I generally only part with money for beer. But when I do buy clothing I make damn sure it’s decent quality. Welcome to my review of menswear items, to help you make informed decisions. The good, the dishonest, and…

Mr Price Jeans

The Green Tailor is doing a PIMP Denim Promotion for Winter (keep abreast of that here), and so to get the ball rolling ahead of schedule I bought this pair of OR Oakridge Jeans from Mr Price to give Antonio and Thabo a practice run on denim alterations.

For under R200 I wasn’t expecting too much (and from Mr Price let’s be honest) but I thought it prudent to give a proper review of these jeans to help you spot good quality retail. I blogged a more extensive piece on what to look out for when buying jeans, and you can check that post here.

Focusing back on Oakridge’s jeans;

I love these Two Things

#1. The combination of stretch fabric and consumer driven sizes lets me fit comfortably into a size 32, which I certainly shouldn’t! Although this is, obviously, actually a negative point, the boost in confidence I get from these jeans is lovely so whatever ;)

#2. For under R200 these jeans are really accessible, and if the industry is serious about covering everyone, it helps to ensure there’s a price point that everyone can access. I see a lot of gents buying retail and then getting things altered, which I feel makes more sense for the every-day gent since it works out cheaper than bespoke clothes.

I Hate these Three Things

#1. The natural fiber content is not ideal, and the elastane (although it helps me fit into these) is a fast wearing fiber that’ll leave these jeans slumpy after a few washes.

#2. They’re produced in China, when we have decent denim factories right here in SA. True you’d battle to keep your price point so low if you manufactured locally, but having been in manufacture myself I know we can make FAR superior jeans to these. Which brings me to my next point.

#3. Shoddy workmanship is never acceptable, not matter how cheap you’re selling your products for. What kills me inside is that it takes the EXACT SAME amount of time to stitch a rolled hem neatly as it does to botch it up, so why not just do it right punks?!?

To wrap up I’ll say the absolute only real positive factor about these pants is their price, which was for me important since we’re using them as a practice pair. Otherwise I really can’t recommend these jeans in any way, especially since a good pair of Levi’s (100% cotton and locally produced) will set you back for only around R50 more…#justsaying.

If you’ve bought a pair of jeans from Mr Price let me know what you thought, and do sign up to the newsletter to get the Winter Denim Promotion flyer next month.

The Studio is at 625 Levinia Street, Garsfontein, and open every Thursday from 10am to 10pm. You can also subscribe to this blog by hitting the follow button, and join the monthly newsletter here for fashion scandal and exclusive designs.