1500美元能買(mǎi)幾條牛仔褲？當(dāng)然，這得看牌子。1500美元大概能買(mǎi)44條Wrangler（跟Levi's、LEE并稱為美國(guó)牛仔三大品牌）。要是購(gòu)買(mǎi)非常高端洋氣的所謂“原?！迸Ｗ醒?，大概能買(mǎi)四五條日本正藍(lán)屋、武士或者其他高端品牌的褲子。當(dāng)然，對(duì)于不差錢(qián)的白富美，也可以買(mǎi)一條巴黎設(shè)計(jì)品牌Vetements推出的改款不對(duì)稱褲腿的Levi’s牛仔褲。

如果你覺(jué)得15張本杰明爺爺理應(yīng)給你買(mǎi)一條世界上獨(dú)一無(wú)二的褲子，可你也可以到曼哈頓的3x1去定制一條。3x1號(hào)稱打造了全世界最好的量身定制的原牛牛仔褲。當(dāng)然“定制”這個(gè)詞現(xiàn)在早已經(jīng)被說(shuō)得濫觴了，不過(guò)它的每一條牛仔褲確實(shí)都是在紐約的SoHo區(qū)手工定制的。

3x1創(chuàng)始人斯科特·莫里森表示：“定制牛仔褲通常適合骨骼比較清奇、平時(shí)難買(mǎi)到合適的褲子的人，另外也適合那些有比較個(gè)性的想法的人?！?3x1公司是在2011年創(chuàng)立的，此前莫里森還成功創(chuàng)辦了Paper Denim & Cloth和Earnest Sewn等品牌。我到了這家公司位于紐約默瑟街的銷售店時(shí)，還拿了一件用于他們參考的樣品，這是一條N年前我在弗里曼運(yùn)動(dòng)俱樂(lè)部購(gòu)買(mǎi)的一條原牛牛仔褲。

剛買(mǎi)的時(shí)候，這條褲子就像掛在3x1墻上的一塊塊原牛布料一樣板正，現(xiàn)在它已經(jīng)磨出了“貓須”和“蜂巣”——“養(yǎng)牛人”也就是牛仔愛(ài)好者有時(shí)故意會(huì)不洗牛仔褲以特地追求這種效果。不過(guò)我的這條褲子已經(jīng)穿了很久了，是時(shí)候考慮讓它退休了。

莫里森說(shuō)：“我們要談的第一件事是：你想要在一條牛仔褲里尋找什么？”

我答道，我希望的效果和這一條差不多——當(dāng)然要比它更好一點(diǎn)。莫里森用一條卷尺量了褲子的尺寸，然后又讓我穿上那條褲子，給我照了張相。之后他們會(huì)把這些東西上傳到電腦上。然后我們討論了一下褲子的貼身度，我希望這條褲子上邊稍微寬松一些，膝蓋以下稍稍收緊。然后我們開(kāi)始一點(diǎn)一點(diǎn)討論起細(xì)節(jié)來(lái)。你想改變褲袋口的樣式嗎？后面的口袋呢？

莫里森覺(jué)得我?guī)?lái)的這條褲子的后口袋有點(diǎn)不合比例：“它看起來(lái)不賴，就是有點(diǎn)大了?！比缓笏麥厝岫鴪?jiān)定地建議我進(jìn)行調(diào)整。同樣他也建議我將后腰部提高一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)。他的語(yǔ)氣好像并不是在提建議，更像隨意闡述一個(gè)明顯的事實(shí)。

“現(xiàn)在讓我們談?wù)勁Ｗ胁及??！彼^續(xù)道。店內(nèi)的墻上大概掛了70多匹牛仔布，差不多都是織邊牛仔布，也就是說(shuō)它的邊緣是非常耐磨的。除此之外3x1還可以提供800多種不同類型的牛仔布。如果你喜歡歐洲范兒，而你最喜歡的那款夜店風(fēng)的白色牛仔褲Diesel又不賣了，那莫里森完全可以滿足你的要求。他可以把原牛做成任何你想要的效果。

簡(jiǎn)單來(lái)說(shuō)，要想選擇牛仔布，首先要選擇它的色光。莫里森表示：“如果你想要美國(guó)20、30、40或是50年代的那種風(fēng)格，你可能喜歡紅色色光的牛仔布。”而不是日式的那種綠色色光的牛仔布。不過(guò)不管你選擇哪種色光，隨著時(shí)間的推移，它的色光都會(huì)變得日益明顯。

