Denim Review: The Mosco by Mott & Bow

Recently we told you that NYC’s Mott & Bow was one of the Best New Things in The World Right Now. But we’re going to let you in on a little secret: sometimes people on the Internet have no idea what they’re talking about. Yes, even the Chop is merely hypothesizing from time to time. We thought Mott & Bow was a neat idea, but truth be told we hadn’t actually seen a pair of their jeans in real life when we said that.

It’s a pretty compelling story, after all. Alejandro Chahin, the brand’s founder, grew up in a denim factory in Honduras, and rather than being content with filling production orders for various brands he decided to move to NYC, graduate from business school, and create his own brand- which sells exclusively online and comes in at $96 retail, or about half of what comparable jeans cost from brands like Seven or AG.

But after reading up on the company and their current offerings curiosity got the better of us and we knew we were going to have to try out a pair and see for ourselves.

There’s something refreshingly simple about buying something from a company that sells just one product. You’re spared the trouble of moving from store to store (or site to site) trying to compare prices and styles and wondering whether you’re just about to miss a sale. Once you know you’re buying a good product at a fair price, decision making is pretty simple and it took us all of about three minutes to get from homepage to checkout on the Mott & Bow site. Three days later there was a box of jeans on our doorstep.

Not only was buying denim easier this time around, but trying it on was actually a relaxing and pleasant experience for once. A feature unique to Mott & Bow is their at-home try on program, which allows you to order both your own size and a second pair either a size above or a size below to make sure the fit is right. Trying on jeans in your own bedroom, with your own mirrors and the rest of your own wardrobe close at hand is a world apart from cramming yourself into a dressing room in some department store. If we’ve never got to do that again we’ll be perfectly content.

In our case we were a little nervous because Mott & Bow sizes only go up to 34 at present, so pulling them on was a moment of truth of sorts, but they fit. For the Chop they actually fit perfectly around the waist. Even in the back, this is a mid-rise jean that rides right where mid-rise should. They were pretty tight through the legs, even for skinny jeans, but not so tight that we wanted to take them off.

After the first five to ten minutes we began to notice something; these jeans are more comfortable than jeans this tight ought to be. Yes, we had read all about the denim science on the website, and we knew that the Mosco’s resin rinse was meant to replicate four months’ worth of wear. But we didn’t expect that there’d be no break-in period at all. After the first day they didn’t feel so tight any more, and felt like we’d been wearing them forever. They’re even comfortable enough for bicycling right out of the box. When you find a pair of jeans that can take you from a bike to a blazer, you need look no further.

Would we buy them again? Of course we would. Should you buy them? Absolutely! And since we’re both going to go back to the website and buy some more jeans you should do it by clicking this link which will save us both $15 at checkout. That brings your final price to $81, which is such a good deal you might want to go ahead and buy two.

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Feature Image courtesy of Mott & Bow’s Instagram. We’d like to thank them for providing product for review consideration.