Price of denims determined by fit and fabric

Jeans have become a costly wardrobe essential.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Once upon a time, the only thing that mattered where jeans were concerned was the fit and whether they flattered.
No longer just a fashion staple, jeans have become the wardrobe essential -- and a costly one at that.
Their iconic status has brought them to the runways of New York, Paris and London, commanding more than $400 for upscale brands such as Versace.
A victim of their own success, denim trailblazers such as Levi Strauss have had to raise the fashion bar -- and in some cases the price -- to compete.
"I think a lot of the designers across the board are doing denim now," says Julie Penny, co-owner of Butz Jean & amp; Clothing Co., in Tucson, Ariz.
"Dolce and Gabbana doesn't do denim per se, but now they're including them in their lines," Penny says.
"Denim lines have had to make their business sharper so they could stay on the cutting edge with the top designers who are cutting into profits."
Special treatment
Hand-treated denim using rocks, pumice and even sandpaper to get the worn look and broken-in feel that consumers want comes at a cost, though.
Such looks at Butz range from $110 to $172 and include labels including Adriano Goldschmied, Citizens of Humanity, Blu Jeanious and Juicy Couture.
"They're also getting the denim from Italy and Japan, where the fabric is much better," Penny says.
Butz specializes in high-fashion designer brands that are exclusive.
"Once somebody else picks up a line in town, we drop it," Penny says. "Our clients aren't interested in cookie cutters."
But that's not to say you can't find a pair of jeans for less than a C-note elsewhere.
Marc Acuna, a 20-year-old University of Arizona student, says he likes the funkiness of Express for Men jeans, which cost him $50 to $60 per pair.
"I like the washes. They're a little more urban, and they have dirty washes and holes," Acuna says. "I'm a jean kind of guy. If it's not my shorts, it's my jeans I'm wearing."
Cheap name brands
Discount retailers such as Ross Dress for Less stores and T.J. Maxx also carry designer names such as Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and BCBG for as low as $20.
Anna Palmer, a stay-at-home mother of two, hesitantly acknowledges spending about $1,200 annually, or buying at least one pair a month from Butz Jean Co. "to keep current."
In a saturated market that used to be driven by brand name alone, the copycat factor has all but cheapened names that were once associated with high-fashion denim.
"There's such a knockoff factor," says Toby Tucker, fashion editor with In Style magazine. "The price increase comes when you don't want to get a pair that looks like everybody else's."
Tucker says you should expect to pay about $140 for jeans that are exempt from the knockoff trend.
"Even Seven jeans were special a few years ago; now everybody knocks them off," Tucker says.
And while being labeled the primordial fashionable gal or guy has its bragging rights, the role doesn't come without a price tag.
Important imports
Tucker says it's not unusual for the fashion-conscious to go as far as Italy to get the washes, fabrics and look that are exclusive to certain name-brand jeans such as Saddlelite.
The new "it" jean for the season, Saddlelite uses "the highest quality denim on the planet," according to Michael Corbin, senior adviser for Saddlelite jeans.
Made with denim from Japan, Corbin says, "it's haute couture for denim" and will at first be made available at select, exclusive stores, such as Barneys New York and Ron Herman.
"The fit is amazing. The fabric is amazing. People think denim is denim, but it isn't true," Tucker says. "They fit better than any jeans I have ever tried on, and I'm a girl who's obsessed with jeans."
The price, she says, will start somewhere around $150 a pair.
So, price aside, how do you sort your way through the deluge of denim?
Marc Acuna can tell you.
"A good pair fits nice," he says, "but a great pair fits nice and wears well all day."