Consumers Laugh at Pricey Mud Splattered Jeans at Nordstrom

Would you pay over $400 US for ” crackled, caked-on muddy coating that shows you’re not afraid to get down and dirty?” Nordstrom thinks you might and is selling and promoting a pair of faux mud covered jeans called ” Barracuda Straight Leg Jeans” from PRPS.

The mud stained Barracuda Straight Leg Jeans luxury jeans sold now at Nordstrom.

The jeans are described as ” Heavily distressed medium-blue denim jeans in a comfortable straight-leg fit embody rugged, Americana workwear that’s seen some hard-working action with a crackled, caked-on muddy coating that shows you’re not afraid to get down and dirty.”   Back in the California Gold Rush, when Levi’s jeans sprang to popularity, men worked in the jeans and they became muddy. This wasn’t a fashion trend, it was the result of real manual labor.

Levi’s first miner’s pants, worn by miners in Placer County, California, in 1882. (image via Mother Earth News.)

Now, apparently it’s a fashion trend to make jeans just look muddy and sell them for luxury price tags.  According to the BBC News, ” Discovery Channel Dirty Jobs presenter Mike Rowe described the Barracuda Straight Leg Jeans as “looking like they have been worn by someone with a dirty job” but “made for people who don’t.”

The faux mud stained jeans have been mocked on Facebook and Twitter as disingenuous. “Go play in the mud if you want dirty jeans” said one poster.

Ironically though, the jeans haven’t seen hard working action and are being sold to an upscale buyer that most likely doesn’t do manual labor or get their hands dirty.”  Social media users on Twitter and Facebook were quick to mock the faux mud jeans and their price tag.  Did Nordstrom know the muddy jeans would be ripe for parody and post on them to stir up controversy, or did they honestly think that pretending to do manual labor could be a fashion statement?

“Apparently “Hillbilly” is a trend now.” noted one Twitter poster.

I can’t help but wonder what the poor factory workers were paid to make these muddy looking jeans?   Seriously, you can go buy a cheap pair of jeans at Target and Walmart and roll them in mud or in grass to stain them and get this look for much cheaper!