I Wore Hemp Jeans for a Week – Here Is What Happened.

As the world turns green with hemp and cannabis legalization, a funny thing happened. With all the edibles and flower getting consumed, I was in the need of a new pair of jeans and I was sick of all the new stretchy and flexing jeans that had come out during COVID.

If you aren’t familiar with “stretch” or “flex” jeans, they are jeans make with a combination of cotton, denim, and a variety of stretchable fabric. Basically, as everyone packed on their COVID 10, jean companies made jeans very elastic and stretchy so that you could go to the store and still buy the same size, even though you may be a bit bigger thanks to COVID. Think Spanx mixed into your jean fabric.

One problem with these new “flexible” or “stretch” jeans is that, while they have you some elasticity around the waist and inseam, they tend to rip and tear easily as compared to regular old denim “pre-covid jeans”. While we still felt good about buying our same pre-COVID waistlines, the fact of the matter was those extra 10 pounds had to “stretch” and “flex” into some part of the jeans, hence causing pre-mature ripping and tearing.

In order to test out a true pair of hemp jeans, I had to first check what my real size was compared to pre -COVID, as I knew hemp as a course and strong fiber. I intentionally avoided any type of hemp jean that had “stretch” or “flexible” mixed in the title. I wanted straight up hemp jeans, no Spanx mixture.

I knew that while hemp was strong and course, it also had to “have something done to it” in order to sit on the skin and not be too abrasive or rough. So I searched out a pair of Lucky Brand hemp jeans that fit the bill. Then I wore them for a week. Here is my review.

PROS OF HEMP JEANS

-They are sturdy and strong, no messing around here.

-Very non-flexible or stretchy

-The fabric is courser than pure cotton or even denim jeans, but not to the point of being uncomfortable. While they are not your flannel pajamas, they are a comfortable jean.

-The price was comparable to traditional jeans and cheaper than some of the denim and fancy materials used and marketed to the “$100 a pair jeans? crowd.

-Hemp is a super strong fiber, so the lifetime value of the jeans may be much longer than anything you have tried before.

CONS OF HEMP JEANS

-They are strong and sturdy, no flexing or stretching. If you are looking for a “cheat jean” that keeps you in the same size for your ego, but added some elasticity to the waist to “stretch a bit” for you, this is not the pair of jeans for you. You better check or your true post-COVID size, as ordering what you were before COVID and hoping they stretch out a bit is not going to happen. This is a very unforgiving jean and it will hold you accountable.

-While the jeans are treated with something to soften up the hemp fiber, they are still a bit course, like a tough denim jean. This is worker’s jean, strong and rugged, it doesn’t not tear or rip easily, as you expect from hemp fiber. I would not want to wrap a newborn in them, but for a normal working jean, they are not that rough or scratchy to make you uncomfortable.

BOTTOM LINE

Hemp jeans are strong and sturdy, no rips or early tears due to elastic material being worked into the cotton. While hemp jeans may never be as soft as cotton jeans, they are 10x better for the environment. Whether you are talking growing hemp compared to growing cotton, or all the way to the chemicals needed to make your cotton jeans so soft and not rip and tear so easily. Strong, sturdy, better for the environment, and they throw out all the post-COVID marketing like keeping the customer in the same size, so they don’t have to admit that COVID 10 isn’t really that bad. These jeans have no conscious, they aren’t here to make you feel skinnier than you are, they are gut check and reality check for all of us coming out of our COVID cocoon and needing a quick dose of reality to wake up. A cold glass of water on our face to wake up, one that says, no you aren’t a 32 inch waist anymore, you are a 34. You are not a size 5 anymore, but a 6 or 7 now. If you want to live in fantasy land and think that the extra 10 pounds post-COVID aren't real, go buy the Spanx-like jeans and let the stretch and flex. If you want a new beginning with a pair of jeans you will have for 5 years, try the green hemp train, and get a pair of hemp jeans.

Hemp jeans are your wake up call.

Hemp jeans are your invite back into the world outside your house.

Hemp jeans are just what you need, not what you want.