Levi's 501s and Outlier Slim Dungarees
## Levi's 501
For as long as I can remember, I've been wearing Levi's 501 Shrink to fit jeans. I generally get rid of them when they either fade too much or become threadbare. I've been lucky in avoiding most of the common wear problems, such as ripping, wear tears, horrible stains, etc. However, my current jeans have now spawned multiple holes in the crotch in the span of a few weeks. The other issue with wearing jeans is they need to be washed if you're going to wear them for all the time. After about 5-6 days, they begin to smell, especially if you're active. They also hurt to wear when riding a bike everywhere. I'm about to start repairing the holes in the current jeans. However, I also started looking for something else to wear. Jeans are comfy and all, but when traveling with one pair of pants, I'm often torn between the jeans and something more
formal.
## Outlier Slim Dunagarees
After a lot of searching, I found the Outlier Slim Dungarees. They are full of promise. They cost slightly more than fashionable jeans, but should last longer. The fabric appears to be from Schoeller Textiles in Switzerland. They are slightly less form fitting than the 501s, but still plenty in fashion. This may also just be the cut of the jeans from Outlier. They are not button fly, but the fabric is stretchy and the gusseted crotch make up for the lack of flexibility of the zipper.
## Head to head
So far, I've been able to wear the Outlier pants for a week without needing to clean them. Dirt, water, dust, etc all just seem to fall off the fabric. Dog hair however, sticks around, but not as much as to jeans. They definitely look more formal and dressy than my somewhat faded 501s. We'll see how they fare in the long haul. The 501s have a year of wear on them, and they're just starting to birth rips and holes in the crotch--so they've fared just fine. The Outliers have survived a week of normal usage. So far, so good.
## Follow-up 19 days later
I've now been to Egypt and back. I've worn these Outlier pants pretty much daily. Yes, I do wash them weekly. In fact, in Egypt we hit a sandstorm and they were completely dusty. A quick soak in the tub cleaned them up like new. And they dried in 20 minutes. The pants always look clean and pressed. They don't seem to fade or stretch. They are spill resistant, as tea, milk, and dog saliva all seemed to disappear and not stain or stick to the pants. They look formal enough to go from the office to interviews to dinner to semi-formal events with just a sport coat (if only my shoes did this as well). All in all, pretty impressive.
originally published at wiki.lewman.is