Detailed Comparison: Active Flex vs Premium Performance Advanced Comfort
Wrangler jeans come in a mind-boggling variety of colors, washes, finishing treatments, fabric blends and weights, rises, fits and leg openings (such as regular, boot cut, tapered etc.). Further complicating things is the fact that even on the Wrangler website the availability of detailed sizing information such as leg opening and rise varies greatly among their different offerings. All of this can make it very difficult to purchase the right pair of jeans online. Among all of these Wrangler choices I wore the 936 Slim Fit Cowboy Cut jeans in 100% cotton for a number of years and then switched to this same jean in the Stretch (937STR) version (98% cotton / 2% spandex) for the additional comfort, which is especially noticeable when you're sitting for long periods, such as on a flight. However, I've been disappointed in the differential fading between the front thigh area (and to a lesser extent the back pockets) and the rest of the jeans; with moderate wear and washing the thigh fading makes them look very beat up despite the fact that the rest of the jeans still look good with that minimal gentle "vintage" fading look. Consequently I've decided to try their jeans that add polyester to a cotton and 1% spandex blend in the hope that the differential fading is far less pronounced, if present at all. Given that I'm set on their Slim Fit Cowboy Cut (which fit over boots without the slight flare of Boot Cut models), and wanted the darker rather than slightly faded denim look, my alternatives narrowed to the Premium Performance Advanced Comfort (36MACDT - DT = "Dark Tint") and the Active Flex (10936AFPW - PW = "PreWashed") versions. While overtly similar, here are my detailed comparisons: Fabric Content: Premium Performance - 70% cotton, 29% polyester, 1% spandex Active Flex - 74% cotton, 25% polyester, 1% spandex (hard to imagine that the very slight difference in cotton / polyester ratio makes much difference, but the Wrangler labeling touts the moisture wicking abilities and durability of the Premium Performance jeans but mentions neither of those attributes in the Active Flex jeans labeling; my guess is that this is largely their marketing of the newer Premium Performance jeans) Texture ("Hand") / Subjective Fabric Feel: Premium Performance - very slightly softer (barely noticeable) Active Flex - comfortably soft Color and Appearance: Premium Performance - Dark blue with very faint fading at seams; traditional contrast stitching Active Flex - Very slightly darker blue with no fading; traditional contrast stitching EXCEPT for fly area Fit: Premium Performance - Waist size as expected; overall good flex; very slightly tighter around hips; 1" lower rise; ~17"-17.5" leg opening that works fine with boots Active Flex - Waist size as expected; overall good flex; very slightly looser around hips; 1" higher rise; ~16 1/2-17" leg opening that works fine with boots(for those familiar with them, in terms of rise the 937STR version I mentioned above falls right in the middle) Overall Impressions: While some measurements such as leg opening are so close that differences may be due purely to normal manufacturing variations, the 1" difference in rise is intentional, so while that might not seem like much it may matter to you if you have strong preferences as to where the jeans sit relative to your waist. My impression is that both would be considered mid-rise; certainly neither would be considered "low rise." The difference in color darkness is subtle, but between the very slightly darker Active Flex with no fading whatsoever and most importantly the lack of visible stitching at the fly, the Active Flex jeans come off looking dressier than the Premium Performance jeans. (Oddly, in the reverse of the actual Wrangler terminology, I would have expected the "Dark Tint" color name to apply to the uniform and completely non-faded look of the Active Flex jeans and "PreWashed" to the Premium Performance jeans. I guess the moral of the story is that you need to treat everything with a grain of salt. Because Marketing!) Ultimately I went with the Premium Performance jeans because I preferred the slightly less dressy appearance. None of the other subtle or marketed differences made much difference to me; I would expect their durability to be essentially equivalent and given that I live in the high desert the touted wicking abilities really don't matter to me. On the other hand, if you prefer the slightly darker, more uniform coloring, and subtly dressier appearance of the Active Flex jeans I'm sure that they would be a fine choice. Good luck choosing! Read more
