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BANG FOR THE BITE
If 10,000 Biters make their next jeans purchase organic, we'll keep the weight of 8 male walruses in pesticide-treated cotton out of production. But we'll all be broke.
COCKTAIL FACT
The most expensive jeans in the world come from Escada's couture line. Prices start at $7,500.
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home › tip library › Organic Cotton Jeans
Are organic cotton jeans just born better?
The Bite
Genes or jeans... both constantly adapt and improve - subtle changes that make old standards better. So check out designers who are coming out with stylish, planet-friendly denim lines and watch your wardrobe evolve.The Benefits
- Better for the earth. In organic farming, composting, frequent crop rotations and cover crops replace synthetic fertilizers to maintain (and even create) healthy soil.
- The look, the feel. Organic often means higher quality and more attention to detail.
- Better business. Many brands have long-term sustainability goals, and some will take your old jeans back for recycling - you might even snag a discount on your next pair when you send them in.
Personally Speaking
When designers send us clothing samples to check out, we return or donate them to charity after checking them out. However, Sara had a helluva time parting with those Loomstates. Next paycheck, they're hers.Wanna Try?
OK, so organic jeans aren't exactly cheap, but we think they're worth the splurge since we practically live in 'em.- Slings & Stones - H-O-T-T. Fair trade jeans with hardware that's 24-karat gold plated ($260-$350).
- Loomstate Men's Rush and Women's Justice jeans. Broken-in with a distressed wash for comfort and style ($174-$176).
- Del Forte Calla - Jen loves the skinny fit. To encourage recycling, you can send your old pair back to D.F. for 10% off your next pair ($182).
- Grace & Cello Eco - organic cotton/bamboo blend. We admit we like the fact that the sizing runs big - it's as if we just dropped a couple sizes ($150).
- GAP Product Red Jeans - not organic, but half the proceeds go to the Global Fund for Africa, and the design incorporates Wabi Sabi (Japanese aesthetic of "imperfection perfection") for a vintage look ($150-$198).
- Levi's Capital E - select styles from the company's new fall line features organic cotton and one-of-a-kind details ($250 - available only in stores).
- Ideal Bite's Go Vintage Tip - dress for less and recycle by going vintage.
- Note: Both Gap and Levi's are getting better on the sweatshop issue, but there's still room for improvement. Coop America has the 411.
Nov 14,2006
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All editorial suggestions in this tip are the result of testing and a preference for the tip topic. No advertiser has paid to have its company referenced in the tip. For more information, please read our Editorial Policy.
Love the Skinny Fit… Butt…
Seriously... I DO love the skinny fit of the Del Forte jeans... but my butt. Not-so-skinny. Too much time in the office eating client-intended organic chocolates.
We did just get back from Green Festival in SF and go to meet so many of our friends and clients... usually one in the same. One of them is Summer from BTC Elements. Turns out she is the one that fits perfectly in those skinny jeans (she is gorgeous, tall and thin.) However, at the BTC Elements booth I tried on the skinny jeans for Heather (I really wanted to make them work for real) butt...Heather said they looked good on me from the front (thanks there, Heather ol' pal.)
Anyway, it is my goal to fit perfectly in them in a few months. I am going to get in mega good shape. We found a few cleansing mixes at the conference... stay tuned... if I lose 10 lbs I will definitely splurge on the $180 Del Forte skinny jeans as a reward.
Off to the airport to sit on my butt some more... jb
Biter Comments...
$180 for jeans? Do they come with a $130 rebate, by any chance???
ah, I HATE skinny jeans. They only look good on the super skinny. I also have a butt and hips (like most women i dont have the body of a 12 yr boy, which is i swear who they designed these jeans for and then jokingly put on a womens label) and I just look stupid in them.
also, love the vintage tip :)
While I agree that this tip is an expensive one, it’s probably not intended for single moms, but for single gals like me that have the disposable income…
I’d like to state that you can only get $50 dollar jeans at the expense of the environment (cotton is the WORST crop for pesticides and fertilizers) and the cotton growers (that are usually horribly underpaid by cotton buying oligarchies.) The fabric is then dyed using environmentally harsh chemicals, made in poor condition factories, then turned into jeans in sweatshops and shipped over seas in cargo ships that are environmental disasters. To add insult to injury, standard mark-up at retail is 50%. This means most your money is going to lining the fat-pocket of shareholders.
Plus, most ‘trendy’ jeans like Rock’n’Republic and True Religion retail for $300, just for the name.
$180 for organic jeans doesn’t seem so bad. It’s also a matter of supply and demand. When the demand gets higher and they can produce more, it will get cheaper.
