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"  Earlier this summer, I realized the painfully obvious: That my beloved slim-ish G-Star 3301s were in tatters: the left knee had a four-inch horizontal tear and a hole; they were fraying in the crotch area; and there was another hole in the right back pocket, which made retrieving my wallet an ungraceful adventure. I couldn&amp;#039;t splurge on a new pair \u2014 these were already my second 3301s \u2014 but I couldn&amp;#039;t let them go, either. I decided to stop sobbing and take action. But where to find a proper tailor for this sort of thing? I started by researching online for a tailor in New York City that would simply shorten jeans; I also had a pair of Levi&amp;#039;s that were mismarked and were two inches longer than advertised. Sure enough, I came across a few places that, in addition to shortening, also did denim repair jobs on holes and tears. One was called Denim Therapy, but you needed to make an appointment, and I worked during its business hours. Then I came across the Denim Surgeon, on West 43rd Street in New York, and since my jeans needed, not a therapy session and a good couch, but just that, surgery, I called for a consultation. I spoke with the owner Kattya Torres, who started Denim Surgeon in 2008 when she was transitioning out of her previous career while at the same time she was having a baby (and having trouble getting maternity jeans to fit). I was immediately encouraged by her expertise, her flexibility, and her friendliness. Soon after, I brought the G-Stars for the elected surgery (and the Levi&amp;#039;s for the shortening). The Levi&amp;#039;s were expertly done. Although any tailor will tell you they can bring up jeans, there has always been a risk that they will end up looking like you belong \u2014how to say this? \u2014 in an unfortunate mall in an unfortunate part of the country. But not these. The Denim Surgeon didn&amp;#039;t keep the original hem as many tailors brag they can do. (The Surgeon could&amp;#039;ve but that&amp;#039;s $10 more, and personally I had a bad experience with another tailor a few years ago who kept the original hem.)But here it was done with enough care that it looked original. It didn&amp;#039;t look like, no offense, a grandma in Wisconsin did them. &amp;quot;This is re-creating the hem,&amp;quot; Torres told me in the back of her office, where the surgery is done. &amp;quot;The way to make it look as authentic as possible is the type of thread you use. We use 100 percent denim thread. It&amp;#039;s a Tex 80. You can&amp;#039;t compare it to a Tex 10, 20, 30, or even 50 for that matter. It makes a big difference. You can see the thread and the width of the stitch.&amp;quot; And for the G-Stars? The procedure took a while \u2014 a couple of weeks in my case \u2014 but I was delighted with the outcome. The crotch was reinforced from the inside and was now sturdy; the tear was brought together nearly seamlessly; and the holes were patched from the inside with similar-colored denim. Torres is an obsessive collector of denim \u2014 she often offers a 10 percent discount for an old pair of donated jeans \u2014 and like a collagist, matches color, wash, and texture. &amp;quot;We keep everything,&amp;quot; says Torres, who also does mail-order for anyone in the U.S. &amp;quot;We recycle a lot.&amp;quot; The surgery was successful; life was restored. Michael J. Agovino is the author of The Bookmaker: A Memoir of Money, Luck, and Family From the Utopian Outskirts of New York City. His second book, The Soccer Diaries, will be out next spring.  Follow The Style Blog on RSS and on Twitter at @ESQStyle "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.esquire.com/style/mens-fashion/a25473/denim-repair-1013/>