接下來(lái)要考慮的是牛仔布的重量。紗線越粗，意味著穿起來(lái)感覺(jué)越厚重，也越容易起褶，因而也會(huì)顯示出銳利的褪色，不過(guò)一開(kāi)始的磨合階段也會(huì)越難受。比如莫里森自己就穿著一條較新的18盎司的原牛褲，看起來(lái)相當(dāng)板正。他說(shuō)：“這條褲子是用來(lái)自Select的坯布做的。我得承認(rèn)，第一周穿起來(lái)感覺(jué)很難受，以后會(huì)好起來(lái)的，不過(guò)……”

經(jīng)過(guò)五分鐘的比較和思考，我選擇了一匹14.5盎司的稀織紅邊牛仔面料。它是用天然靛藍(lán)顏料染色的，所以價(jià)格上又增加了125美金。莫里森對(duì)這種顏料的性質(zhì)如數(shù)家珍，介紹得不遺巨細(xì)。總之，據(jù)說(shuō)這種顏料完全對(duì)得起它的高價(jià)，顏色更豐富，而且含有的人工合成的東西也更少。

面料選好了之后，該討論那些外露的縫線了，這時(shí)我才知道牛仔褲居然有那么多不同類型的縫線?！拔覀兛梢宰鲆恍┖芸鋸埖臉邮?，不過(guò)我并不推薦。”莫里森說(shuō)。雖然我不喜歡任何夸張的東西，不過(guò)在這一部分，我們也頗爭(zhēng)論了一番，才定了下來(lái)。作為一個(gè)傳統(tǒng)主義者，我想要那種比較簡(jiǎn)單而常見(jiàn)的黃色或橙黃色的雙縫線，就像經(jīng)典款的Levi’s一樣。

不過(guò)作為一名設(shè)計(jì)師，莫里森則溫柔地向我施壓，讓我再考慮考慮。最后我選擇了一具“蒸汽藍(lán)”的單縫線，另一種縫線則是淺灰色。這兩種柔和的顏色顯得褲子整體更為考究，這兩種顏色的對(duì)比則能表明它是在一種現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)少見(jiàn)的單針縫紉機(jī)上縫制出來(lái)的。

我為褲子的口袋也選了一種料子?！澳愕臉?biāo)準(zhǔn)別這么低嘛！”在莫里森的要求下，我選了一種藍(lán)色的鳥(niǎo)眼花紋。我把放硬幣的小口袋稍稍拓寬了一些，好能更方便地取出家里的鑰匙。我又考慮了后面口袋的縫線，這兩個(gè)口袋會(huì)向上挪動(dòng)八分之三英寸。至于褲子的腰帶環(huán)，我則沒(méi)費(fèi)心思考慮。除非你有52寸的腰圍，想多增加幾個(gè)腰帶環(huán)，或是想弄個(gè)松緊帶什么的。這部分沒(méi)什么可說(shuō)的。

對(duì)于前襠開(kāi)口處，我想做成鈕扣式的，只要不是金屬鈕扣就行了，免得在機(jī)場(chǎng)安檢時(shí)帶來(lái)不必要的麻煩。莫里森答應(yīng)在這里縫上幾個(gè)軍用式的非金屬鈕扣。雖然他手里沒(méi)有這種紐扣的樣品，但他給我看了一款類似的木制鈕扣。這幾個(gè)鈕扣是一個(gè)汽車收藏家預(yù)定的，為的是能搭配他的保時(shí)捷汽車的中控儀表盤(pán)。

對(duì)于前腰上的那顆扣子，雖然3x1提供了很多手工琺瑯色的扣子，不過(guò)我還是選擇了一顆傳統(tǒng)的青銅色扣子?！澳阏孀哌\(yùn)，你挑中的很多東西正好NFL的運(yùn)動(dòng)員也用了?！保殬I(yè)運(yùn)動(dòng)員薪酬很高，加之大多體格異于常人，因此也是定制牛仔褲的?？?。）我又選擇了幾顆青銅色的鉚釘，前期工作就算完成了。

要想試穿這條新牛仔褲，則不知道要等上多久了。第二次試穿一般要等上三到四周，不過(guò)如果你要求加急的話，也可以在兩周內(nèi)完成。我試穿的這條牛仔褲在所有方面幾乎與我起初帶來(lái)的那條穿過(guò)幾千個(gè)小時(shí)的褲子別無(wú)二致，不過(guò)這一條卻是全新的，沒(méi)有一點(diǎn)被穿過(guò)的人氣兒，也沒(méi)有穿了幾千個(gè)小時(shí)后磨出來(lái)的褪色。這條褲子幾乎是完美的，尤其那柔和的縫線，的確是個(gè)明智的選擇。

不過(guò)我選擇將大腿部分收緊八分之一英寸，因?yàn)樽屑?xì)考慮了之后，我發(fā)現(xiàn)那種上松下緊的款并不是我想要的風(fēng)格。第二天褲子就修改好了，這次穿上之后的確棒極了。

