Indi custom jeans: preliminary report

I am in the process of getting a pair of high-waist, wide-leg jeans from Indi (they used to be called IndiDenim, then IndiCustom, and now apparently they're just Indi).

You pick from various categories (skinny, boot-cut, etc), then customize a bunch of details (back pocket embroidery, coin pocket, etc) and then put in your measurements. They have some pretty good tips on how to measure. I got my husband to help measure me and used a fairly good fitting (or maybe just comfortable) pair of DKNY Soho jeans as a pattern. You pay and then you wait.

The first pair took about 5 weeks, which included an email about half way through saying that they had screwed up somehow and were starting over and apologizing. When the first pair came, I found that the back rise was too short, and the front rise was too long, but everything else was great. This was not a big surprise, because as a wheelchair user all my jeans are too short in the back.

The return process was very straightforward. You fill out a little form, you get a return code, and then you re-order with your changes (shorter front rise, longer back rise), and you fill in your return code, and that makes your new order cost $0.

A couple of days later I got an email asking me if I didn't also want to change my waist measurement, as that usually changes too with changes in the rise. We discussed it a little bit and I reduced the waist measurement, too.

The second pair took about 3 weeks. I was pleased to see that they had made the changes I requested, but decided that the back needed to be even higher and the front even lower. I emailed to ask if I could do a second exchange. Absolutely! came the answer.

So I've just shipped back the second pair. If they get this right, I told them, I'll buy jeans from them forever :-).

I can't comment yet on how the fabric stretches out with wearing, or how they wash, since I haven't had a chance to actually wear them, but I'll follow up with that info. Hopefully 3rd time will be the charm. It will be a real thrill to have jeans that actually fit in the waist, jeans that I can wear without constantly worrying that I'm flashing everyone with the back of my panties.

12 years ago

san

Veteran

Thanks so much for sharing this valuable info. Can't wait to see the finished pair. Indi sounds like a good company. I'll be watching for your next report.

Aida

Thanks for this info, Katja! I've been looking at getting a pair made from them for a long time and never bit because I didn't know anyone who'd ordered from them before. Looking forward to hearing the final report!

chewyspaghetti

That's fantastic Katja- I always wondered what happens if custom jeans don't fit right. That's pretty great customer service.

Sveta

(website)

Thanks for sharing, Katja. This sounds like a great customer service and I hope the fabric is holding up well. That may be a solution for some of us who is hard to fit in jeans (like me :-))

Sparky

Katja, I've missed "seeing" you on the forum! Thanks for the very detailed report on your experience with Indi so far. I hope the jeans work out for you!

(I remember when they were IndiDenim ~ so funny that now they're just Indi, I guess they decided they'd be more cool going by a single name, like some sort of big star.)

rae

Ooh, promising! Fingers crossed for you - please keep us posted.

MNsara

How cool -- to get the 'perfect' pair of jeans figured out! Then ordering another pair here and there, with an update or tweak will be FUN, not a major headache

I'm looking forward to hearing more! and pics!

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

Katja, so good to 'hear' from you again. I look forward to learning how the third pair works out - I bought custom denim from a company that I think is now out of business several years ago, and it was a pretty good experience.

Vix

Hi hi Katja!

Thanks much for the report on Indi; what great CS you're getting! I've been intrigued by the thought of custom denim so it's great to hear the process is working.

Fingers crossed that the proverbial 3rd time is the charm...will await your update.

Katja

Active Member

Just got the third pair, which I'm going to give a mixed review.

First, I think the inseam is shorter than the other two pairs had :-(.

Second, while the rise now seems to be just about right, the waistband needs to be taken in a couple of inches in the back. Instead of going for Try #4, I'm going to take them to my local tailor for that fix.

I'm sad about the length, though. I get really self-conscious about the length of my jeans. I had them do a deep hem,so maybe the tailor can get a little something out of that.

I know that a lot of my annoyance is not actually about jeans, but about being disabled, but what are you going to do?

Suz

Oh....so sorry they weren't what you had hoped. But maybe the next pair will be better. It does sound as if they made a genuine effort. Thank you SO much for sharing your experience with this company! Very very interesting information.

Aww, you've put in such a good effort and aren't thrilled with the reults

Before you head for your tailor - are you sure you don't want to go one more round with them. . .? If you're narrowing down the issues to just those two - do you think they could get it right this next time?? Then you could feel safe in ordering from them for future pants. . .

I guess the length thing (I didn't request a change in the length, only in the rise) has me shying away from going another round with them - I wonder about their ability to be consistent.

I also feel like it's time to have someone else (competent) look at them and say, "They need to be altered HERE by THIS MUCH". I don't trust myself to measure again.

Elly

Katja--- here is another idea for you. Have you thought about asking your tailor to help measure you and make recommendations for changes for this pair or the next pair? I know when you order formal dresses like wedding or bridesmaid dresses for a distance they usually reccomend having a professional seamstress or tailor take measurements--- I am sure that your tailor could help you do something similar to get a more perfect fit on custom jeans.

Consistency would be important though. Maybe you could request them unhemmed with length and the tailor could do that part.

I was thinking of sort of a combination of solutions; having Elizabeth (the tailor) take in the waist, but ask her to keep track of how much she took it in so that I could order the next pair correctly. Having her do all my measurements is a good idea, too.

Ok, took the jeans to the tailor. She laughed and said, "You've got some gap-osis going on - you could fit your purse back there!"

She's going to take the back waist in 4 7/8", and let out the hem as much as she can. She wasn't familiar with Indi, but we talked a lot about the problems of fit by computer, and how the human eye can see relationships between different garment measurements that the computer (she's assuming Indi uses computer algorithms to generate their patterns) doesn't see.

I'll get them back from her on Friday and There Will be Pictures.

She also pointed out that the changes in rise probably changed how long the inseam needed to be, and that they didn't necessarily screw up (except by omission) on the last order.

She was right on top of Elly's suggestion that she measure me and also keep track of the changes she's making so that I can order the right pair the next time.

Samar

Your tailor sounds awesome! I hope the pants look great on you!

Kari

Katja, I'm sorry that it's been kind of a mixed experience, but it sounds like you have an amazing tailor. I hope that the alterations make this ultimately a successful pair of jeans that you feel fab in. I thought about purchasing custom jeans from Indi a few years ago but at that time I think their return process was much more cumbersome - or at least that is what I had heard - so I never pursued the idea any further.

Here they are (waist fixed, hem still to be done).

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