Year One Jeans
Good advice for starting a Substack (or anything from scratch).
Jane on Jeans celebrated its one-year anniversary last week – May 16, 2023 was the launch date – Cheers! I toast to all of you who give me reason to keep this up. And, as there are quite a few new subscribers now, I will also take this moment to say, Welcome. We talk about jeans here. Why they fit. What makes them special. How they make us feel, which is where things get interesting because oftentimes the jeans we love most have nothing to do with their shape or wash, and everything to do with the time we spend in them, and the people we spend that time with.
The pair that comes to mind for me are the Levi’s Orange Tab 517s I wore everyday during the summer of 2001 when I had a musician boyfriend, a duplex apartment on Poinsettia Place in West Hollywood, and a job working behind the Jean Bar at my family’s store on Melrose Avenue. Nina Garduno, who designs FreeCity and was the menswear buyer for the store at the time, found and reworked these 517s, giving them her magic touch with patches and hand-sewn stitching around the holes. The grey felt back patch Nina put on them is still there. The places I frequented in these 517s are not: Thursday nights at Le Deux (before The Hills invaded), and Sunday brunch at La Belle Epoque (now Little Dom’s) were legendary for being where Joni Mitchell and No Doubt hung out, respectively. And me, in these jeans I’ll keep forever.
The idea for Jane on Jeans came to me about a year prior to launching it: A newsletter about great jeans and where to buy them online. Didn’t exist. Jean shopping can be so hard, and who even knew where to go after Covid and all the sweatpants? Not me. Not yet. I remember floating the idea by my friend
, who thought it was good and, being the ever-supportive friend she is and witness to my professional life for the past 20+ years (we met as assistants at Elle in 2003), she encouraged me to do it. I had doubts. Fear of mediocrity, mostly, of it never being as beloved as my previous denim site, JeanStories.com; of not being able to deliver it week after week with a clothing line and two small children who needed so much of me at home. “Why don’t you just commit to doing it for six weeks and see what happens,” Hillary said. Forty-five letters later, this advice is what stands out to me today as having been the most helpful.I do at least one thing that moves my business forward every weekday (weekends are all about the kids, now ages 3 and 5, though I am never not living in jeans). Sometimes – because small children get sick a lot, or the house breaks, or (it feels like) I break – that means sending a single email. Other days, I do much, much more. There is never, no matter how hard I hustle, enough time to do everything I want to do when I want to do it (ask me how long it took to finish the Georgia Jean). But I’ve made this newsletter a priority and I can say wholeheartedly that you, this community of readers and denim enthusiasts, make it matter.
Now feels like a good time to remind everyone that there are no wrong jeans. Ugly jeans, yes. Cheap jeans, definitely. Trendy jeans, they’re everywhere. If you love them, go love them. My goal is to show you the jeans I believe in and that might make you feel good. I do this often by buying and trying them on myself, and I – 5’4” and size 25, generally – am not a representation of all sizes or shapes. I welcome honest, constructive feedback; I do not check my Substack DMs (sorry, Substack, it’s just too much on top of everything else), but you can reach me here; I love what I do. As for starting Jane on Jeans, thank you Hillary, I’m so glad I did.
The Hidden Rivet
For those who like pristine vintage-shopping conditions, this store is it. Wyatt Sweeney opened The Hidden Rivet in November of last year and – with a clear sense of aesthetic purity – now stocks hundreds of rip-free 501s and 505s from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. A dedicated rack for antique denim – “anything that’s not Levi’s from the 40s, 50s, and 60s,” Wyatt explains – stands against one wall. There’s a little stack of selvedge, a corner for raw deadstock, and a selection of denim shirts and vintage tees, too. What’s really nice? Sweeney does original hem alterations for a flat rate of $20 on any pair, new, old, or purchased elsewhere. “I just really like doing it,” he told me.
Sweeney’s own jeans – Naked and Famous – aren’t vintage, but they have such a beautiful fade. “I’ve been wearing them for a year and haven’t washed them once,” he told me. We talked about navy uniforms from the 1940s and why it doesn’t really make sense to dress sailors in blue denim that gets heavy when wet (think about it). It smells nice at The Hidden Rivet, which was named in homage to a vintage design feature, where hard-working back pocket rivets were covered in denim to keep them from scratching saddles and furniture. A good metaphor for a gem of a shop like this one.
The Hidden Rivet, 8366 1/2 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90048; (323) 433-4054; @the.hiddenrivet.
SALE season is here and I’m most interested in all the Carhartt Work in Progress jeans at SSENSE, starting with the Jane and the washed black Simple jean (both currently under $100). This Dries van Noten pair – available in all sizes – got my attention. The white HommeGirls cargo jean I’ve had earmarked since March has great timing for summer.
Until next week. Thank you to everyone who’s gone shopping at The Only Jane. It’s been a dream come true selling my jeans to you. Your support, as always, is everything.
Jane
More to read…
Vogue Business: Is Substack the New Specialty Store? Designers Think So.
8 Great White T-Shirts for Jeans: Keeping it concise, yet comprehensive.
Congrats on a year of fantastic, thoughtful substacks — your passion is evident in every issue.
Congrats on year one! You are such a talented writer and your heart shows through in everything you’ve accomplished over the years. Can’t wait for many more!🩵