GAP Rigid Rinse Selvage Authentic Fit Jeans – $69.99 (reg. $88)
Selvage is the cashmere of the denim world. For most of us in the rank and file, the unique benefits are underwhelming when you consider the extra cost. Here’s what you get with most selvage denim jeans:
- A crisply finished edge on the interior seam (see comparison below).
- The ability to show off said seam when your jeans are cuffed.
- More often than not they’re made from stronger, more durable denim.
- Manufactured in a more traditional way on older looms. Less machining.
- An overall cleaner and more simple look.
- Sometimes made with unrinsed, raw, and ready to bleed if it gets wet denim
- A hefty price tag.
For denim heads, an expensive pair of high end selvage jeans are desirable. But in the last year or two, mainstream brands like J. Crew and The Gap have picked up the trend and are offering their own less-expensive (but nowhere near cheap) versions. Must be an attempt to rope the more cost conscious shoppers into the trend.
That’s really about it. Overrated? Your thoughts? Put it all in the comments section below.
For the record, if it’s not painfully obvious, I’ve never understood the fascination.
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Best I can tell, definitely overrated. I’m open minded to be swayed, but the argument had better be solid.
The consensus on StyleForum (a site devoted to high end men’s clothing including $300 jeans) seems to be that if you’re not spending big bucks for a super premium pair (from Self Edge, Blue in Green, etc.) the there’s really no point in chasing the selvedge rainbow. Just get the normal Gap, Levis, or whatever and wear em in good health.
overrated, without question. an extra $50 to show off an inch of cuff? either go all the way and get high-quality denim like APC and its cohort or stick to levi’s. there’s no significant middle ground for this issue.
agreed…i toyed with this idea early this year only to tell myself “dude, its really not worth it”. i got a pair of dark denim jeans and thats it.
Side note: arent 501’s selvage?
I get nervous when anything is more inclined to bleed. Once wore a sweater like that and it unexpectedly rained. I got the joy of throwing away a shirt that was at one time white and after the rain it was a mottled blue and white.
I’m with jonathan. There really is no significant middle ground. I own a pair of APC New Standard jeans (raw selvedge, ~$150) and I love them. I’ve had them about 2 months and wear them probably 5 days a week most weeks lol. It’s true they mold to your form after a few wears. They are pretty skinny and tapered, so I wouldn’t recommend them if that’s not your thing. ANYWAY, while the selvedge is nice I wouldn’t bother paying for a Gap pair.
@HM, normal levis 501 are not selvedge, but I believe they sell a different version that is.. for more money of course.
@Bar None, I doubt Gap’s selvedge are any more inclined to bleed than normal jeans, unless they are also raw. Raw jeans tend to bleed only because they haven’t been washed at all by the manufacturer (regular jeans are washed numerous times pre-sale). That said, I have worn my raw jeans through plenty of snow and rain and haven’t noticed any bleeding onto my socks, shirts, or underwear. Unless you really get them absolutely drenched i doubt it will be a problem.
I think rolling the cuffs on jeans looks dumb, selvage or not. Maybe I’m just not hip enough to understand the trend.
Considering I don’t buy into the “dress denim” trend, I think denim is meant to be abused. I understand paying more for something that will last, why Red Wing or Wolverine boots are worth the couple hundred dollars over the Walmart brand work boot, but I don’t think selvage denim jeans are going to be more durable than solid Wrangler or Levi’s.
I also laugh when magazines like Esquire talk about going out and cutting wood in the forest in $2000 cashmere sweaters.
501 jeans are not selvage. Most of them are normal washed denim. The “shrink-to-fit” ones are raw denim, but than just means they haven’t been washed.
I haven’t drunk the selvage Kool-Aid yet. Not to say I’d never buy a pair. Levi’s 514 are the perfect cut of jeans for me. (I do hate that the majority of Levi’s are made in the Third World now.) Unless Levi’s makes a selvege, made in the USA 514, I probably won’t be paying the premium for luxury jeans at this time.
@Yakov: probably best to stay well clear of StyleForum or AskAndy…most of the members there just post complaints about how less-than-perfect {insert brand clothes] is.
You’re right that there is a lot of brand name posturing and especially the phenomenon of people saying that all mainstream brand clothing (especially shoes) will fall apart after six months. I take that with a grain of salt of course. But if you go on there and look around you will find solid info on things like shoe care and building a decent wardrobe.
