A.P.C. Rescue Denim
Posted on 06. Apr, 2009 by bespokeordie in Diary, New, Trends
   We all have that one pair of jeans that we absolutely love. Men and women alike, we all have that pair that just make us feel great about ourselves because they just fit our bodies in a way that makes you feel confident, attractive, sexy, pick an adjective. For me, those jeans have been the 2003 Diesel Zathan in 36″ x 34″. I’m a tad under 6’6″ and around 195 lbs with the thighs of an athlete and finding jeans that fit me appropriately isn’t always easy. Recently though, I have been craving a cleaner, more unique, yet minimal denim. Everywhere you look these days you can find Michael Ball’s Rock & Republic denim being worn (despite their ever increasing price tag), True Religion is a staple on the Los Angeles and Orange County evening scenes being worn by douche-bags of varying degrees, Citizens of Humanity, 7 for All Mankind, and the list goes on and on and on. Enter A.P.C. (Atelier de Production et de Creation) a French company making great quality denim at a pretty reasonable price.
    The Paris-based label that helped make aggressively unadorned raw denim cool, has barely changed its jeans in 20 years according to the editors of Men.Style.Com. Sticking with its hallmark lean fit through thick and thin (and thinner) has helped make these jeans into a French 501—though they’re a bit harder to wear. When brand-new, A.P.C.’s Macau-made denim is among the stiffest denim out there because it is made of excellent quality selvedge denim. The styling is simple and very minimal with no logos and no pocket decoration, exactly what I was looking for. After hours and hours of reading and searching the web I found one particular forum post at Superfuture.com very helpful in my decision to go with the A.P.C. Rescue to accommodate my otherwise abnormally large thighs.Â
    The best part is that as you wear the raw denim it begins to adapt to your body showing wear uniquely matched to the wearer’s body type. Unlike almost all designer denim out on the market today, once these have been worn for a good amount of time, they will truly be unique to you. Basically, there is no way I am going to walk in to My House next Friday night only to see that every other guy in the club is wearing the same outfit as me just in a different color variant. We’ve all been there and I don’t care how strong of a swagger you walk in with, it is still lame. A.P.C. denim is also “vanity sized” so it is not uncommon to order 1 or 2 sizes below what you would normally wear. I ordered a 34″ waist for example, even though I typically wear a 36″. I could have probably even gone one more size down too as A.P.C. denim is known to stretch out quite a bit.Â
    A.P.C. offers the following “denim washing recipes” in order to get the most character out of your denim:
- Extremist Recipe - Let your jeans get dirty for as long as possible. First wash: dry clean. Following Washes: soak your jeans for about an hour in water with Woolite Black added, rinse, roll in a terrycloth towel and hang up to dry.
- Semi-Extremist Recipe – Soak your jeans for about an hour in water with Woolite Black added, don’t scrub, rinse, wring and hang up to let the water drain.
- Machine Recipe - Machine wash at 30 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit), delicate cycle, no spin cycle, with Woolite Black.
- Seawater Recipe - Let your jeans get dirty for as long as possible, go swimming in the ocean wearing your jeans, rub your jeans with dry sand, and repeat several times. Rinse in fresh (not salt) water and let dry in the sun.
    I chose to go with the Extremist Recipe because I went this route with a pair of raw denim Zathan’s I picked up in 2007 and the wear on the jeans just looked perfect. I have to admit though, the Seawater Recipe did sound like a fun day out in Laguna Beach. Below are the pictures of the A.P.C. Rescue right out of the box and a couple of pictures of me wearing them for the first time.Â
    I picked mine up for $155 from The Denim Bar. I was skeptical of buying a pair of jeans without trying them on and the girl who helped me over the phone actually gave me measurements against a pair of Diesel Zathan they had in stock to help me decide between the A.P.C. Rescue or New Standard.
7 Comments
Finally! 501 Shrink to Fit « Levi's Snob
06. Aug, 2009
[...] The raw denim will make my experience interesting. Â It is my first pair of jeans that have not been treated or washed before I bought them. Â Raw denim is unique because you can completely customize them by the way you wear them. Â A.P.C. Jeans from France lay out some recipes in how you can make different washes in their raw denim, linked here. [...]
skolatchi
21. Nov, 2009
How are the Rescue’s working out? I am your size (a shade under 6’6″ and a bit heavier, around 210). Any concerns about the length of the inseam? How long were they when you got them, and what did they shrink to? Have you posted any updates on how they are fading?
Thanks for your help, the fit is great on you and I hope they will work for me also.
bespokeordie
23. Nov, 2009
Welcome to the site!! My appologies for taking a while to get back to you. It was a very busy weekend.
The length of the inseam was not a problem. It was the only pair of denim that I have purchased where I legitimately needed to either have the bottom hemmed or consider wearing them rolled up. In the end I chose to roll them until they were more worn in so that if I did tailor them up a bit, the length wouldn’t change.
You will note in the pictures that I was wearing them at my waist because the rise on the denim is meant to fit there and wearing them any lower just looks off. I chose the Extremist recipe so I haven’t washed them yet. I did the same thing with a pair of selvedge Diesel Zathan’s I picked up a couple years back and they turned out spectacular.
Truth be told though, if I were to do it all over again I would either go a size smaller in the waist or go with the New Standards because the denim does stretch quite a bit. The denim will surprise you when you first get them. It is super stiff, but wears in to conform to your body with continual use. I will post some updated pictures soon.
skolatchi
23. Nov, 2009
Thanks, your feedback is very helpful… I’ve been trying to decide between NS and Rescue and I had pretty much ruled out the NS because I have bigger thighs (about 24″). Having read your comments I will probably go with the Rescues in a 33 or 34, although I am still leaning toward a 34 because I don’t think I’m quite as lean as you in the midsection.
Looking forward to seeing your updated photos.
jivinivan
18. Dec, 2009
@bespokeordie – When I saw the pictures above i had a feeling that you bought them a wee bit too big. I also have a tough time finding that perfect jean simply because of my athletic built frame. My waste size is 34 and my thighs are 26″. So, needless to say, I was a bit skeptical of A.P.C. jeans. But then again seeing a year-old A.P.C. wash convinced me to give them a try. Ha.
I ended up getting both Rescues and New Standards in 32.
The 32 Rescues fit snug around my waste and my thighs (snug is what you want with A.P.C. give it some time and they will stretch perfectly) but the 32 New Standards were too small, as I barely (and I mean barely) got them up waste high and then I could not get them buttoned. Obviously, that is not what you want, so I re-ordered New Standards in 33 and they fit nice and snug (almost identical to 32 Rescues, maybe a wee bit tighter in the thighs).
Most jeans are prone to stretching in the waste and I am only hoping that they will stretch the same amount in the thigh area…
bespokeordie
18. Dec, 2009
Its a gift and a curse being athletic in today’s society sometimes. You are in shape, but some times finding clothes to fit your shape is so unnecessarily difficult. I have just resorted to accepting the fact that a lot of times I will just have to get things I like tailored to fit right.
All that said, you’re right. I simply just bought one size too big. I can tell you that the thighs in these do stretch with time and that it sounds like your Rescue will wind up being the perfect fit for you. The reason why I have not posted an update to this post was because mine stretched out too much and now don’t fit me well at all.
Clubs » Blog Archive » Apc new standard pictures
27. Aug, 2011
[...] A.P.C. Rescue Denim | bespokeordie.com When brand-new, A.P.C.'s Macau-made denim is among the stiffest denim out … Below are the pictures of the A.P.C. Rescue right out of the box and a couple of … had in stock to help me decide between the A.P.C. Rescue or New Standard. … [...]