In Person: Lands’ End Canvas Made in the USA denim

Made in the USA Jeans under $100: L.E.C. Slim and Straight

NOTE:  The Code RMN40 (no pin) gets you 40% off one item + free shipping at $50 through today 9/25.

They did it.  They actually did it.  It’s been extremely difficult to find a pair of simple, dark wash, made in the USA jeans for a reasonable price.  Until now.  Listed at $98, these made in the USA of US grown cotton jeans from Lands’ End Canvas have already gone for as low as $58.80.  That was during the most recent 40% off one item sale.  That’s wildly inexpensive for a pair of USA made jeans.

The color is perfect.  Deep, dark blue with no distressing or whiskering.  There’s no across the back pockets stitching or exterior waist band branding.  They did come packaged in an interesting way though, with the lower legs rolled up and stuffed inside the thighs.  The result is they’re a wrinkled mess before you wash them (and thus, in the pics below), which is something you should do anyway in order to not transfer any dye.

Left:  The 608 slim.  Right: The 628 Straight fit.  Both pairs tested are 32×32 in size.
Measurements taken across leg when lying flat.  These are ballpark and might vary slightly.

Available in either a slim (608) or straight (628) fit, you can easily tell which is which when they’re lying flat side by side.  Both pairs tested were 32x32s since 32x30s weren’t available.  My legs are really more like a 30 – 31, but these didn’t overflow too badly at the ankle.  I’d still have these taken up an inch to reduce the bunching/wrinkling, but I’d wash & dry them first to see if they’d shrink a bit.
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Lands’ End Canvas 608 Slim Fit Made in the USA Jean – $58.50 w/ RMN40 ($98.00)

The slim fits are most noticeably slim below the knee.  Great if you’ve got skinny legs.  Not so great if you’ve got some meat on your lower body.  These are right up on my calves, with little room at the ankle.  They’re pretty sock like from the knee down on my frame, and if they shrank any they’d be uncomfortable.  They feel slimmer than a 514 from Levis.
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Lands’ End Canvas 628 Straight Fit Made in the USA Jean – $58.50 w/ RMN40 ($98.00)

First thing I thought when pulling them on was how much they feel like 501s (except for the lack of a button fly of course).  I wore a favorite pair of Levis 501s that day specifically for comparison’s sake, and after trying these on, I took measurements of my old washed and worn Levis.  They measured almost exactly the same across the upper thigh, knee, and at the cuff.  With maybe just a touch of shrinking in the wash, and some slight shortening of the legs by my tailor, these could be perfect for my clunky calves.
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The Bottom Line:

Bravo L.E.C..  Denim afficianados won’t be thrilled since they’re not selvedge, and while the fabric feels good, it doesn’t feel like anything out of the ordinary.  But catch a sale and they’ll run only a bit more than on-sale favorites like the 501.  They’ll ship free as well, since there’s almost always a free shipping at $50 offer going on.

Dark wash, slim or straight fit jeans with no distressing and little to no branding should be a foundation of any guys wardrobe.  Throw in the sale price potential and the fact that they’re made in the USA and you’ve got a rare combination that Lands’ End Canvas should be praised for producing.

Thanks to “guest” for providing the 40% off code RMN40 in the comments.  Expires today, 9/25. No pin necessary.