You girls also forgot about the Oqoqo line form the Canadian company Lululemon. I’m wearing their organic dark skinny jean right now, I personally look great in this trend. It came in at $195 Canadian.
Keep up the good work Ideal Bite!
Check out the Certified Jean Company. Their jeans cost about half of what you were quoting. Plus, the cotton is organic and raised in the US. The jeans are also American made under US labor laws. They do not sell in stores because they think malls encourage urban sprawl. Gotta love their politics and prices!
Wow, I have to agree with other commenters on the price issue. It seems to me that we (environmentalists) will never be able to mainstream the movement if we don't make it realistic for the "average" person, and while, sure, some folks are out there spending $300 for a pair of designer jeans, way more people are going to Wal-mart and trying to find a bargain pair for $30.
Does it make me a bad environmentalist if I can't afford wicked expensive jeans? What about if it simply offends me to pay that much for day-to-day items? Yes, organic costs more, but let's keep it real, shall we? If part of the point here is to get people onto the green bandwagon, the high price might be undermining the message.
Unless the retail prices are somewhat competitive with the current market, these organic cotton products are doomed to a verylimited elitist market.
Alright now, i believe in helping my enviroment, but $200 jeans? Are rich people the only ones who can help? Maybe your tips should be a little more middle class friendly. I completely disagree with Amy, $180 jeans are bad. Disgusting even. I think you editors at Ideal Bite might need to rethink some of your tips. They are not useful to me, or anyone else who doesn't pull in substantial money. Or who isn't a "single gal". I think Regina had it right on the ball.
Everyone-
Totally hear you all on the price issue. As Jen mentions, organic jeans are more of a splurge item than anything else at this point. We'll revisit the topic when there are more affordable options available.
So, I am certainly a greenie and buy green products whenever possible, but you would have to drag me by my pinkie toe through the streets of Mumbai with a tuk tuk before you will get me to spend $150+ on a pair of jeans. Designer, organic, or otherwise. I'll take $35 of those dollars and buy a pair of Levi's, then use the extra $115 to carbon offset my trip to the store, Donate $50 to the Organic Consumers Association, and maybe throw another $50 Idealbite's way so they can keep up the good work.
Sing it, Tiffany and CC! I am a single gal with the aforementioned disposable income but blowing it all on jeans that will be out of style in another 5 minutes seems a little nuts. I've tried to talk myself into buying items from the Edun organic clothing line but it's really expensive ($50 for a pretty flimsy t-shirt that you can see through?) and the owner of the line is Bono's wife, I believe. I don't think she needs the extra money she makes by marking this stuff up! Grr.
Put $150 into your green money market or index fund and buy second-hand or vintage jeans. Who cares how skinny your a** is now when at 90 you are eating cat food because you didn't exercise your smart gal investing muscles :)
Personally, I like to subscribe to my friend, Kris's, clothing policy (and she's the best shopper I know - living in great clothes that she finds for a steal):
Don't buy it unless you can get the purchase "price" down to $0.25/wear.
Example: $10 tee... you gotta wear it 40 times in order for it to be the right purchase. (25 cents times 40 wears equals 10 bucks). If it's not going to last for 40 wearings, or if you can't wear it enough times before it goes out of style (that would be wearing the tee about every 9 days for one year), you shouldn't buy it.
So, by these "rules," I'd need a $150 pair of jeans to last me for 600 wearings. Believe it or not, that is not in the least bit hard for me.
I LIVE in my jeans. I probably wear jeans 5 days a week. That's about 260 days a year. And I keep a pair of jeans for a LONG time - shrinking them when they stretch out...
All in all, I'd rather have an organic pair that lasts me a long time and that I feel great about wearing than buying several $40 pairs, grown with pesticides.
Overall, my clothing mantra lately has been "spend more and buy less." If you can, get the good stuff and make it last (which is why we are such vintage fans at the Bite and why I say "bravo" to you all who have been reco-ing that here).
There are some who have $$ to spend.
Not us!
But I like the idea of cost per wear, and if you buy a pair of these jeans hopefully they will wear for a LONG TIME...
Thanks Jen for the update. Organic clothes are the best, and yes we simply have to find a way to keep the cost down so everyone can wear them.
Thanks
Krin
All the cotton Patagonia uses is organic. I'm not sure if they make jeans per se, but I did a quick search for jeans on their website which turned up 2 pairs of mens pants ($74, $110), and two pairs of womens pants ($74, $78). At the very least, the prices are more reasonable than the other companies suggested. And they have a great return policy.
