, and it's hard on his clothes. (Not to mention the chemicals he works with.) The knees and the crotch area are the two places he tears the most. The knees are understandable, but it seems like the bottom part of the zipper would be the strongest area of all.
His employer offers them uniforms as an option, but the employees have to pay for them. Plus they deduct a cleaning/laundering fee from each paycheck, even if the employees take the uniforms home to wash them (doesn't make sense to me, but ...). Anyway, the uniforms up costing more than wearing your own clothes.
Does anyone know of a brand of jeans that's durable? (And ideally: inexpensive too!). Surely someone makes jeans that don't fall apart in just a few weeks.

(Yay me! I remembered to put this in the right forum! )
Answer:
I buy Lee jeans and they last twice as long as any other brand I've tried. (I agree with you about Levi's. Seems they are not as good since they started doing "fashion" jeans.)
My son likes Arizona jeans. He's pretty tough on them, too, but they last.
You can get both at JC Penney.
Answer:
Thanks! I'll check them out, hopefully this weekend or the next.
I managed to fix the jeans again. They look rather ... strange ... though. The hole is sort of elongated-triangle-shaped, and extends from the bottom part of the zipper and goes a couple of inches down towards the leg. Where I sewed it, it kind of looks like ... well ... I'll just say that he'll probably be embarrassed to wear them to work.
Oh well, I tried. He can still wear them around the house.
Answer:
He looked at the jeans when he got home a little bit ago, and it turns out that the strangely-shaped stitching will actually be on the inside of his leg. It won't show after all.
Answer:
You might want to look at the jeans at sierratradingpost.com
They often have high quality work-type (basic 5 pocket style) jeans for $10/pr.
Carhartt is a brand they often have, although they are usually more $$. An 'unknown' and unadvertised fact is that they often sell Lands End extras or seconds, which are very high quality, sturdy fabric and usually are very inexpensive at STP. Once I got a pair that had a plain metal cover over the LE waist button to cover up the brand name...
Anyhow, STP is a great company to do business with. We've been buying stuff from them for years.
My DH (farmer) is really hard on jeans too, and he gripes about how fast they wear out. (For him it's less often ripped holes and more often just plain threadbare from something like throwing bales repetitively or sometimes holes burned by welding sprays or chemical burns.) I always say "better your jeans than your skin..."
edited to add: Don't buy the 'heavily stone-washed' or bleached or abraded jeans. Stick with the full indigo ones, although you don't necessarily have to go with the old-fashioned stiff ones - prewashed is fine. (you probably already know this...)
Answer:
Originally Posted by goodworks1 You might want to look at the jeans at sierratradingpost.com
They often have high quality work-type (basic 5 pocket style) jeans for $10/pr.
Carhartt is a brand they often have, although they are usually more $$. An 'unknown' and unadvertised fact is that they often sell Lands End extras or seconds, which are very high quality, sturdy fabric and usually are very inexpensive at STP. Once I got a pair that had a plain metal cover over the LE waist button to cover up the brand name...
Anyhow, STP is a great company to do business with. We've been buying stuff from them for years.
...
edited to add: Don't buy the 'heavily stone-washed' or bleached or abraded jeans. Stick with the full indigo ones, although you don't necessarily have to go with the old-fashioned stiff ones - prewashed is fine. (you probably already know this...) Thanks for the link! I looked, but they didn't seem to have any cheaper ones in his size. I'll keep checking back, though.
Your link reminded me of another place that I've bought from before, a long time ago, so I looked there too. They sell a little bit of everything (mostly "guy stuff"). I found these jeans for $14.97. The camping equipment I've bought from them has been of EXCELLENT quality, so I went ahead and ordered some jeans from them. I'll post an update when they get here. They sound very durable.
Even with the shipping, they're bound to be better than the same-priced jeans that are available locally. If they're as nice as they sound, I'll pick up a couple more pairs and save them for his Christmas present.
My DH (farmer) is really hard on jeans too, and he gripes about how fast they wear out. (For him it's less often ripped holes and more often just plain threadbare from something like throwing bales repetitively or sometimes holes burned by welding sprays or chemical burns.) I always say "better your jeans than your skin..." Most definitely! DH works around steel and heavy machinery, so I'd much rather him rip his jeans than himself!
Answer:
I just got an STP email (I requested to be on their mailing list) with shipping discounts and $$ incentives to try google checkout on your next order. Anyone wants a copy, PM me your email address and I'll forward it to you (they add a special link to the newsletter so it's easy to do)
I'm guessing that the smaller sizes of jeans aren't so available right now due to people buying for back-to-school. Right now I can't find any under $20 that would fit my dh, but a month ago there were quite a few 33/30s under $10. So, yeah, I'd check back if I were you.
Answer:
Originally Posted by goodworks1 I just got an STP email (I requested to be on their mailing list) with shipping discounts and $$ incentives to try google checkout on your next order. Anyone wants a copy, PM me your email address and I'll forward it to you (they add a special link to the newsletter so it's easy to do)
I'm guessing that the smaller sizes of jeans aren't so available right now due to people buying for back-to-school. Right now I can't find any under $20 that would fit my dh, but a month ago there were quite a few 33/30s under $10. So, yeah, I'd check back if I were you. Yes, please! I'll PM you momentarily.
DH wears a 36" waist x 32" inseam. He used to wear a 29x32 when we got married. He was sooooo scrawny! LOL! What can I say ... my cooking apparently fattened him up! (Me too, unfortunately. ) In all seriousness, he looks soooo much better with a little meat on him. Wish I could say the same for myself!
Answer:
I buy mine on ebay since the local stores dont stock them in my length .
I dont pay more than 10-12 including shippiing. I recently got some wrangler pro rodeo that seem just as tough as the old levis .
besides used jeans are already broke in .
Answer:
Originally Posted by mango man I buy mine on ebay since the local stores dont stock them in my length .
I dont pay more than 10-12 including shippiing. I recently got some wrangler pro rodeo that seem just as tough as the old levis .
besides used jeans are already broke in . We have purchased jeans through ebay also. You can count on about 5 or 6 $$ for basic shipping, so I'm always looking for prices below $7.00.
Lee and Wranglers usually. But occasionally I've ended up with some that were almost worn out (but didn't mention that in the description...) and I haven't searched for them recently.