Edward
Bartender
- Messages
- 25,074
- Location
- London, UK
Unbranded are low rise, hoisting them up too high will not increase comfort. Perhaps something from pike brothers will be more to your liking/comfort.
Yes, this seems to be the issue to me from what the OP says. Some decades ago before Lee pulled their factory out of Northern Ireland, my parents lived not far from it, and we used to regularly drop by their factory shop. The jeans were just the basic Lee stuff - not the much more expensive repop line (I don't think that was around in those days?) - good quality, comparable to the Wrangler 13MWZ I now wear. Problem was they were just too shallow. Cut like modern 501s, sat on the hips not the waist. I couldn't wear them without feeling like they were falling off, but when I went to pull them up there was no more room to pull up. Now that I'm much more aware of this, the rise is one of the most important things I look for in trousers of any sort. I have no time for anything that doesn't come to my natural waistline - no comfort, and looks dreadful too. Unfortunately it's going to take a while yet, it seems, before fashion catches up with anything other than too low and too skinny. Until then, it's a matter of hunting out suitable brands. I find Wrangler 13MWZ "Cowboy Cut" are great at the affordable end of things. Prison Blues also nice. Lutece if it must be selvedge; Freddies of Pinewood do a nice pair of selvedge, though at full price the Lutece are very much better value. SJC, when they do denim, have done some nice bits. There are all sort of other names you'll find in these parts, though TBH I've never gotten into the premium denim thing. For me, £300 is a pair of new boots, or a chunk of a leather jacket, or some nice tailoring. Never been persuaded it's worth paying out that kind of money on a pair of jeans, but that's very much a subjective, personal value thing. If you wear jeans daily and never anything else, the economy of buying something more expensive may be worth it.