I know, I know.... There are dozens of jean manufacturers out there. I could buy an economy pair from Uniqlo, or a hundred other places. I could buy an expensive pair from Rivet and Hide or a dozen other places.
Or I could spend a decent sum on a decent pair made in the UK.
So, who has two pairs of jeans one made by Hebtroco the other by Hiut.
Do we have an honest preference?
(I do appreciate that the results may/could/will upset some).
No experience of those. But I have just worn out another pair of selvedge uniqlos in 1 year so thinking that spending a bit more for hopefully better longevity is the way to go. So interested in the replies to this.
Also, as an alternative, thinking maybe Community Clothing.
I bought some hiut jeans, they were nicely made but the fit wasn't right for me. I returned them for refund, no problem. And then had to chase and chase to get my money refunded. A mate had the same experience.
So I took my money elsewhere and bought some hebtroco jeans. Very nice jeans, plus when I wanted to swap to a larger size, no problem by return of post and free postage.
I’ve a couple of pairs of Hiut jeans and 5 pairs of Hebtroco trousers (not jeans)
Hiut make the jeans themselves in their own factory with their own employees, so I now prefer to buy from them. My opinion is that Hebtroco wish they could claim all that, but can’t, despite going as close to the line in their marketing as they can without actually lying.
Hebtroco call themselves a trouser company but refer to their trousers as pants. Curious.
What about the fit for the leg of a supreme cycling athlete?
How? Do you ever take them off? My 18 quid Tesco jeans I bought in 2020 are still going strong…
Dunno. I have 2 pairs in rotation and they just wear out in a year. Same for any trousers really but mostly in jeans now. I don't even wash them that much.
I must have been living on another planet. How did jeans get to be 0ver £200 a pair (£295 for 'Japanese Selvedge' whatever the hell that is)? I like to support British industry, but those Hiut prices are a joke. Too many people have too much money to spend and that company are taking advantage, IMHO of course. I'll stick with Levis, no doubt made in some god-awful sweatshop by children.
Mine are 6 and 4 years old, with no sign of wearing out, seems they are better value than some. Even if they do, they offer free repairs for life.
I have both, similar quality but I like the Hebtroco fit more. Just a bit more thigh room in the hebs, both have clever wee details but Huit are nearly £100 more expensive. Also, I love folk slagging £165 jeans while paying 1k plus for their road wheels.
Hiut make the jeans themselves in their own factory with their own employees, so I now prefer to buy from them. My opinion is that Hebtroco wish they could claim all that, but can’t, despite going as close to the line in their marketing as they can without actually lying.
we say we work with over 20 factories all over the uk. 🤷🏻♂️
Also, I love folk slagging £165 jeans while paying 1k plus for their road wheels.
This is a fair point. My obvious first reaction is that they are WAY above my pay grade....but if I made different choices about my meagre expendable income I probably could afford a pair. Something else would have to give mind.
What constitutes UK made.....growing the cotton, spinning the yarn, making the dye, weaving the coth or just cutting & sewing up the final jean/trousers? I'm guessing just the last leg (or two!).
I attended a lecture on the economics of fashion (I was accompanying kids going for a course, kind of half listening!). The default profit margin difference between the top and bottom of the market was pretty eye opening. Couture would be something around a 400% markup, fast fashion maybe in the single digits. Edwin selvedge jeans in a sale is as posh as I've ever got. A propensity to kneel, do dirty stuff in nice clothing and 'power balls' that wear out crotches means I don't know if I deserve nice things.
we say we work with over 20 factories all over the uk. 🤷🏻♂️
Save them too?
I don’t even wash them that much.
perhaps bacteria are eating them away. Wink
I am thinking that Uniqlo selvedge jeans aren't that great tbh despite my poor hygiene :-). So if a Community Clothing pair give more than 2 years wear or huit/hebcotro give more than.. 3 or 4 years? wear then thats still good. I am still a tight bastard.
What constitutes UK made…..growing the cotton, spinning the yarn, making the dye, weaving the coth or just cutting & sewing up the final jean/trousers? I’m guessing just the last leg (or two!).
The uk cotton fields aren’t known for their high yield long staple fibre. Though without uk made denim woven here, I don’t think we’d ever have lauched our denim jeans five years ago. Sadly the chap who was doing it could only deliver enough for about 50 pairs which was a third we’d sold on preorder when he told us no more. Thankfully Candiani in Italy got us out of the hole we’d fallen in and tho we told everyone who’d ordered it would be Italian denim going forward until the uk could catch up, nobody cancelled.
