FAQs

--Hidden Content-- Can you help me decide which fit to choose? Our core collection features four men’s fits and three women’s. We make each in a range of fabrics and colors. Men: MARTIN - THIN TAPER fit Our slimmest jean, the Martin has a tailored shape + tapered leg. 14" leg opening, 10" front rise JONES - THIN fit The Jones is our most popular fit - slim, straight, and classic. 15.5" leg opening, 10.5" front rise GRAHAM - WORK TAPER fit With extra room in the waistband, seat, + thigh and a tapered leg, the Graham is perfect for wearing relaxed/dropped, or true-to size for more muscular builds. 14" leg opening, 11" front rise ALEXANDER - WORK fit Built for an athletic frame or more relaxed style, the Alexander Work has extra room in the seat and thigh and a straight leg. 15.5" leg opening, 11" front rise Women: SURRY - mid-rise, thin leg fit. HAYWOOD - high-rise, thin leg fit. MADISON - high-rise fit but with a straight leg. GATES - our relaxed taper, with a cropped leg. Wear them a little lower on the waist. You can also contact us . Do you offer mending on your jeans? Not right now, but any local tailor should be able to patch or repair anything you need. Or better yet, watch for DIY mending videos to be released soon and hand stitch them… we think these repairs make the jeans look better! Should I wash my Raleigh Denim jeans? Yes. We make jeans for real people who get shit done. Which means they get sweaty, dirty and sometimes need washing (still talking about the jeans here). However, with our raw denims, we recommend 3-6 months of regular wear before washing for the best break-in. FYI, we encourage a loose interpretation of the term “wash”. Swimming in the ocean, splashing through a storm and wearing them in the shower all qualify. If you want your jeans to stay dark, clean and crispy, dry clean them (we recommend perc-free dry cleaning in honor of the environment). See the Fit, Fabric, & Care sections of each product for washing details or look at the care instructions on the inside label of the jean. How do I decide which size I am? Here’s how to be super exact about it: In our Fit, Fabric, and Care sections for each item, we note measurements for the rise, and leg opening. Remember, for raw denim, we recommend sizing down to allow for the jeans stretching out one full size. You want them to be snug, but not uncomfortable from day one. Contact us if you have other questions. We’re happy to help! Are your jeans sanforized or unsanforized? Sanforized. What are the numbers on the leather patch? The first number is your pair. The second is how many were in the batch. For example, 64/94 means you’ve got the 64th pair out of 94 made in that edition. I'm planning a visit to Raleigh, could I stop by and get fitted for a pair of jeans. Do I need to make an appointment? Just come on by during normal business hours (everyday noon to 6) – we’ll be happy to fit you! You can get a good look at the workshop too! Are all your clothes made in your Raleigh workshop? All our editioned jeans are made in our downtown Raleigh Workshop by jeansmiths using old-school machines we hunted down and repaired ourselves – this includes everything made with raw denim and our custom washes. Our stretch jeans , our shirts and jackets are made by way of a community of like-minded American manufacturers. Before we collaborate with any other manufacturers, we go to their facility and carefully teach them our methods and design details. The item I want is sold out. What now? If the item you want is sold out, you can select “make more and email me” and you’ll be sent a re-stock notification as soon as there’s more. We’re a craft producer not a mass producer, so there’s a chance we may not make more. BUT, we’re always trying to up our game, so chances are if an item is discontinued, it’s because we’re making something we’re even more stoked about. So we encourage you to keep looking. How can I change my order? Send us an email . We will be happy to make changes to your order as long as it hasn’t been shipped yet. Where is Raleigh Denim? From where do you ship? We’ve based in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. All orders are processed and shipped from our workshop here. Do you ship internationally? At this time we do not ship internationally through our website, but we do have a few stores outside the US carrying our jeans. Click here to check for stockists. What’s your return/exchange policy? Click here for our Returns + Exchanges page and read all about it. What does "front rise" mean? The measurement from the center point of the crotch (where the seams meet) to the top waistband edge above the top button. Should I wait to hem my jeans until after the first wash? Nope. Although washing your jeans might cause some very small shrinkage, it’s still better to hem them right away. Can I have my hem custom-tailored? Kinda sorta, but not so simple. The easy options is to forgo the hem and fold up your jeans. Lots of our customers do this, because it’s easy and they love the look. We do this a lot ourselves. Or if you would like to us to hem them with a fantastic-looking chain-stitch on our rare 43200 G Union Special, you can follow these steps. Mark your jeans where you'd like the finished length hemmed to - with safety pins. Print out a prepaid label from our address to yours (for shipping them back to you) Include that label in whatever you choose to mail your jeans in We will hem them at our factory and send them back to you at no charge. If that sounds like too much of a runaround, any professional tailor should be able to help you. What does "inseam" refer to? The length of the inside seam, from the center crotch point all the way down to the hem. What does “selvage” mean? Before WWII, almost all denim was made on shuttle looms, which work by holding lengthwise (warp) yarns in place, while a “shuttle” zig zags up the fabric with the crosswise (weft) yarns — as a result the crosswise stitching comes from a single piece of yarn, leaving a self-sealed edge on the side of the denim. This is why, when selvage denim rolled up at the cuff, you see a tell-tale white edge (it’s white because in denim only the lengthwise yarns are dyed indigo, the crosswise yarns are white). These old shuttle looms create denim with irregularities that we think are beautiful. We have big love for selvage denim — so on our selvage jeans, we add extra details that make the most of it, letting you see the white selvage edge on the coin pocket and back center belt loop. What does “raw” denim mean? It means denim that’s completely unwashed after it comes off the loom. Nowadays, most jeans are pre-washed for softness or a worn-in look. By contrast, raw jeans start dark and stiff, so their break-in journey is complete and personal to you (they should start snug and stretch to your body). There are no rules, but we like breaking in our jeans for 3 – 6 months of frequent wear before washing. Will my jeans stretch? It depends. Raw denim will stretch — so if you’re between sizes, take the next size down. We recommend choosing a pair that are ever-so-slightly-uncomfortably-snug and within about a week of frequent wear, they’ll stretch out to the next size up. And since they’ll be stretching in response to your body, you’ll end up with an extra-awesome fit.

Our stretch denim will fit true to size out of the box, so choose a size that fits comfortably. (Like any fabric, it will naturally relax in certain stress areas, but overall it will hold its shape and size. We take this into account when we choose our fabrics.)