Styleforum is very elitist imho. I look for cuts and fabrics when shopping, not names.
Anywho, I just bought a pair of selvage/raw from Urban Outfitters for $20 in an after Christmas sale. They have a tapered cut and I really enjoy breaking them in. I say try them while they are cheap; if you end up liking them, try more, if not, don’t.
Here’s the link to the product
I own two pair of selvedged jeans – haven’t paid more the $50 for either (thank God for employee discounts!), so I don’t qualify as a “denim head” but I’ll throw my two cents in.
I like true raw denim a lot. I own a Gap pair in skinny (sized up enough to make it merely “slim”) and a pair of 501s from J Crew that are made with White Oak denim (one of the best US-based denim manufacturers out there). The 501s are my go-to jeans. The denim is wearing nicely. It really does conform more to your body shape, even moreso than normal denim.
That said, it’s not the be-all, end-all in denim. It’s usually really expensive. The cheap versions from Gap, Cheap Monday, or BDG aren’t really worth it. But if you find a pair on sale (J Crew had the aforementioned 501s on sale for $20 a few months ago – now they’ve taken the Levi jeans to online only) it’s a good investment, if you wear jeans a lot.
Raw Selvage is uncomfortable as hell. It’s like wearing sandpaper. Over rated.
To anyone who has them, are APC new standards much slimmer than 514s? For me, 514s are at the edge of how slim jeans can be, and according to measurements, NS are a bit slimmer, but it seems as though they stretch out a lot after wear.
Hello my name is James and I’ve been a 517 wearer for, wow, as long as I can remember. Maybe you’re like me; average height, slim build, but because you play soccer about every day, your *ss and thighs are larger than your typical J Crew model’s. So the flair on those 517s balance things out. But now I want something leaner and crisper looking. Yeah, I tried other jeans before, even went so far as Old Navy. And I kinda liked them. But they weren’t Levi’s. And now I know that by the end of the week I’ll have tried on the 514s that I hear so much about. Selvage? No thanks, marketing gurus, but I’m going to obey my thirst on this one. Macy’s pushes Levis at no more than $33. And they are the superior jean.
@Steven: Before my APC NS’s, I wore mainly 514’s. They recommend you size down 2 from your normal size, and when you get them they are very tight (borderline skin tight, but not really). After 1-2 weeks they let out a bit and are currently (2 months in) very comparable to my 514’s. Some people recommend sleeping in them to help loosen them up quicker, because you move a lot while sleeping. The main difference between APC and 514’s, though, is that the APC’s are tapered. The ankle openings are a bit skinnier than 514’s, and for me they haven’t stretched out at all (probably because there is still plenty of leg room for me down there; i dont have large calves).
Hope that helps.
Selvedge denim is awesome. It conforms to your body, lasts quite a long time, and develops cool fades, among other things. While I like a pair of Levi’s 501s and 514s just as much as the next guy, if you want to step your game up, definitely get some selvedge. That being said, if you ARE going to get selvedge, get some from APC< Naked & Famous, KMW, Japanese selvedge, etc. rather than Gap or J Crew. I would much rather pay for one pair of expensive jeans that lasts a couple years than buying 3-4 new pairs of Levi's every year.
Steve: APC NS are a little bit slimmer than 514s (especially in the calf, they are tapered). However, I wore 514s for a long time before I got a pair of NS and I sized down 3 and they fit fine now. The denim will definitely stretch at parts that are really tight. If you are still worried you can get a pair of Rescues, they are APC's "relaxed" pair.
It's worth spending a bit of money on a great pair of denim. I certainly would rather have a pair of selvedge denim than a f***ing peacoat.
I have a pair of the Gap selvedge that they came out with when they first started making the Authentic fit. They are pretty similar to the ones at the top of the page.
I’ve worn them about 200 times, just spotting and occasionally rinsing them in cold water, and they look brand new. They feel great.
Did I pay full price for them? No. But I can tell them quality difference between them and the normal Gap Authentic fit jeans that I love, and I’ll wear them for years. So they are worth it to me. Raw denim I’m not as sure about.
@otis: And I’d much rather have the f***ing peacoat.
I’m not buying another pair of p***s from the Gap ever again because of the flimsy w****bands that after a few months of wearing look like an old pair of t****y whities.
