Would You Buy Pre-Ripped Jeans?

Dec 01, 2008 @ 2:29pm

when in doubt use an olsen.jpg One of the most frequent questions I got asked while working in retail was, “Why do the ripped jeans cost so much more?”

Well, it’s because once you enter the realm of ripped designer denim, each pair is individually stressed. As in, someone sits there with sand paper and various tools to guarantee they look as genuine as possible. But regardless of how much work goes into them, we’d never advocate buying pre-ripped denim.

Why? Natalie says the very idea makes her want to re-introduce “tool” into her vocabulary. And though I have not one but two pairs of extremely ripped jeans in my wardrobe, the holes and tears are due to my penchant for falling, not my willingness to shell out $300 for purposefully destroyed clothes. And apparently the thought of pre-distressed anything, whether it be jeans or furniture, has always been a pet peeve of Faran’s.

But the best of the denim brands - Current/Elliot, Genetic, Seven - keep making them which means that people still buy them in an attempt to emulate a rockstar-ness they think can be bought in the Meatpacking District.

Do you?

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 3:04PM

i would not buy pre-ripped jeans. those who do are not enjoying life enough. get out there, rip your own jeans!

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 3:24PM

A friend of mine had a summer job with a major denim producer where they essentially left her alone in a log cabin with hundreds of pairs of jeans, paint, sanding tools, and knives of all sorts. She didn't even have to use a pattern!

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 3:27PM

I own one pair of ripped jeans. They started life as nice jeans, then became barn/riding jeans when they started to wear out. I tore one knee and the back of a thigh coming off my friend's idiot thoroughbred, then ripped the other knee the same night in a street-clothes martial arts class. I've since caught the left thigh and started another vertical tear climbing to the top of the barn to throw down hay bales. These jeans are amazingly abused. I get "OMG where did you get those?" all the time.

posted by flyinpaperplanes

Dec 01, 2008 3:37PM

I never thought I would buy them because you can DIY. However, when I tried on a pair of the current/elliot i couldn't resist because of their comfort level.
Just the price of ripped jeans is insane sometimes

posted by bastylefilegirl

Dec 01, 2008 3:50PM

I actually still have a couple pairs from my late teens/twenties when I was working at Abercrombie and Fitch. Luckly I have been blessed with stellar genetics and can still fit them. However I don't think any adult women ( out of college and working) should go out and purchase them it's silly and a fad that should be left in highschool/college!

posted by bastylefilegirl

Dec 01, 2008 3:55PM

Speaking of dumb things people do in the name of fashion....

http://www.urbanoutfitters.com/urban/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&navAction=jump&id=15423908&search=true&isProduct=true&parentid=SEARCH+RESULTS&color=04

This has to be the worst item I have seen in my life...really a pre holed shirt?

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 5:27PM

it sure is lame...almost as lame as paying 4x the retail price for used converse or $300 for an Alexander Wang thermal onesie with holes...but not quite.

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 5:53PM

I still love ripped jeans! Especially for summer. And I'm just very glad that they are being discussed here, showing they are not entirely a thing of the past.

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 7:27PM

I have no problem with ripped jeans but I don't think I'd buy pre-ripped jeans unless they were under 70 dollars and had an amazingly ridiculous guns-n-roses/Pearl Jam thing going on. Otherwise I don't understand paying over even $100 for a pair of distressed and whiskered sevens (which are made like garbage btw). On top of that, most of the ripped denim just doesn't look natural. It looks like shoddy work with a razor-blade and a cheese grater for $228. That's not even the worst, effing Abercrombie or Diesel jeans that look like I rolled through a garbage dump...how and who is this fashionable to? A couple years back, it was getting to derelicht levels...blech. I have yet to see a pair of pre-ripped jeans that look authentic. If I did, maybe I'd think twice...