On a related note, does anyone know where/how to recycle jeans that have outlived their usefulness (not even the thrift store would want them). I've heard of insulation being made from recycled denim, so I know there is a way, I just don't know what it is...
Oh, and for the record, I did NOT in any way say that Jen had a big butt. She doesn't. She just likes to pretend that I am the evil one. ;)
I would love to be more environmentally friendly, but I live on a tight budget. I go to Wal-Mart or KMart and buy my jeans there. I agree with the comment that if environmentalist really want more people to be green, they will have to get more realistic on their prices. My daughter will be a school teacher soon and her pay will not allow her to spend the high dollars some of these organic places are asking for their merchandise.
I just wonder why so many people are complaining that this tip doesn't apply to you.
Should bald... sorry 'follicle-challenged' men complain when they post tips about shampoo?
I don't drive at all, own a house or have kids or pets, and I don't eat meat. I don't complain when our wonderful gals at ideal bite put up tips about them. I just don't use it! It's a tip! Not a mandate!
Once again, it's all supply and demand. It's not about environmentalist 'getting real'. It's about the logistics of production and marketing. It's going to become cheaper the more people buy it. It's in the 'early adapter' phase of a product life cycle. Any new product/trend will always be expensive. Then it will get cheaper. That's the 'reality' of the situation. It has nothing to do with 'environmentalists'. Do you think Televisions were cheap when they first came out? How about computers? Non-stick frying pans? Those all used to be luxuries. Heck, only 40 years ago making your own clothes was far cheaper than buying it at the store, and now it's the opposite!
I would just like to say I did spluge on organic jeans. I'm with Heather in my shopping habits, but this is something my grandmother taught me about style. I'd rather have one great thing than 4 cheap things. (I'm not even going to get into the buying patterns of the average North American.)
If you don't have the "disposable income" to spend on these jeans (and if you don't know what that means google it), then buy vintage. I love vintage. Half my closet is vintage and remade. I skinned 2 pairs of old jeans before I saved up enough for my organic beauties. I put my money where my mouth is, and my butt looks great for it.
Jen - PLEASE don't join the skinny brigade. Lose weight to get fit if you want, but don't lose perspective while doing it.
And $180 for jeans? There has to be $30-$40 alternatives, which would mean a 3x to 4x savings that could otherwise be spent wisely...
I like the idea of 'price per wearing'. I will always buy better quality items - green included - if they're well-made, and to stretch my $, I cut back somewhere else. This has resulted in an on-going re-evaluation of how I shop: what do I want vs. what do I need? My wife and I need less than we have, but our lifestyles and values differ enough to make it all a wonderful odyssey in compromise and love ;) In the end, it's about how one chooses to live in the world.
I am sad to say, however, that I'm not allowed to wear my jeans from the '80's (no, not the stonewashed ones!), as they've been deemed 'just wrong'. But in terms of 'price/wearing', Levi's owes ME.
I love the .25 cents per wear concept. As a guy, that's a fantastic justification to future girlfriends for so many things. Though...I did resolve that my holiday boxer shorts don't come home with me when I leave Denver this week. :)
1. No jeans on earth are worth $180. Seriously, how long are we going to let the fashion industry get away with that. It's time for the market (that's us) to say no thank you to ridiculous prices. I CAN afford a bunch of those jeans, but I refuse to be collaborate in such a scam.
2. Nobody, no matter how skinny, looks good in those jeans. If you have even an ounce of fat, people will make note of your lack of willpower. If you are actually skinny enough to fit in those things, people will whisper that you should eat a sandwich already. Those jeans are a joke on women.
I also think it's madness to spend $180 on a pair of jeans, but if you're doing it on these at least you'd be buying "green" ones and presumably you have enough money to also be donating some to good causes.
In my view (and this can depend on where you live), the best bet is second hand clothes. I buy maybe 95% of what I wear at conisgnment and thrift shops (you can't do that for socks and underwear of course!) If you're not in an urban area, it can be hard to find good selection or quality or style that way, but check out the options and see for yourself. There are some amazing finds out there. I rarely spend more than $20 on one thing (except maybe a winter coat or really cool shoes) and I find (for better or worse) that I've actually become more of style and clothes snob than before because I can get such awesome good quality thing that I never could even consider buying before because of the price.
And of course, since it's second hand you're not contributing to any additional bad environmental or labor practices.
Regarding the tip on organic clothing - Patagonia wasn't on the list of sources but some of their clothing is made from organic cotton or wool. Sometimes 'organic' is part of the item title, or You may have to drill down to the details to find this out.
PHOTO ALBUMS
Posted by: katie | November 14, 2006 at 05:30 AM