Denim Diaries – Where to Find 100% Cotton Jeans in S.A

Cape Town boasts quite a number of vintage stores around the city, a lot of which were new to me and only discovered since I started this blog series. But the stores I have visited, mainly around the CBD area, were hit & miss in the quest to find zero stretch denim in South Africa. But here’s what I found around town.

Service is Terrible – and I’m not here to sound like a snob or even to rant because to be honest, I’m over it. But the thought of walking back into these stores would be regrettable. It’s a frustrating, tiresome afternoon spent waiting at gates, waiting to be buzzed in, girls working on the floor are actually sitting down with their phones not helping you, not greeting you, it’s quite a long waste of time to even expect good service. Safe to say, the vintage stores on Long Street had nothing to offer.

My next bet was Kloof Street. I was demotivated at this stage. I had been into a number of stores and could get little help from where to find what I was looking for. Then I came across a store called Unseen and by luck found someone who greeted me with a smile and was happy to help. Even better, they had exactly what I wanted – light washed, zero stretch, 100% cotton jeans. Or at least, that’s what it felt like; all the label said was “Made in China”. Small problem – they didn’t have my size but with a couple of phone calls I could make my way to the Sea Point branch and find it there.

Big problem – I walked into the fitting room wearing the jeans marked at R499, walk out of the fitting room and surprise! price change – they’re now R549, fifty bucks more than they were 5 minutes ago. I mean, you think you’ve been getting bad service all this time but then store managers refuse to sell you items at clearly marked prices – the headache continues to an Instagram post, a back & forth of DMs and the jeans were ready at the Kloof Street branch at a discounted price.