This week’s Fashion Friday has a bit more commentary to it, because well, we have a bit, scratch that, a LOT more to say about this topic. Denim. Brief history; Levi Strauss, German man, moved to the states to plant himself amongst the Gold Rush selling goods for his family business, cotton fabric being one of them. A client, Jacob Davis, a local tailor, purchased fabric from Strauss to construct a custom pair of sturdy pants. From this moment in time, one of the most frequented items in one’s wardrobe was born. I can almost guarantee every single one of our clients already owns denim when we begin to work together, and by the end of their first appointment with Art of Style we have added a quality pair of denim. We want to sit with that word for a bit and swish it around in your brain. What does it mean to you when we propose the phrase, quality denim? We know what it has meant to us in the past, but as we evolve and discover more products in the beautifully saturated apparel market, our opinions of quality and closet necessities can only evolve.
This week we met with one of the owners of Blue Delta Denim. When we had set up the meeting , we were expecting an ultra fashion forward, LA hipster, fashion-dude to be across the table from us. Obviously we did not do our pre-requisite homework, when a bearded, Mississippi gentleman walked in preaching to us about something we already thought we knew the “need to know” on, we leaned in with respect and a listening ear.
Denim is notoriously one of the most important items in a client’s closet, as well as one of the most challenging items to purchase. We are all created with different curves and inseams, unique to our body, that also change over time. Can I get an amen to tacos & tequila! I am routinely hunting down that perfect denim for each client, to then go and have them altered, on top of the $180+ price tag. Now this price tag comes with ultra soft fabrics, normally a dash of trend because these brands are being mass produced, therefor having to keep up with the trends, as well as the check mark on your closet-must-haves list of a kick ass pair of denim. Do not get us wrong, we love our Fidelity, Current Elliot and Mother Jeans, but back to our Mississippi Denim Dude dropping facts… as we wrapped up the meeting with a follow up scheduled for the next morning to view the fabrics and learn more about the process, we could not help but obsess over the concept of owning a pair of denim we were able to make EXACTLY how we have always wanted and that would fit us perfectly, and not only that, they actually were telling us NOT to wash them…. like ever. The emotion of paying that $500+ price tag started to shrink down to scale when we did the cost per wear math. Ahhh, Fashion math our favorite kind.
Come the following morning we were most intrigued by the owners pair he brought for show & tell, to represent how their fabrics really mold and soften with your body over time. Kind of like a kick ass pair of leather boots that ease over time to form beautifully to your foot structure. We had are measurements taken, oogled the swatches of fabrics, but let the master mind behind the product take the wheel on our first pair. We are respectfully counting down the 2-3 week turn around time! For years we have enjoyed guiding our gentleman on their custom suiting shops and have always loved their reactions to the details we orchestrate for them with the custom clothier. It was such a treat to be able to customize something for ourselves and we are beyond excited to introduce this to our clients’ closets.
Our bank accounts called and said hustle harder, because there is a very strong chance we have a new addiction.
