Ditching those stone washed jeans
Fashion reporter Teri Agins answers readers’ questions
Q: I have many older jeans in pale, stone-washed shades that I no longer care to wear but they still fit well. Are there services that can darken the wash of denim jeans, and are there tailors that can alter the fit of denim jeans to a slimmer silhouette?
- R.T., New York
A: Over the last decade, when deep-indigo “premium denim” jeans became the rage, many people’s faded, stone-washed jeans began to look dated, even passé. Narrow-legged dark denims, by contrast, are now a decidedly dressy sportswear look.
Rob Shepperson
Before trying to give your older jeans a facelift, you should weigh the cost of dyeing and altering them against the cost of simply replacing them. Besides, if your faded jeans have stretched to the point that they’re sagging in the knees and backside, they won’t look modern just because you made the legs narrower.
I consulted John Breining, the owner of Metro Custom Dyeing Service, a New York firm that specializes in dyeing finished garments for many of the top Seventh Avenue fashion houses as well as regular consumers by mail order. For $50, the firm will dye your favorite jeans and treat them to be colorfast, so the new shade won’t run in the washing machine.
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