不過(guò)這條褲子也是有一點(diǎn)小瑕疵的，那就是右膝蓋上面的布料有一點(diǎn)點(diǎn)起球，應(yīng)該是面料出廠的時(shí)候沒(méi)有處理好。不過(guò)這種瑕疵也體現(xiàn)了老式縫紉工藝的高品質(zhì)。另外由于它的做工的確非常出色，還有一個(gè)問(wèn)題我直到回家后才發(fā)現(xiàn)——莫里森給我來(lái)了個(gè)先斬后奏，根本沒(méi)有用我挑選的鉚釘。不過(guò)這樣一來(lái)，整條褲子顯得更為考究，也顯示出了技藝的精湛。另外由于3x1的縫線十分密實(shí)，沒(méi)有鉚釘也并不影響褲子的整體性。

我很快就覺(jué)得離不開(kāi)這條褲子了，它不僅在我的衣柜占據(jù)了重要位置，甚至成了我生活中不可或缺的一部分。從來(lái)沒(méi)有一條褲子讓我更加喜歡過(guò)，而這正是3x1立身?yè)P(yáng)名的根本。

“在定制牛仔褲上，我們并不靠第一條褲子掙錢(qián)，”莫里森說(shuō)。每定制一條褲子，他的員工都要花六個(gè)半小時(shí)打版，有時(shí)還得對(duì)版型做出很大調(diào)整。每做完一條，第二條褲子就要完全重頭做起，所以成本是很高的?！拔覀兏每p不一樣，裁縫可以用棉布或其他更便宜的面料制作西裝，但我們不能那么做?！?/p>

一旦客戶體驗(yàn)到整個(gè)流程，他們就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，自己已經(jīng)穿不了商場(chǎng)貨架上的大路貨了。莫里森表示：“雖然我們這不算賠本賺吆喝，不過(guò)我們是以客戶的目標(biāo)為導(dǎo)向的，而對(duì)我們來(lái)說(shuō)，這個(gè)戰(zhàn)略的效果是不錯(cuò)的?！苯Y(jié)果就是，一條成本高達(dá)1500美元的牛仔褲，卻變成了很多客戶的終身習(xí)慣。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

譯者：樸成奎

What does $1,500 get you in blue jeans? One answer is 44 pairs of Wranglers. Another option: four or five pairs of raw denim—a rigid, rugged, unrinsed jean for true connoisseurs—from Pure Blue Japan, Samurai, or any of the other excellent brands frequently hailed on Reddit’s /rawdenim subthread. A third, for a sophisticated rich-brat look, gets you a single reworked pair of Levi’s, with asymmetrical cuffs, from Parisian design collective Vetements.

But if you believe that your 15 Benjamins entitle you to completely personalized perfection, you’ll want an appointment at Manhattan’s 3x1, reputed to offer the best best tailor-made denim in the world. Though the word bespoke has been misused and degraded, it legitimately applies to the custom work done at the company’s SoHo premises.

“Bespoke is typically for harder-to-fit guys, or people who have something really specific in mind,” says 3x1 founder Scott Morrison, who launched the company in 2011, following the entrepreneurial successes of Paper Denim & Cloth and Earnest Sewn. For my part, I arrived at Morrison’s Mercer Street sales floor bearing a reference garment: a pair of raw jeans purchased (a million or so years ago) at a Freemans Sporting Club sample sale.

Back then, my jeans were as crisp as the bolts of new denim I found hanging on 3x1’s wall. Now, they were deeply marked by decent whiskering and honeycombs—jargon for the types of fades that some hard-core denim-heads pursue by putting off washing jeans. Mine had been worn often enough that it was time to consider retiring them.

“The first thing we talk about is: What are you looking for in a jean?” Morrison said.

I replied that I was looking for the same jeans—but better. Morrison gauged them with a tape measure and photographed me in them, a prelude to digital rendering. We then talked about the fit: I wanted them slightly looser in the top block and maybe an added bit of tapering below the knee. Then the discussion gave way to a point-by-point discussion of particulars. Did I want to change the pocket opening? How did I feel about the back pockets?

Morrison felt that the back pockets appeared a touch out of proportion—“This doesn’t look bad; it’s just a little bit, like big,” he said—and proceeded to softly but firmly recommend adjusting them. In much the same way, he recommended lengthening the rear rise by a fraction of an inch. His tone indicated that this wasn’t really a recommendation, more the casual statement of an obvious fact.

“So, let’s talk some denims,” he segued. Along the wall in the shop hung 70 bolts of denim, almost exclusively selvage, which means (long story, short) that its edges are resistant to fraying. But 3x1 can source more than 800 different types of denim. If your tastes run Euro, and Diesel discontinues white jeans in your favorite club-going cut, Morrison is your man. Moreover, he can give raw denim any rinse you might dream of.

