No frowns here.
Denim's roots are in cheap working clothes for the masses ... cowboys, miners, so forth ... and there's nothing wrong with taking it back there. (If I spent $400 on a pair of jeans, I'd be afraid to "give 'em hell", which should be standard operating procedure for wearing and washing.)
Wrangler is a bit too 'cowboy' for my personal taste, but that's just YMMV.
Selvedge is a different looming process. It uses much lower tension thread and yields a narrower bolt of fabric with a finished edge. Because of this you tend to have heavier fabric weights and the characteristic "selvedge" finishing (generally shown on the outseam). The fabric tends to wear a bit better and take on a bit more character as it does so, but the process is much slower and has lower yields which result in a higher price.What's the difference between selvedge and rigid denim? I looked on Levi's website and found rigid (shrink to fit) 501's for $48 but the "selvedge" was $198 for 501's.