“These are the toughest, strongest, most stubborn jeans in the world, no argument.”
That description on Ironheart’s website intrigued us, to say the least. Bold statements beg to be tested, and test this claim we have. The Ironheart IH-634s jeans are defined by the 21 ounce selvage denim from which they’re constructed. For those of you unschooled to the nuances of denim construction, that’s almost one-third heavier than most high-end selvage. Other details like copper or sterling silver rivets, chain stitching, and a super heavyweight leather tag, make it blatantly clear that Ironheart takes their moniker seriously.
In spite of the super-heavyweight denim, the Ironheart IH-634s Selvage Jeans maintain comfort and mobility with a looser weave, made possible by using the highest quality long fiber cotton produced in their Japanese mills. These jeans are raw indigo, meaning that with dedicated wear they come to reflect you. Over time they will develop whiskering, honey combs, and wallet lines that all come from how you live life in these jeans. A lot more authentic than buying something trendy and preworn-in that won’t last as long and have no memories to vouch for the wear and tear.
In our testing (read constant wearing) of the Ironhearts we’ve been pleasantly surprised at just how much comfort those long cotton fibers provide. It did take a good half dozen wears to start bending them to our will, but then they loosened up and starting taking shape. We tried desperately to get some good fading to flaunt for you, but two months of consistent wear and we’re just getting a tease of what will be. The price tag is definitely steep, there’s no way around that. But, if your thing is quality jeans that will last as long as you fit in them, Ironheart stands among the best we’ve reviewed. We’d recommend looking into getting a ’69 CB750 to go with them too, and get your Wild Ones on.
Author’s Note: Ironheart understands the difficulties in buying denim without trying it, as such they offer a “no quibble” exchange policy if you need a different size, and full refunds if they just don’t work for you. Also, they offer hemming direct from the factory in Japan, if you know your length we’d recommend doing this (take shrinkage into account), as getting them hemmed with the proper chain stitching can be a challenge. Those of you wanting a brick and mortar store Self Edge is the place to go, they have a location in San Francisco and NYC. For an excellent tutorial on denim in general go here.
Cost: $320