New: Jeans & V-Neck Sweaters @ CHEZ

October 11th, 2007 at 01:57pm Mr. Oh

By coincidence, I went to interview Chez Nabob only a few days before the release of his new items. Pins in his mouth, he was working on some final touches. He mentioned, as almost an after-thought, that he was putting together “…something I swore I’d never do: jeans.” I inquired further.

“Everyone in SL who makes clothes does jeans. I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing. I figured there were more than enough options for people.

“But then,” he said, “I would be making something for my line and think to myself — hmmm — wish I had some jeans to go with that.  So I caved in and made some.” Thus, some of the nicest jeans you’ll ever own were born out of a concession, a weakness. He couldn’t help himself: he caved in.

He told me that the look he was after was more of a ‘dressy’ jean. They were released this week and I can tell you he’s hit that mark. They literally were made for his beautiful pinstriped button-down shirts. These are not for farmhands, these are white collar jeans. These are philosophers’ jeans, jeans for successful creatives. If Scope Cleaver wore jeans, they would be CHEZ jeans.

They’re available in Coal and Midnight Blue and he rightly calls them dress jeans. They look lived in; not just cosmopolitan but experienced.

And then there’s the evil third member of the CHEZ jeans family, the “dis-dress” jean: Splash.

Chez said: “Then I started tinkering with the jeans once I had them done — splashing them with some different textures to make them look a little more distressed, just to see what would happen. And I liked what came out. So I decided to offer them as well.”

But if you spend time hanging out at the Block (Varado (80, 128, 31)) or Plunder (Maggiore 127, 128, 601), much less the Wastelands (The Wastelands 138, 151, 58), some recalibration will be required. This is not ‘distressed’ as in Here Comes That Suicidal Neko With The Boxcutters Again. This is ‘distressed’ as in you are looking at the wine list and can’t decide between the Gevrey-Chambertin and the Nuits St George. These jeans still don’t look out of place with a button-down shirt. Click on the photo to enlarge. For the most part, the distressing seems to have been the work of an overzealous washing machine, some fine sandpaper and a few misplaced splashes of diluted bleach — oh and there’s also a star on one of the back pockets.

The other new pieces are sets of v-neck sweaters. These are made to go with the shirts, though Chez’s advertizing avoids portraying them together lest a buyer think the package contains both. Like some other designers, Chez makes his button-down shirts available on the undershirt layer, which allows ties on the shirt layer all under a jacket on the jacket layer. The sweaters are carefully designed to fit flexibly between. In each of the five colours, you receive three looks of sweater and each is available either as a shirt layer garment, allowing you to wear it and a shirt under a jacket, or as a jacket-layer garment, allowing you to wear a shirt and tie underneath. The jacket version is long enough to cover up the CHEZ-branded iron belt buckle on the jeans. The sweaters themselves have small CHEZ labels on the neck in the back. The colours range from a subtle grey ’shadow’ to some bright colours, like a saffron yellow or glacier blue.

They’re difficult pieces to appreciate until you have them and mix and match with them. Then you’ll love them.

Chez said, “I really like the idea of being able to mix and match pieces from my collection. I’m not a fan of having to wear X shirt with Y tie and Z jacket simply because the designer put it all on the same layer. It’s why I made my suits and oxfords interchangeable and the v-necks sprang from that concept.

“I’m really looking to make the jeans a good base that builds on things in the store now… and for some other things coming down the line… everything layered and wearable with coordinating items.”

I’m already impatient for the next release.

Chez Nabob’s jeans, Midnight Blue, Coal and Splash are 150L$ each. The v-neck sweaters come in 5 colours: Shadow, Glacier, Rust, Fern, Saffron. A single colour will cost you 300L$ for 6 pieces: 3 styles, each on 2 layers.

Chez Nabob’s main store is in Bali Hai (161, 233, 28). There are also CHEZ branches in Second Guy Mall in Sweetgrass (40, 83, 251) and the forthcoming KMadd complex.

Photoshoot location: Scope Cleaver’s “Camber” show home, Wetheral (71, 191, 24).

Disclosure: Seen in World: Yes | Review Copy: Yes | Friends List: No

Notes: On Mr. Oh: Nora Entice - Hunter Almond by Sezmra Svarog (Nora BodySkins & Fashion). Freebie "Linden Labs Male Korean Avatar" hair by unknown (NCI). "Wingtip" in black by Barnesworth Anubis (Barnes Boutique). Oxford button-down shirts and Fall Collection Tie by Chez Nabob (Chez!). "Tortoise-shell glasses" by Arcadia Asylum (freebie boxes everywhere).

Entry Filed under: Business, CHEZ, Casual, Dressy, New Items, Pants, Shirts, Sweaters