Until the Fourth of July, Lucky Brand Jeans are on sale! I completely endorse and stand by this product as I have with my mechanic, my favorite record store or the numerous restaurants I’ve covered in Picayune. Thus, this isn’t an ad, more of an FYI regarding the sale and a story about another brand of clothing I want to share with my friends. Now would be the time to make up your mind though because you can score a pair at half price. It helps to be within their size range, nothing bigger than a 40″ waist for me (men’s). The Lucky Site has all the details on ladies’ sizes.
Don’t let their boutique stores, Hollywood celebrity endorsements and retro campaigns put you off. These jeans are well made, more durable than the cheaper crap from Old Navy and every pair has the founders’ inside joke. You’ll have to go to a store to find out. I did mention their boutiques and how they’re more expensive than Old Navy. Depending upon the style, they average $100/pair normally. Not exactly a great price if one is cost conscious and I am usually in that camp. But in Lucky’s defense, I must stress how they’re still manufactured in the US. Entirely in the US too. According to the manager of the Domain (Austin) store, there’s no parsing of the definition as others are allowed to do as per government guidelines: the material is made in America while it’s assembled in Mexico, Pakistan or the Dominican Republic is a common dodge. With Lucky, the material is purchased from a textile factory in the Carolinas and the jeans are cut, stitched, etc. in Los Angeles, I knew the latter part. They’re not complete saints, some products are made abroad for the outlet stores, Costco and other venues to sell at a cheaper price.
My emphasis on a brand of jeans’ origin does have a twinge of Lou Dobbs’ nativism yet I wouldn’t waste the electrons on them if they weren’t any good. The stronger point I want to make is that Lucky is another example of a solid product made in the States and with a competitive price tag, like American Apparel without the creepy Seventies Softcore ads. It is hard for Lucky to compete with Wal-Mart, Old Navy, Target, Sears and their ilk—one can buy at least three pairs for what I would’ve spent if mine weren’t on sale. Then again, I think the company is using the same play book Apple follows: be the Mercedes Benz of blue jeans and success will follow versus the insane continuous growth strategy. I would say it’s the smarter route, Levi Strauss did Wal-Mart’s bidding as their last US-based plant in San Antonio closed three years ago.