Brief History: Thimbler is a fairly new marketplace (late 2006) out of North Carolina for custom made jeans (and tops) for straight and plus sizes up 40 for women and men. They offer a money back guarantee on all their products with the opportunity to replace and repair at no charge to the customer, not even for shipping.
Product: Boot-cut Vintage Fading Wash JeansDescription: "Button fly. Slim through the thigh, widens to a boot-cut leg style. Washed with heavy front and back thigh fading for a vintage look. Premium denim with 4% Spandex."
Packaging: No special packaging to note.
Price: $89.00 US
Comments: Thimbler invited me to try their jeans and introduce them to my readers. I saw this as a great opportunity for a new experience (I've never had custom made jeans before) and to hopefully tell you about a great new product.
One of the things I liked right off when visiting the Thimbler website is that they have plus sizes equally represented on the home page. The next is that they ship worldwide.
For denim options there is the choice of slim leg, boot cut, trouser (three types), boyfriend, vintage wash, and sailor jeans. I decided on the Boot-cut Vintage because I like the midgrade color, they have some spandex for comfort, and button fly closure which I hadn't had since I used to wear Levi's in college.
While filling out their body survey (measurements and questions about how my pants currently fit) I noticed they didn't have an option of "too high in front" when I was making notations about the types of problems I have with jeans so I made a note in the comments that I would like them an inch lower in front. The website clearly states that Thimblers are "only as good as the measurements so get someone to help".
The checkout was a bit confusing because it listed my item as $10 but I pressed on (they use e-junkie.com which is a new shopping cart for me). Shipping is amazing considering the weight of denim at only $20 for two pairs of jeans. They have PayPal as an option to buy which always excites me. On the annoying side, even though I registered for the site I still had to fill out buyer information.
On the jeans: To my surprise Thimbler sent me two pairs -- one with the lower front I had mentioned in my comments. This was totally unexpected. Unfortunately they didn't ask for my calf measurements because what I'm currently wearing are not boot-cut jeans but... I don't know... pretty close to bell-bottoms. They are so bad I've tripped on the stairs once, my husband laughed at me -- honestly, I wouldn't go out in public in them. I was also surprised that they had a zipper closure and no cross loops like the photo. On the upside? They fit my butt perfectly. There is no gaping in the back.
Overall I'm not currently impressed enough to recommend them as an option for the larger end of the plus size scale; considering the price and time involved to get them. Made to order jeans require a few weeks for production then add shipping time on top of that. While the option to return for adjustments is a lovely sentiment it means no jeans for a few more weeks while they are being altered.
Visit Thimbler for regular and plus size jeans.
Disclosure: Thimbler provided two pairs of jeans to me free of charge.
