On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving I made a trip to Billiam Jeans in Greenville, SC while home visiting my family.
Bill started Billiam/making jeans in 2009 with his mom's sewing machine. He now has a storefront with about 5 employees and several industrial sewing machines. They make all their jeans in-house in the storefront in Greenville and 20% of their annual proceeds go towards Wellspring Living in Atlanta which fights sex trafficking.
I picked up a pair of 12 ounce cone denim indigo skinnies—98% denim, 2% stretch.
They had several pair pre-made. I tried on what size I believed would be the closest to my correct size and they took it from there. They don't hem the pant until it has been worn by the person—Bill actually took my leg measurement in the pant and hemmed mine while I waited. I also always have the dreaded waist gap in the back—their size 2 fit almost perfectly but there was still some slight gapping, so Bill moved the button in and adjusted the waistband to fit, again while I waited.
The denim is thin but stiff and good quality. The skinnies fit flush against the body—they'll stretch and soften with time. They hem them long enough to stack if wanted, but also give you enough material for a good cuff. I've not worn jeans that fit me this closely in my entire adult life! I'm soooo in love with the lined waistband too. The contrast is on point. Here's an album with the fit on me.
This is the first major fashion purchase/investment I've made as an adult and I am overall very satisfied. I think the quality is excellent and I believe in the company I purchased from (plus like $50 of my purchase goes to charity!)—they're a great group of guys who work very hard to improve their craft.
Anyways. This experience really made me reconsider where I'm purchasing from and what I'm contributing to so I've been doing a little bit more research into small American based shops I can invest in. Hopefully I will be able to balance my spending a bit more between larger brands and independent labels in the future.
If you have any other questions about the pants, etc., I'm happy to answer them.