In January I went online and purchased a pair of jeans from Gustin Premium Menswear. And just this week I received them.
You would be justified in thinking WTF – you ordered them in January and receive them in March? Well that is because Gustin does a crowdsourcing form of retail.
What they do is they find a type of fabric, in this case a black on black 14 ounce selvedge denim, and then they design clothing for that particular form of cloth. In my case they designed a pair of dungarees, which they then share on their website and via their email list to people who have subscribed the piece of clothing, the type of fabric and any other interesting details about the article of clothing.
They set a number of items that they must sell, a date for when the article of clothing must be fully funded, and then, if the article of clothing meets the sales numbers by the set date, it is a go.
The number of orders that they get for that particular item of clothing dictates how much fabric they will buy, and how much or how many pairs of jeans, shirts, jackets or whatever they will make.
This form of merchandising, a form of crowdsourcing, makes it so that the retailer does not have a warehouse full of leftover clothing that has not sold.
Ideally they make the exact number of pairs of jeans or clothing that have been requested by their customers.
It can be frustrating for the type of person who likes the instant gratification of going to a store, picking up a pair jeans, trying them on and then heading home. However the Gustin model of crowdsourcing gives people like me an opportunity to buy very good quality clothing for a very reasonable price.
A concern that many people have about buying clothing online is the ability to try the item of clothing on. Even though I was not able to try on the Gustin jeans, I was fairly confident that they would fit me the way I wanted them to fit because on the Gustin website there is a “Fit Guide” page with a chart detailing exactly how their trousers will fit.
Rather than saying that it is size 32, 34, or 40, they use a system with a “tagged size” listing and then they list all the measurements: waist, front rise, thighs, knee, cuff opening and inseam.
To make sure you get an excellent fit, they recommend you take your favorite pair of jeans, a pair that fits you the way you want, and then you measure them across the waist using their method. Using their system gives you a very good chance of getting jeans that will fit that you.
Overall I am extremely pleased with the quality of these new dungarees that I purchased from Gustin Premium Menswear. These are essentially top-quality custom made jeans in a 14 ounce denim. Another feature of their brand is that all their clothing is made in the USA with expert craftsmen.
The best part? Top quality jeans in a premium denim and they only cost me $99 US.