Prince of Pockets

April 2, 2007 8:36 AM

Help me to become a whiz at identifying the brand of blue jean by their pocket logo.

I was leading an informal training group last week of about thirty people. Most of the participants were wearing blue jeans. There were at least 15 different logos on the pockets including plain, and I could only recognize a couple.

I tried googling blue jean pocket logos and checked out Flickr. What I'd really like is a quiz. Help me become the Prince of Pockets.

posted by Xurando to clothing, beauty, & fashion (7 comments total)

Go to some stores that sell the brands you want to memorize, photograph their logos, write down which logo is which brand, and make flash cards, either on Flickr or on paper. Repeat each season in case any designers change their pocket logos.

You could probably do it on line by making a list of the brands you want to learn, then hitting each of their websites, or try a department store site first like Nordstrom that would sell a lot of different brands. I don't know if they'll have photos of the pockets on line, but they might.

I have to say I'm interested in why do you want to hone this particular skill. I'm not passing judgement, just curious.
posted by boomchicka at 9:20 AM on April 2, 2007

Try a website that sells a lot of jeans, and groups them by designer, like this one, and look at the rear view. But honestly, the jeans market has grown at such an exponential rate, that I'm not sure it's all that doable. That website alone has over 50 brands, and those are just popular top-of-the-line jeans.
posted by TG_Plackenfatz at 9:28 AM on April 2, 2007

Try here where I see several "help me identify these jeans" questions to exercise your jean-fu.
posted by like_neon at 9:30 AM on April 2, 2007

I have to say I'm interested in why do you want to hone this particular skill. I'm not passing judgement, just curious.

I know why I would want to hone this skill. Finding jeans that I am happy with is hard for me, and I'm not exactly a mall rat. I often see jeans that I like the look of on strangers I see on the subway or the street, and it's more convenient to be able to identify the brand from the pocket logo rather than go up and ask the person.
posted by puffin at 9:35 AM on April 2, 2007

Yeah, spending some time at a Bluefly might help. But, as mentioned above, you're attempting the virtually impossible, if you want to know everything. There are literally thousands of hopeful denim designers, and hundreds of these make it to market in one way or another every year. You'll likely want to limit your search to the popular labels in the city/country of your choice, and then try to stay abreast of the changes from season to season with each of these labels. And don't forget that some vendors will release multiple styles, some with their signature logo, some without...and some vendors don't even have a signature pocket logo. (speaking as a former denim buyer for the US' largest department store retailer)
posted by allkindsoftime at 9:45 AM on April 2, 2007

This site has a pretty big selection of back pocket pics. You could use the pics there to make flashcards or something.
posted by lekvar at 12:13 PM on April 2, 2007

The most popular high quality jeans to know are going to be Diesel, Lucky, 7 for all Mankind, Paper Denim & Cloth, True Religion, Earnest Sewn, Levis (I assume you can tell those from a mile away), Krew (if you are between the ages of 15-25), and there are a lot of other jeans that are not quite as popular. Some of it depends on where you live, but I think those are pretty universally known. Different styles of those brands will often have different back pockets. A good place to see those brands are Nordstrom or Barney's. Pretty much every brand on both of those sites are going to be popular.
posted by KingoftheWhales at 7:18 PM on April 2, 2007