The kid goes through blue jeans like he has sandpaper knees. Seriously.
Boys are generally hard on clothes, but I’m pretty sure my youngest has set records for how quickly a pair of blue jeans can be destroyed. Blue jeans and a t-shirt are his ensemble of choice almost daily. (Along with a cowboy hat if he’s in the right mood.) Grapevine swinging, fort-building, sword fighting, trampoline flipping, general running and jumping — all of it puts the quality of his blue jeans to some thorough testing.
And so what have I found? I thought I would share a few of my observations for moms out there like me who are sometimes aghast at how quickly their boys go through blue jeans.
Let me start out by saying I do not spend a lot of money on my kids’ clothes. For one thing, my boys could not care less what logo is on their shirt or pants, but they also grow too fast and play too hard for me to get a decent return on my investment when I spend big on clothing, blue jeans included. I shop clearance racks and thrift and consignment stores for my boys’ jeans, which has saved me a ton of money and given me opportunity to try virtually every brand of boys’ blue jeans under the sun.
And in my 12 years of boys’ blue jean buying, I’ve definitely settled on some favorites, along with a few not-so-favorites. For the sake of the mom with tiny boys who might like to avoid some of the trial and error I had to go through, let me just share what I’ve learned…
The Overall BEST Blue Jeans
Levi’s wins this one. Hands down.
Levi’s look and feel great and last longer than any other brand of jeans we’ve tried. They stand up to lots of wearing and washing without a lot of tears and fading. They aren’t cheap, however! I never buy Levi’s at full price because, while the quality is great, Levi’s don’t necessarily last long enough to offset that full price tag! My boys can burn through 2 or 3 pairs of another brand of blue jeans and I’ll still save money by not paying full price for Levi’s.
(If you come across Levi’s Signature Jeans, however, be aware they are Levi’s lower end product. While they are a lot cheaper that regular Levi’s, the quality is also much, much less. In fact, I’ve found a lot of store brand jeans to be better quality than the Levi’s Signatures…)
The Pricey Runner-Up
L. L. Bean produces a pretty good pair of blue jeans, too, and though I usually prefer the look of the Levi’s, these are some really good and durable jeans. Again, they aren’t cheap, but I would put them up among some of the best jeans my boys have ever worn.
The Budget-Friendly Runner Up
Old Navy.
Old Navy runs awesome sales on their jeans often and they have proven they can stand up to a lot of abuse from my boys. They’re good-looking jeans, too, and I’ve had very little problem with fading.
The Just Eh Brands
This is where I have to place Lee and Wrangler jeans. Lees are considerably cheaper than Levi’s and they are decent jeans for the more budget-conscious shopper, but in my experience they tend to fade faster than other brands. My youngest boy is built for Wranglers and they’re a nice-looking, western-style blue jean, but he has a tendency to blow out the knees fairly quickly, which makes me crazy.
The Best Store Brand
I’ve tried store brand blue jeans from Target, Meijer, Walmart, and virtually every other discount store you can think of. While none of them could ever be counted among my favorites, they are workable jeans for the price. Walmart’s Faded Glory are probably my favorite. The color seems to fade pretty quickly, and sometimes there is a strange stiffness to the fabric I find a little bizarre, but several pairs have held up well enough to surprise me and so I’m not opposed to buying Faded Glory when my boys are truly in need of jeans. Especially when I can find them on clearance like I did the other day!
The Worst Blue Jeans
I know plenty of The Children’s Place devotees who buy all their kids’ clothes there. And, yes, TCP produces lots of cute things and they run great sales.
But their blue jeans are pretty terrible.
Seriously, I’ve had so many bad experiences with jeans from The Children’s Place. Multiple times now my little guy has ripped out one or both knees of his TCP jeans on only his first or second time wearing them. They are a bargain — often available for under $10 — but if they can’t stand up to more than two days’ of wear, they aren’t worth my money.
Can you add to this, moms? I would love suggestions for new brands to try, and I’m curious whether other moms are more concerned about appearance, price, or durability of their kids’ clothes…