But for a relatively straightforward order, the matter starts with a simple choice, which concerns the slight tint beneath the blue of any jeans. Morrison said, “If you want more [the look] of the American jeans from the 1920s, ‘30s, ‘40s, ‘50s, you want red-cast denim”—as opposed to the green-cast denim traditionally associated with Japan. In either case, the shade becomes more apparent over time.

Our next consideration was the weight of the denim. A bigger yarn size means a thicker feel, a greater ability to crease and thus display sharp fades, and a more strenuous initial break-in period. Morrison, for instance, was wearing a fairly new, fairly stiff pair of 18-ounce raws. “This is the loom-state selvage from Select,” he said. “I gotta be honest: The first week was miserable. It’ll be good down the road, but …”

After five minutes of browsing and contemplation, I settled on a 14.5 oz. Kaihara open-weave, red-line selvage for my fabric. It was made with natural indigo, which added $125 to the price. Rest assured that Morrison can explain the properties of indigo in, literally, microscopic detail; let’s just say that natural indigo justifies its high cost by being richer in tone and rarer than the synthetic stuff.

With the fabric selected, it was time to discuss the many, many options for the exposed stitching thread. “We can do something crazy, which I’m not advocating,” Morrison said. I didn’t want anything crazy, but an interesting tug-of-war played out nonetheless. As a traditionalist, I thought I wanted the simple yellow or orange double thread familiar from, say, a classic pair of Levi’s.

As a designer, though, Morrison suavely kept urging me in a different direction. I ended up with one thread in “steam blue” and the other in a heather gray. The muted colors made the jeans dressier, while the contrasting colors showed off the virtue of work sewn on a rare, single-needle machine.

I chose a lining for my inside pockets. “Don’t go basic on me!” Morrison pleaded, steering me away from plain; I settled on a blue, bird’s-eye pattern. I had the coin pocket slightly widened to accommodate easy retrieval of my house keys. I pondered the best stitching for the back pockets, which would be moved three-eighths of an inch higher. I needed only a split second to ponder belt loops. These are straightforward, unless, say, you’ve got a 52-inch waist and want additional loops, or even an elastic insert, to achieve a proper balance.

For the fly, I wanted buttons, though not metal ones that can attract unfavorable scrutiny at airport security screenings. Morrison promised to order some non-metal, military, sew-on, fly buttons. He didn’t have the exact model on hand, but he showed me a similar wood version he’s used for a car-collector client who wanted the buttons of his fly to match the dashboard of his Porsche.

I took a traditional gunmetal button for the waist, despite the fact that 3x1 offers many of them in hand-painted enamel. “As luck would have it, there are most of your NFL-team combinations,” Morrison said. (Professional athletes, well compensated for being freaks of nature, are ideal bespoke-denim clients.) I chose gunmetal rivets, and we were done.

Stepping into the new jeans at the next fitting was a uniquely disorienting event. The second fitting generally takes a three- or four-week wait, but if you pony up for rush service, they can be ready in as little as two weeks. The jeans I stepped into were—in most respects regarding the all-important fit—identical to the garment I’d brought to my first fitting and spent thousands of hours in. Yet they were alien, impersonal, naked of the fades earned over those thousands of hours. They were very nearly excellent; the muted threads in particular had been a smart call.

But I decided to narrow the thighs an eighth of inch because, on further reflection, the taper wasn’t doing what I’d wanted. After adjustments were made the following day, they were really quite terrific.

There is one tiny flaw, though, on the fabric surface, above my right knee. It’s a bit of fluff that wasn’t singed off when the raw material left the mill, the kind of fault that, as it happens, indicates the high quality inherent to old-school craftsmanship. Also, the garment was helped along—I didn’t notice this until I got home—by the fact that Morrison had gone rogue and ignored my request for rivets. This feature made the garment look dressier and hinted at its craftsmanship; because of the number of stitches per inch that 3x1 uses, rivets aren’t essential to the jeans’ integrity.

But the jeans, very quickly, did come to feel necessary: an essential part of my wardrobe and my life. It’s hard to imagine a pair I’d like better. Which, it turns out, is the whole business plan.

“With bespoke jeans, we don’t make money on the first pair,” Morrison said. After his employees have spent six-and-a-half hours of pattern-making time on a prototype and then often, unlike in my case, made significant changes to that pattern, plus a whole do-over of a second garment, the costs add up. “Unlike a tailor, who may be making a suit out of muslin or some kind of cheaper, substitute fabric, we can’t do it that way.”

Once customers have been through the process, though, they find it impossible to revert to buying off the rack. “I wouldn’t say it’s a loss-leader strategy, but it’s a little more goal-oriented,” Morrison said. “It works out well for us.” Turns out the true cost of $1,500 jeans is a lifetime habit.