In Review: Banana Republic Legacy Jeans

Banana Republic Slim Legacy Jeans – $58.80 ($98)

About the Author: Brandon D. is a recently married trial attorney living in Houston, TX (but will forever be a New Yorker). Brandon has been wearing a suit to work for the better part of a decade, so he appreciates the insights into quality-yet-affordable style options for which Dappered is known. When not at work, he enjoys traveling with his wife, lounging with his dog Charlie (she’s half-Chihuahua/half-Dachshund, which has the added bonus of being known as a “Chiweenie”), and the weekly trip to Costco.

Note: This current 40% off for Labor Day promo ends today, 9/3. Two fits available here: Slim and Skinny. No Athletic Tapered yet. Jeans shown in this post are the “Rinse Dark Wash.”

Like most people, I spend way too much time on the Internet. In my defense, most of that time is reading the news. But a lot of the remaining time is spent reading “the news” AKA Twitter. Which, well. Yeah. That’s usually a net loss. But once in a while, the Twitter Machine isn’t a 100% waste of time, and I stumble across some relevant news about clothes. And recently, I came across some coverage of Banana Republic’s new Legacy Denim.

Multiple washes, available in slim or skinny fit.

Right off the bat, I was intrigued. I’m a fan of BR as it is. I was also happy to see them using the eco-friendly product TENCEL in making these jeans.  Full disclosure: I know buying a certain pair of jeans is not the make or break move that slows climate change. But there are little things I can do, like opting for slower and/or paid shipping, and this is one of those little (okay, microscopic) things.

Back to the jeans. Dappered is a style blog, after all. And writing about pants is what I do. Here, I wanted to find out if the Legacy jeans could stand up to BR’s supremely popular Rapid Movement Denim. Briefly, yes they can. Clocking in at $20 cheaper with similar stretch and eco-friendly materials, the Legacy jeans are a welcome addition to BR’s denim options. As for the specifics, see below (and Jim K’s helpful insights).

Size 35×32 on  5’11”, 195lbs.

Made from 78% cotton, 18% TENCEL™ (lyocell), 3% elasterrell, 1% elastane, these have quite the stretch. Similar to the Rapid Movement Denim and Core Temp Chinos for sure. To me, there was a noticeable difference in the weight of these compared to the Rapid Movement. The Legacy jeans were just heavier. This is either good or bad. For me, I prefer lighter weight jeans (and pants in general). But that’s because I run hot and live in Houston.

As for the fit, while many report them being a true slim, I actually felt that these do not put the “slim” in slim fit. What they do, however, is allow guys with larger legs to enjoy the look of slim fit jeans without cutting off circulation to their feet.  I think this is a good thing. So in terms of versatility, you could definitely wear these to your office for Casual Friday, as well as most date night and casual venue options.

Quite the stretch. Those who like stretch, will dig them.
Those who are anti stretch, well… these have stretch.

The same goes for the feel. Despite the stretch, these feel like jeans. Because of the stretch, I suspect they will take little to no time to break in. Again, to me this is another good thing.

Now for the weird. If you have a standard size, you may need to size up in the waist and size down in the length. I ordered mine during the big Friends and Family sale, and I purchased both a pair of Legacy Denim, AND a pair of Rapid Movement Denim. I got my usual denim size of 34×32 in the Rapid Movement Denim and they were a perfect fit. Huzzah! Yay pants!

Shown above: Rapid Movement in “Bolt Wash” on top of the new Legacy Jeans in “Dark Rinse.” 
Both are 32 lengths. Notice the difference. Weird.

But because many have reported the Legacy as a true slim fit, I upped the waist on those to a 35 and got my normal length of 32. Same as the Rapid movement length. Sizing up was the right move for the waist. But for the length, the 32 for the Legacy Jeans was close to two inches longer than the same length in the Rapid Movement jeans. Who knows why, but if I reordered, I would definitely get a 35×30 for the Legacy. Maybe it was a one off goof, but it’s still worth a mention here. Be aware of that before you buy. Maybe (and this is total speculation) the new Legacy design tries to incorporate the fact that due to the selvage trend, a lot of guys are cuffing their jeans these days? These aren’t selvage of course. But perhaps that’s why they’re longer? Maybe?

Overall, if you’re looking for a new pair of slim fit jeans and you’re looking to do something ever so small to help the environment, these could be the jeans for you.