This is the 3rd pair of these jeans (same size & Santiago color) I’ve received with these torn-fabric defects (twice from Amazon, once from Kohl’s) in the past 7 months. I’ve included pictures showing the defects’ size, how they expand when pushed from the inside, and how they look on the inside. I don’t know if these were intentionally made or not, but I’m perfectly capable of ripping my own jeans & have no desire for them to rip vertically along the thigh. This has been incredibly frustrating since I’ve been wearing Lee relaxed fit bootcut jeans for more than 15 years & haven’t found a good replacement. Before returning these, I bought from another Lee relaxed-fit listing (Premium Select Straight Leg instead of Modern Series Bootcut) to compare & I’ll include my findings here for anyone who is curious about the difference. I’ve also compared both with a freshly washed pair of old Lee Dungarees. Fit: All three jeans fit similarly (all 3 being the same size & relaxed fit), but the Modern Series is a bit more flexible. The Modern Series also seems to leave more room below the butt, but that could be because of the material or the yoke (discussed below). The description for Premium Select says they’re “more relaxed” than their other relaxed fit, but I didn’t notice that. It may be more in the thighs than the butt and less noticeable because my test cases of high-kicking and squatting were less thigh-focused. With a thick wallet and iPhone 8 in the front pockets, the Modern Series still seemed more relaxed in the thighs (perhaps because of spandex), but the Premium Select does seem more relaxed in this test case than the Dungarees. Material: Premium Select (Round Midnight color) is 100% cotton while Modern Series (Santiago color) is 1% spandex. The Premium Select is definitely stiffer but not necessarily restricting. My current everyday jeans (Signature by Levi Strauss) are 1% spandex, and they get so terribly loose with wear that I wonder if the spandex is breaking down. I don’t know whether the Modern Series would loosen similarly. The Dungarees tag is impossible to read now, though I’m reasonably sure they don’t have spandex. Some Premium Select colors contain spandex, though, so this isn’t a major difference between these two styles. The thickness of the fabric between the Modern Series & Premium Select was similar to the touch, with the PS seeming slightly thicker—not sure if that was an illusion from the stiffness of the cotton, though. Yoke: The line of stitching between the waistband and the pockets demarcates the bottom of a piece of fabric called the yoke, and since I noticed this was different among the 3 pairs, I compared & researched this. The Premium Select has a V yoke, generally the most common & flattering type for all bodies, while the Modern Series and Dungarees have a wide yoke. Wide yokes create the “falling down pants” look, since the back pockets sit lower, and is described as flattering on men specifically. This may be why the the Modern Series seems roomier at the butt than the Premium Select. The Premium Select is visibly less baggy there as well. Pockets: The front pockets of the Premium Select feel smaller/stiffer than the Modern Series. It may be a function of the fabric looseness, but the Modern Series pocket seems cut a bit lower since more of the coin pocket is visible. The rivets on the Premium Select are ring-style rivets, which I personally prefer to the nipple-style rivets on the Modern Series because they don’t scrape my phone when I put it in my pocket. The corner stitches of the back pockets on the Modern Series & Dungarees are X-shaped, while the Premium Select seems to just be one horizontal stitch. I don’t know which type is more durable, though since some have reported tears in the fabric at the corner of Modern Series back pockets, it may not be a major factor. Conclusion: Overall, the Premium Select seems most similar to the old Dungarees, except for the narrower yoke, so I’ll be sticking with those and hope they loosen a bit as I break them in. While I wouldn’t mind a wider yoke (and the roomier feel), the defects in the Modern Series are a dealbreaker for me. The Modern Series is the only one I’ve seen available in bootcut so far, however. There’s another Lee Relaxed Fit Straight Leg Jean listing that’s not Premium Select that I haven’t tried, and it seems to have the same type of yoke as PS, so Modern Series may be the only listing available with the wide yoke. If you want bootcut or the wide yoke look/feel, you’ll have to risk the defects with Modern Series.
