The clothing came out the day after I’d spent an afternoon looking for decent ethical jeans, so I ordered a pair.
These are straight up regular serious jeans, not some kind of brand ad, which is good. The branding is subtle. I am reluctant to buy “slim” jeans because my cyclist’s legs do not play well with anything remotely skinny, but nevertheless I fit these just fine (my default well-made, know-they’ll-fit, jeans are Levis 501s, but I am permanently annoyed at Levis for being basically evil and also totally unpredictably vegan sometimes and not other times, and for abandoning their jeans recycling project). The black is a good solid black. I am not at all used to stretchy fabrics, and I ordered a size down from what the tape measure said: I’m glad I did, as the tape measure size would definitely be too big.
The coin pocket/whatever is (unusually?) on the left hand side, which suits me fine since I never use the things and big ones often catch my phone when trying to put it in the main right pocket. Though interestingly this pocket is just big enough to take my phone, so maybe that’s an intention.
Only negatives I’ve identified are minor:
There’s a slightly larger-than-usual belt loop gap between the three at the centre of your back, and the two on either side; since I hang my keys from a belt loop into my rear pocket, the key chain is stretched to its limit to make that distance, but it still does just reach.
From one previous experience with stretchy jeans I have an idea that their rear pockets are not much good — in particular, stuff quickly just starts to fall out of them. This might be a design issue with that other pair of stretchy jeans, or it might be a problem with stretchy fabrics, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it being an issue with these. I would be interested to see a version that either used a non- or less-stretchy fabric for the rear pockets, or had a non- or less-stretchy reinforcement on the opening edge, in the same style as (say) some Kühl jeans. Such thoughts might be madness though.
Overall, first impressions are that these are decent, well-made jeans of a quality that’s on par with the price, particularly given the eco claims (compare for example Mud Jeans, or Bamboo). I bought them out of curiosity, fully expecting I’d have to return them for one reason or another, but instead I’ll be keeping them.
Interesting to hear, but just to confirm: you are a man wearing the men’s jeans, right?
The items looks nice to me, but I’m awaiting some more reviews. As a woman who commutes by bicycle I’ve lost many pairs due to inner thigh rips. At the same time, I have a relatively large difference between waist and hips and strong thighs, causing a large back gap. I found it strange to compare the size guides between the men’s and women’s jeans, as the men’s list a large difference in cm per size: e.g. Women’s 32" 81cm waist and 97 cm hips (=16cm) while men’s 32" 81cm waist and 103cm hips (=22cm). Now it might have something to do with actual jeans measurement vs your actual measurement but I’m confused.
Bane of my life too (much more from walking than cycling though). It is incredibly depressing to have to throw out jeans that are in perfect condition aside from the crotch (the only fabric recycling around here is for clothes that are still wearable). I’ve tried some that advertise as hard-wearing (Kühl) and other gusseted ones, but nothing seems to work. Should probably just admit defeat and start wearing a kilt.
Thanks @chughes, nice to get a real world look at the fit/fabric. Looks like these are going on my list of need to buys.
Been there with so many pairs of jeans. What you want is a gusseted crotch, supposed to eliminate the seams coming together in one spot and causing excessive wear. That or, of course, a five year guarantee.
edited… given Hunza’s comments, can you confirm/deny that
@Tim_Huel I’m curious here; let’s say I buy a pair of jeans and wear through the wang area in two years… edited… given Hunza’s comments, can you confirm/deny that this is covered by 5yr guarantee?
That’s interesting. I took Built to last, 5-year guarantee to mean that the clothing was, well, built to last five years, and if not then it’s guaranteed - failure of the material around the crotch area would 100% fall under that for me and if that kind of thing isn’t covered then the jeans are an no for me.
I was hoping for a similar thing to the ironclad guarantee Patagonia provide - if something breaks they fix it for cost of postage.
This a 100%! At €109 these jeans are 3-4 times the prize of what I would normally buy, which would be okay if they didn’t break down or got replaced but without that I’m not willing to take the plunge.
Awesome to see the first reviews coming in! Thanks so much for sharing the detail and that you are happy with them. I’m totally the same with slim fit jeans as my and thighs don’t like them at all! I haven’t tried on the jeans for this reason, but this is interesting!
I will pass this one on to the team. We definitely don’t want those back pockets getting all baggy and useless.
Really glad you like them!
I will find out, however I’m sure it will be on a case-by-case Also worth noting that the first port of call is to repair them not to replace them!
I got curious and did a bit of googling. Seems that you were allowed pockets during WW2 since women were doing a lot of ‘man’ things, but post-war fashion went towards figure hugging clothing and Christian Dior said in the 50’s that “Men have pockets to keep things in, women for decoration” and seemed to imply that pockets ruin women’s silhouette.
And then there’s the fact that if you had pockets you wouldn’t buy handbags or purses.
Fast fashion is such crap - I’m amazed anyone would buy a pair of pants without pockets, but I guess if there’s no choice what can you do.
As I thought, it’s very much case by case. The crotch ripping would either be a manufacturer issue (where it would be covered) or wear and tear in which it wouldn’t. Sorry I know that isn’t useful. More about the 5 year guarantee here - https://uk.huel.com/pages/5-year-guarantee
They do and it looks like you can put things in them, there are videos on the product pages on the website Tristan so you or your other-half can check it out.
and thighs don’t like them at all! I haven’t tried on the jeans for this reason, but this is interesting!
Also worth noting that the first port of call is to repair them not to replace them!