So yes. Cut and sewn here.
How did jeans get to be 0ver £200 a pair (£295 for ‘Japanese Selvedge’ whatever the hell that is)?
£200 ? £20 in most decent places .
Each to their own but £200 for casual trousers just seams ridiculous, but quite clearly it’s a niche that companies fill
Marks and Spencer do a great line in selvedge.
Japanese denim, robust, well sized and sturdy.
7 for all mankind
Nudie
Joe and co
Naked and famous
M and S do a selvedge jean too, made at Japanese mills,
Burg and schild in Berlin have good selection on their site
Had both Hebtroco and Hiut , the extra is well worth it for the Hiut's.
Nicer detailing and fit on the Hiut's, sold the Hebtroco as a bit M&S like somehow.
FunkyDunc
Free Member
£200 ? £20 in most decent places
Where do you stand on £330 belts?
Three pairs of Hiut and I love them - would buy again. Great quality and fit for me.
No experience of HebTroCo and I think they've stopped their 36" / unfinished inside leg, which I need.
36in available on preorders but not held as stock anymore. Next preorder is our M16 and GVNR Japanese Selvedge editions made for us by Blackhorse Lane.
Our denim weights going forward are all 14-16oz. We did go as low as 12oz on the V12s a few years ago but are finding people prefer the heavier weight cloth.
Brant - are you still working in designing bike frames & bits.
Wondering as hebtroco curious. Are they made in house by your team?
How bout Howies jeans. I've got one set for £55 a year or so ago and they seem half decent. Well the best set I've ever had tbh.
Marks and Spencer do a great line in selvedge.
Japanese denim, robust, well sized and sturdy.
They look terrible and appear to have other materials in them for stretch. Cheap jeans are generally a bit shit in my opinion. Supermarket specials wear through in the pockets and crotch very quickly and are very thin. Not had a pair that lasted a year and wouldn’t buy again. I’ve become more conscious of the impact of clothing and tend to buy UK made where possible. Rapanui for staples such as T-shirts, hoodies, shirts and jumpers.
I have some Levi’s that have been going strong for a few years and a pair of HebTroCo 177’s that were purchased in 2020. They’ve sadly shrunk in length more than expected, stitching around a couple of the fly buttons is on its way out and the crotch is getting thin. They did get worn a lot before becoming half masts and are still comfortable. Just don’t wear them much anymore due to the length.
Other stuff I’ve bought from HebTroCo has been great bar an organic denim overshirt with poor stitching around the button holes (a couple are constantly coming open) and their cargo pants. They are well made and look great but the inbuilt waste retention thingy is shite and comes loose very quickly. Walking more than a few yards results in pants slippage.
I’d buy their jeans again, just with a longer leg. Canvas and moleskin trousers are great and wearing well. The green/orange flannel overshirt and HD wool vest are worn all the time and are extremely well made. Same with their sweatshirt. I’m impressed overall and the quality is way better than high street brands in my opinion. Also, everyone needs an action blanket for winter chilling!
How did jeans get to be 0ver £200 a pair (£295 for ‘Japanese Selvedge’ whatever the hell that is)?
When denim jeans, particularly Levi’s, started to get really ‘trendy’, in the ‘70’s, 80’s or thereabouts, the traditional looms they used couldn’t keep up, because they could only get one pair out of the width of cloth, so new, wider looms were introduced, but they didn’t have a selvedge. The old looms were sold to the Japanese, who continued to produce low-volume high quality denim for a market that appreciated the better quality, heavier denim. Uniqlo, being Japanese, have their selvedge denim woven in Japan but assembled in China where it’s cheaper.
I’ve got three or four pairs, which are like new, but I hardly wear them ‘cos I wear shorts most of the year - I think at least one pair, a heavier weight selvedge with button fly, which were £70, are highly sought after now because they only made them for a short period; the ones they make now are 10oz selvedge and cost £35-ish, but they’re almost identical to original 501’s, of which I’ve got a couple of pairs from the 70’s. I can’t wear them anymore, ‘cos I’m nearly 70, not 20…
And £180-200? It’s because people are prepared to pay that, under the impression they’re much better than £35 Uniqlo denim. Personally, I can’t tell the difference, and I’m prepared to say that I don’t think there is much difference. The denim comes from the same mills, although there are still a couple in America using original looms, but the volume of output is lower, so they charge more.
@funkmasterp. Thanks for kind words and sorry to hear some issues. Please drop me a line at hello at hebtro dot co and I’ll sort you a credit note for items you’re unhappy with.
inbuilt waste retention thingy
So glad that's a spelling mistake and not a design feature for the typically older market that purchases hand stitched British made clothing.
