I’m a fat guy. Clothes are not super easy to find but I’ve never been so morbidly obese that I couldn’t find clothes that fit at the local K Mart or Target. Or could, as both stores are no longer near where I live. I refuse to shop at WalMart and the one time I did buy a shirt from them (it was an emergency as I’d forgotten to bring one when I packed for a job interview halfway across the state) it lasted, no word of a lie, less than 4 hours before ripping in the pits.
I haven’t owned a pair of jeans in probably 2 years. I wear slacks to work and found it just as easy to wear them or shorts on the weekends. When my extant couple pairs of jeans wore out I couldn’t justify buying another couple of pairs of something I’d only wear a few times a month.
However I decided a couple months ago to pick up a pair as I’d be doing some more outdoor hiking and camping this year. I ordered a pair of Levi 550’s from Amazon. They fit wonderfully… for about three weeks. Then I noticed the denim around the back pocket had begun to split. WTF? I thought these were supposed to be high quality?? I didn’t buy them tight, they weren’t squeezing my ass when I sat down… they were just shitty pants.
So I figured I’d up may game and bought a pair of Carhartt basic relaxed fit jeans. This is farm country and pretty much everyone with an X and a Y chromosome wears Carhartt so I figured they would be decent stuff. Ho Lee Fuck. They were (are, I haven’t tossed them in the Goodwill pile yet) the most uncomfortable pants I’ve ever worn. Remember 10 years ago when all the teenagers were wearing their pants halfway down their ass to show off their boxers? Yeah. That’s how these are cut even though they’re advertised as riding above the waist.
Goddammit. $85 down the shitter for want of a pair of jeans.
I just ordered a pair from Duluth Trading. I’ve had those in the past (in fact, I think they were the last brand I owned) and while they fit well I found the denim to be thin and it wasn’t colorfast. But right now, you know… any port in a storm I guess.
When I was a kid jeans lasted forever. I put them through some serious abuse—I grew up on a farm. What the hell happened??
Lands End for jeans have been my go-to brand for a while now. You might give them a try. They have sales fairly often if you look online, or sign up for their newsletter.
OP, steer very far from Levi’s. They are the worst jeans, they suck if you do any type of work in them. They are not what they once were. Pure garbage. I’m average size and the pants fit comfortably, but the material is so cheaply made and thin, they cannot hold up to any stress. Pocket corners and belt loops wear out so quick. I went through two pairs within a month and a half, tried sewing them but they look like shit that way. Bought two more thinking its a fluke, nope. I’ve tried Carhart too, too stiff, but reliable. Seriously try out a Marshalls and find something there or if you feel moderately spendy, Duluth Trading is the way to go. Someone on here (I think) recommended them and they are fine jeans. Wranglers are the next best bet, they make some comfortable ones now, they sell them at Target.
I mostly switched the Wrangler Straight Slim jeans, very affordable and have held up for a long time now. Crawling around under cars, heavy stuff hooked to belt loops, pockets full, stretching and crouching, fantastic jeans and the company that makes them keeps quiet about politics, which is just an added bonus.
Gotta pick your battles lol. I prefer the longevity, the straight slim wranglers have elastic around the waist and such that make them fit much better. Cost is about $5 more. Worth it though.
My husband has the same issue with cargo pants. He now gets tactical pants from Amazon at $55 a pop. I’ve never seen/felt a tougher pair of any kind of pants in my entire life.
Adding my mild rant about women’s jeans - sizing! I have half a dozen or so that, according to the tags, are the same size. yeah, right. They range from a pair I can barely zip up to a pair I can put on and off without unbuttoning. I hate shopping, so I order mine on line, hence no way to try them on. Even within the same brand, the size varies.
Life would be so much easier if we didn’t need clothes…
I buy Wrangler jeans from Amazon. I only wear jeans. I own a couple of pairs of khakis and one pair of dress pants, but rarely wear anything other than jeans. (The dress pants and a Hawaiian shirt are my wedding ensemble.) I buy three pair and wear them until they begin to fray/fall apart. Then I go online and buy three more.
I keep some worn out jeans for things like horseback riding.
Those look promising. Maybe I’ll give them a shot. Thanks for the recommendation!
Now that’s interesting. When I was a kid my mom would get a Land’s End catalog fairly regularly; I always thought they were exclusively women’s clothing. I see I was mistaken. Maybe I’ll give them a shot too.
Hmm… I seem to recall a local store sells those. Next time I’m in I’ll check them out. They’re stocked next to the Rustlers, which seems to be universally derided. For some reason I thought the Riggs were a Rustler brand so never really considered them. But maybe I’ll give them a try too.
Someone upthread said it’s not the fault of today’s inferior clothing but rather my fat ass causing undue stress. I actually considered that possibility but my khaki slacks all came from K Mart and are their cheap Basic Editions brand. The closest K Mart to me shut down months (maybe years) ago, so they’ve lasted me that long at least. I’m placing the blame for this one right at the feet of Levi’s.
I am inspired by this thread to return the pair of Wranglers I bought last week (to KMart.) I can use the $16.95. I don’t know how they can make an average size (34/30) so baggy.
I’m tall & thin; with a bit of looking, I could find plenty of Levi’s denim in my size but I could never find Dockers (also made by them) longer than 34" inseam. I called them one day & said, “What gives?”
The CSR stated, “We don’t find a market for that size.”
My response - “So tall people don’t like to look nice & only bum around in jeans?” :dubious:
…& yeah, the quality isn’t what it used to be on the denim; thinner, I think.
I have worn Wrangler relaxed fit jeans for years. Fit is good and they are cheap enough, if I get 2 years out of a pair, I’m fine with that. The nearby outlet mall has a Wrangler store and pick them up there for about $18 a pair.
I second Duluth, from a fellow fat guy. I have some Firehose jeans, and a couple of pairs of Ballroom jeans. I like them all. I should say, however, my wife absolutely hates the Firehose jeans. She calls them my “ugly pants” and refuses to be seen with me in public if I’m wearing them.
Of what I have, I’m most fond of the Ballroom carpenter’s jeans. Very comfortable, look good, plus extra pockets.
Echoing that Levi’s are pretty terrible. I tend to wear nicer jeans most of the time (Seven for All Mankind is my go to), but I’ll have a pair of Levis for more household work - so I won’t be upset if I get paint on them or whatnot. They tend to wear out far quicker than they should.