A great pair of jeans are like dependable friends. The best ones are in it for the long haul, will support you through thick and thin (quite literally), and are destined to get better as they age. Sound too good to be true? Well, we’re here to show you that it’s possible when you invest in a quality pair of custom made denim jeans.
It can be hard to know what the “right” pair of denim is when you’ve been told that skinny jeans are out one day and low-rise jeans are making a comeback the next. Fashion’s ever-changing trend cycles slyly persuade us into buying more jean styles than we need, and most importantly, make us covet styles that aren’t even inclusive of all body types.
When in reality, a well-fitted pair that suits your figure and flatters it the best will always be in style — even if it is a supposedly outmoded pair of skinny jeans.
Common Fit Issues With Denim
Despite stocking inclusive sizes, most jeans in the market today need alterations to provide an ideal fit. That’s because there is no standard body type that fits into the preset measurements and proportions. For example, even if you’ve been a size 12 your entire life, chances are, you’re not going to fit into the same size at two different brands.
Our bodies come in all shapes and sizes that tend to change as we age. They aren’t apples or pears, inverted triangles or rectangles, they have beautiful bumps and curves that are unique to every individual.
But fashion brands aren’t entirely to blame for not creating a pair of jeans that fit you like a dream. In order to embrace body inclusivity to perfection, there’d have to be endless aisles of sizes and that many more jeans produced.
On a scale of one to ten, most jeans available in the market can be rated a five or six, because their shortcomings are usually present in the form of these issues:
- Too long or short in length
- Gaping at the back
- Have a loose waistband
- Too tight at the thighs
- Hurt at the waist while sitting
- Saggy or too tight at the crotch
If you have experienced one or more of these fit problems with a pair of jeans you’ve purchased in the past, then you are not alone. While stretchy jeans or elastic waistband jeggings may seem like the cure-all to most of the aforementioned fit-related issues, these types of jeans aren’t without their own problems.
Stretchy jeans contain a significant percentage of elastane, which gets its flexible quality from a long chain polymer known as polyurethane (AKA plastic). This affects the jean’s sustainability as well as its recyclability or biodegradability at the end of their life.
While elastane is just a small part of the sustainable puzzle, creating a pair of jeans also involves an intense dyeing process to attain certain colorways and washes that consume a lot of water before it even reaches the store shelf.
Transparency note: this content was made in collaboration with unspun. As always, we only partner with brands that meet strict criteria for sustainability that we love, and that we think you’ll love too.
Get Custom Made Jeans Online in Three Simple Steps
Fortunately, the dream denim makers at unspun provide a smart and effective solution that not only addresses all of your fitting woes but also has a lower environmental impact.
Curious to know how they create the perfect fit? Let us break down the how, what, and why investing in a pair of custom made jeans by unspun will be your best sartorial bet.
Step 1: Design your own jeans made to order
Start by visiting the unspun website where you can dive right in by choosing your preferred style that ranges from skinny and straight fit to wide leg, baggy fit, and beyond.
Or if you’re anything like us and prefer some expert assistance, you could take unspun’s fit quiz that allows their algorithm to better understand your personal preferences when it comes to how you’d want your jeans to make you feel, while you choose your color, fabric, level of stretch, and even the type of topstitching.
Based on your responses, unspun narrows down your preferences to match you with three different bespoke jeans styles where you can choose to further tweak your choices for preferred hem length, waist rise, and stitch color in the dropdown menus.
Think of it like being set up with potential matches on a dating app based on your personal taste. Because shopping for a new pair of jeans can actually feel like a first date. It might be too early to tell if you’ve just met your soulmate, but something about them screams keeper. And once you’re better acquainted, it could be a match made in denim heaven!
Step 2: Take a 3D body scan to get your own made-to-order jeans
Once you check out and purchase your custom made jeans, unspun will send you a link to download their app where an iPhone (X or later– FaceID required) to 3D scan your body and upload your measurements.