Not had a pair that lasted a year and wouldn’t buy again
Not the first thread I’ve read where people have said they wear them out
What the hell do you do in a pair of jeans that wears them out that quickly ?
Mine last years, it’s normally the colour that’s faded first. Have you just been buying the wrong cheap jeans?
dartdude
Free Member
Brant – are you still working in designing bike frames & bits.Wondering as hebtroco curious. Are they made in house by your team?
No more bike stuff. Last thing I think was the Scandal and Bootzippers for on-one/Planet X. I bought a Cotic Cascade recently - first new bike I think I’ve ever bought myself.
Our team in Hebden Bridge are me and Ed backed up with staff who actually know what they are doing so Amelia who is pattern cutter and works with the factories to make things, Andy who does our warehouse management and pick pack, Teasha who runs customer service and Vic who takes photos and video and puts it on the website.
We work with over 20 factories in the uk now from Devon to Peterhead, from Great Yarmouth to Llanberis.
We are moving to in house sample machining but we have no plans to do any production ourselves.
Go on, I'll ask. What is selvedge?
Genuine Levi 501's are £20-30 for a pair in good condition on Vinted. Recently bought two pairs and a vintage German Army shirt for around £60
Even price aside, I always find myself going back to Levis
Go on, I’ll ask. What is selvedge?
CountZero basically explained up there. ^
Turn up the bottoms, and you’ll see the edge created by the old loom. That’s the sign, not the benefits.
Thanks for response Brant.
I'll hopefully come a knocking to your site once I realise that my f & f black denim stretchy elastic ones that fall at the bum don't cut the mustard which I know they don't.
I only wear black denim and believe I'm now a 34" ( below my true waist) lol.
I'd be real interested to own a set for daily use if my budget of £70 or £80 would do it though fear not. I :/
How did jeans get to be 0ver £200 a pair
Same time pub grub got expensive.... $14 AUD for some wedges! $11 for a portion of chips!
200 quid on jeans is nearly $400 fuuuurk that
I don't mind paying for nice clothes (or other stuff), but draw the line at £200 jeans. Circa £100 would be the limit for me
I can't see the difference. Hiut use their own workforce and Brant's jeans are also made in Britain. Of course if you want welsh jeans buy Hiut. Having bought both I don't see any difference in the quality of production. I'm not surprised Brant has switched to heavier cloth. It's what I wanted and his stores originally sent me the light weight ones by mistake, replaced before they got the wrong set back. And they refunded my postage costs. Even the heavier weight came out lighter than I expected but just fine. Possibly if one goes any heavier they may not be as long lasting; they are certainly very tightly woven. Handmade cotton waxed thread used to be strongest with 5 or 6 strands [and yes I've actually made it]. I'd say as someone without an expensively coiffured beard, that Hebs suit me better. As for 501s well I bought them back in Bob Dylan times and haven't seen any of that quality since
Since posting on this thread I now just get adverts from M&S jeans, so there you go, STW endorse M&S jeans over others?
Probably more likely to be your Percy Pig surfing
I was all set to buy some Community Clothing selvedge jeans when someone on here suggested that I looked at the sizing. The thighs are huge on them, proper baggy 90s style. I bought some of their "slim cut" moleskin jeans (which felt lovely) but they had enormous legs, and bizarrely crotch, too
Hebtroco call themselves a trouser company but refer to their trousers as pants. Curious.
To be fair to them, it's locally correct as northerners often refer to trousers as pants.
But it also aligns with the US terminology, so I can see why it's triggering.
Does it make the brand feel more or less authentic overall? I don't flipping know 😀
As for £200 on a pair of jeans? It's strong money and I'm more likely to spend 1/4 that, but nice clothes are a pleasure to own so I'm sure a lot of people feel they're getting their money's worth.
Just because you can compare premium UK-made garments with £20 supermarket ones, doesn't mean you should 😉
How did jeans get to be 0ver £200 a pair
In house manufactured Jeans were always expensive. I remember growing up in the 90's when Levis were still made in the states and were £70-90 or more (£150ish adjusted for inflation), they were considered expensive and aspirational.
They started out sourcing in the 90's and closed their San Antonio factory in 2003. The jeans got a lot cheaper.
Factor in Selvedge and fewer economies of scale and your £178 Heb Tro co. are basically just back to where Levis were 30 odd years ago.
The 2000-2020 period of super cheap far Eastern sourcing and shipping is what we're now used to but in the long term it's an anomaly.