@Yakov. Well played 🙂
@all who applies:
“x brand is shitty; x brand clothing falls apart after a month of wear.”
I have never in my entire life had clothes from any brand fall apart on me. What the hell are you all talking about? Take care of your clothes and you won’t see problems with Gap, Urban Outfitters, jcrew, etc, fall apart.
Someone linked to a pair of Unbranded selvedge jeans on Urban Outfitters. Unbranded is definitely worth a try, gents. Considering they’re $80 retail, they’re plain-old selvedge jeans that work. The only problem I’ve had with them is the buttons in the fly are brittle – I replaced the waist button already and am missing a button in the fly (I’m getting away with that for now…).
But why should you AT LEAST try selvedge? Because its so elegant. At least in the case of raw selvedge like Unbranded or Naked & Famous or APC, there’s no red-tab, V-stitching-in-the-back, washes-that-look-unnatural, etc. Instead, you just have a pair of timeless-looking jeans. So if you’re like me and try to dress like a character out of a Carey Grant or Steve McQueen film, you get a pair of jeans that you’ll slowly realize ACTUALLY LOOK LIKE JEANS. If you want a pair of jeans to wear with a fluorescent, purple Express t-shirt with words like “honor” and “courage” written on it (I myself once dressed this way), then raw selvedge may not be for you. But if you want a pair of jeans you can wear as an alternative to other casual trousers – a pair of jeans you can wear with a sharp polo shirt, a nice sweater, or a shirt, tie, and jacket combo – raw selvedge is the way to go. You’ll realize that it is just the way denim was meant to look. It looks old-fashioned without looking excessively workwear (which is how denim started out after all…). After going to raw selvedge, I will not go back. A nice heavy pair of selvedge jeans just looks like the kind of jeans I imagine should be paired with serious, stylish clothing, and I will continue to wear them long after selvedge and “rigid” jeans are no longer trendy.
Peter has it right on. I don’t ever need any other pair of jeans other than the single pair of selvage I wear every weekend. Stiff as a board at first, as Jarblocko mentions, but he/she ignores the fact that they soften up after a few wears (does Jarblocko also judge a two-hour movie based on watching the first ten minutes?).
Really, it’s nice to have a pair of jeans that conform to your body; beats any pre-distressed pair of jeans anytime. Have you seen others wear jeans where, the honeycomb fades that are supposed to form behind your knees, end up somewhere on their calves? Yeah. Horrible.
Wearing a pair of selvage denim from Imogene&Willie. Love these jeans, molding to my body already. very cool and hand made in the U.S.A. I suggest checking out their website. Great products and the staff is super helpful.
I can highly recommend Uniqlo’s selvage denim, the basic version runs about $50. I preferred these to APC NS, very well made jeans for the price.
The author’s focus on seam finishes misses the point. The fabric is nicer. It drapes better, it feels better, it looks less cheap. To me, it’s worth the premium as long as the color and fit are right, whether from Gap or a pricier brand.
I think you’re either a selvage guy or you’re not. And I myself, am not. Because never have I once put on my favorite pair of 501s and thought: “Gee I wish these draped better.” That’s just not going to happen, and I honestly say that respectfully.
Selvage doesn’t dictate quality. Many brands who use selvage are of higher quality, but many use just as cheap of denim and use selvage finish by choice.
If you want to knock on jeans that aren’t worth the price tag, you should be talking about True Religion or Rock & Republic. I own four pairs of selvedge denim jeans that I rotate throughout the week (APC, Unbranded, and two Naked & Famous).
The fabric quality is awesome, the stitching is far superior to any other pants I have ever owned. No washes, no branding gimmicks, no gaudy pocket stitching, no celebrity endorsements, just true QUALITY denim in simple cuts. The look of selvedge denim is TIMELESS (my father was wearing similar cuts in the 60’s). The clean minimalist look of selvedge allows me to pretty much wear them with everything; I’ve worn them to semi-formal events with dress shoes and a blazer, I’ve worn them to cut grass.
I will be wearing these jeans for YEARS to come, I can’t wait to see how my denim will fade and progress, they only get better with age… Try them out if you haven’t already, selvedge should be a staple in every man’s wardrobe.
rolled jeans looks good, especially if you wear boots, i.e. doc martens