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 7:54PM

i can understand if you go to a second hand shop and get some cheap worn in jeans, but to pay such a ridiculous sum? that's just pointless! we are a year into the recession! hello?? i love clothing, but i'm not going to invest in ripped jeans/STOCKINGS/shirts because I'm pretty sure it will happen soon enough...seriously. if anything, it's kind of an offensive sight to see. kind of makes me feel as though i am staring into the face of Bronx Mugli Wentz. when i heard about that for a name, i gasped!! what are his parents trying to prove? what are expensive ripped jean wearers trying to prove? that they tread trecherous terrain? it's interesting to think about, and if anyone can provide an explaination, i sure would be curious...

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 7:56PM

ps, you think you can do more diy's? that koosh article was pretty amusing...

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 8:31PM

In my opinion if you are going to buy jeans over 100 bucks, they had better be in as pristine of condition as possible.

I was at a mall the other day in my first pair of Sevens (about 8 yrs old) that are so worn down they are like tissue paper and full of holes. A woman actually rushed up and stopped me to ask where i had bought them...i was shocked. It took me years of bending, tripping, spilling food, washing and constant wear to get them like that and i was slightly embarrassed i had worn such cruddy pants out...it made my day, it was so random and funny.

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 8:52PM

Vogue Paris has been pushing acid wash lately so why not. Can be very rock and roll if worn with the right attitude.

I think it's hard enough finding a pair of jeans that are flattering new, let alone sifting through vintage. I agree with whoever mentioned Abercrombie - their denim is surprisingly high quality for a reasonable price.

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 10:25PM

^^^um, "whoever mentioned abercrombie" is not a fan...learn to read.

posted by guest

Dec 01, 2008 11:40PM

i find it funny that sevens are described as one of the best denim brands. really? come on, try branching out -- personal favorites: earnest sewn, j brand, diesel, nudies, acne, apc, denimbirds. and hell, cheap mondays fit better than sevens do.

but that has nothing to do with the main point of this article, i just had to put my two cents in on that topic.

posted by guest

Dec 02, 2008 12:15AM

no point. at all. would you buy a pre-ripped jacket? who wants holes in their clothing? i just dont get it.

posted by guest

Dec 02, 2008 12:25AM

I never bought pre-ripped jeans before and somehow I bought the Current Elliot boyfriend pair and now I'm regretting it. Will never do that again.

posted by etoilee8

Dec 02, 2008 1:36AM

Why the bitchery guest 14? I'm confused. Anywho. . . ripped jeans seem silly to me. Like guest 1 said, get out there and earn it, people. My favourite pair of holey jeans are by Diesel and those jeans have been to a couple continents and back. Guest 15 you are totally right. I never got into Sevens because they made me look like a box with these little twigs hanging out from underneath. People swear by them, but I think they only work for a select few. My current favourites are J. Brand, Acne, APC, even H&M (and I babysit in old True Religions and the trusty Diesels). Does anyone else think although True Religion is completely played out, they certainly cured the muffin top era that was sweeping our country? I do. I personally thank them for their loose waists.

posted by etoilee8

Dec 02, 2008 2:00AM

Oh and guest 3, your life sounds like a lot of fun :)

posted by guest

Dec 02, 2008 10:38AM

See, when I rip a pair of jeans, I pretty much stop wearing them. They're ruined. Why on earth would I buy pre-wrecked denim? Tacky, tacky, tacky.

posted by guest

Dec 02, 2008 11:12AM

Distressed, yes. Ripped, no.

posted by guest

Dec 03, 2008 6:31PM

i actually prefer the look of pre ripped jeans to naturaly ripped.

posted by ill_threadz

Dec 05, 2008 4:46PM

"torn 'n tattered" is one of my all-time fave looks. just ask anyone that knows me. the jeans i've designed for my 808 reprazent brand (see my profile avatar) aren't pre-stressed or distressed because i've always felt that the manufactured pre-stressed/distressed apparel trend was just sooo F-A-K-E. i've got several pair of torn 'n tattered jeans and fatigue green cargo's (and some tees too) in my wardrobe with every bit of their wear and tear honestly earned. i think that anything less is just disingenuous, pretentious and down right lazy.

ill_threadz