Getting fitted takes about five minutes and allows them to collect over 100,000 data points from your scan to sculpt a fit that’s unique to the size, and actual 3D shape, of you and your body. This is why the fit of unspun’s custom jeans is known for being so good; beyond just measurements, there are so many different ways those measurements could be shaped!
After you’ve ordered your jeans, completing the scan is easy– all you have to do is slip into some skin-tight clothing (like gymwear), step into a well-lit room in your house, and you are ready to get fitted. Their video tutorial will guide you as to where you can place your phone, and how you can stand and do a 360º spin, all while following the sound of their audio countdown.
unspun reports that, with their app, your iPhone projects over 30,000 dots of infrared light onto your body. And as you take a step-by-step spin, the Face ID sensor stitches all these depth maps together to create an accurate 3D body model that’s completely unique to you. Consider this your doorway to the future denim dressing room!
Or, if you’re located in San Francisco, you can choose to book a fitting in person at their headquarters. If you’re looking for some additional styling support, you can also avail yourself to a booking on a remote fit video call where you can directly chat with their experts for 30 minutes where they can advise you on customization options, and help get you set up for your 3D body scan at home.
Step 3: Take your brand new custom fit jeans for a spin
Once they’ve scanned your measurements to create your digital model, unspun will use the specifications from your scan to create your perfectly fitted pair of tailor-made jeans and ship them to your home within about four weeks. After you’ve received your made-to-measure jeans, the denim experts at unspun recommend wearing them for a week to break them into their true fit.
While they offer a 100% fit guarantee, if you are still not satisfied with how they sit on your body after the break-in period, you can reach out to them by sharing an email with photos of you in your jeans from all the angles necessary to help them pinpoint the issue and build a second version that incorporates your personal preferences.
Alternatively, you can always visit them in person at their San Francisco or Hong Kong store to consult with a fit specialist and they’ll adjust and rebuild them with free alterations and returns. Your alterations will be fast-tracked to the front of the line and will be handed back to you after two to three weeks.
Is the Custom Made Denim From unspun Sustainable?
Straight off the bat, the very fact that unspun has no inventory and operates on a made-to-order model separates them from the crowd of brands that overproduce denim in endless styles to accommodate the ever-changing trends every season. By doing this, unspun makes a strong case for ditching all of the trends in favor of personal style and custom fit jeans that last a lifetime.
Don’t just take our word for it. unspun has received the elusive “Great” rating from the go-to sustainable brand rating platform Good on You.
Their denim is made from fabric compositions that are mainly composed of either pre-consumer recycled cotton or GOTS-certified organic cotton. 89% of unspun’s range is plastic-free and 11% is recycled, with 89% made with recyclable inputs. unspun has also switched their entire thread range to dissolvable thread.
Some of unspun’s styles feature a small percentage of circular stretch yarn, in case you do prefer some stretch in your denim. Unlike conventional elastane, Roica™ breaks down without releasing harmful substances. It’s the first Cradle to Cradle-Certified stretch yarn, receiving a Gold Level Certificate.
While conventionally created denim creates a lot of water waste that leaches toxic dyes into waterways, the custom made denim makers at unspun use a unique technology that helps them recycle water after each washing step, where the denims are drained (without pollution) and pumped back into their system in a closed loop.
In fact, once you’ve received your custom fit jeans, they recommend barely washing them, and only if needed, once every ten wears should suffice.
If you are ever ready to let go of your tailor-made jeans — after what we’re hoping is a long and happy sartorial run — unspun encourages returning them so they can repurpose your preloved denim into samples, or have them downcycled by their collaborators (hello, Pangaia!).
unspun’s range of custom fit jeans for women and men starts at $85 for a pair of shorts and $200+ for full-length denim jeans. Pro tip: sign up as a product tester to get a $40 gift card towards your first pair of custom made jeans in exchange for giving unspun some feedback.
About The Author:
Jharna Pariani is a fashion writer and creative strategist whose work is rooted in honesty and deep observation of the world around her. When she isn’t busy penning down her thoughts, she moonlights as a video editor creating fashion and food reels on Instagram for several brands and influencers
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