Josh's Nudies after 15 months in 13 seconds

Here's Josh with his pair of Nudies, showing the day to day wear during a period of 15months.

Stretch the seams after the wash

Before I washed my first pair of raw denims, I was chatting to Alexander from Dr.Denim and his first bit of advice to me was to stretch the seams after the wash. The reason he said was that the thread used for the seams, are different than that used in the actual denim, so it sort of pulls together after the wash. The shrinking also doesn't help with the seams. What you got to do after the wash is to grab the crotch and the hem, and pull, as you can see in the picture above. Give it a good stretch, and it should help with getting the seams back to "normal".

The front of the knees before and after the wash

Here we go with the knees before and after the wash. This is the front. Three things are very clear. For one the stretching in the knees after 6 months of wear. The second thing is the colouration after the wash and thirdly there's the shinyness of the jeans, on the left, after 6 months of wear.

I love the way the folds are so clear on the left, but after the wash they're just marks on the denim. It's why I do these tests.

The crotch and the seat before and after

Today I'm looking at the front and back of the jeans before and after the wash. The crotch and the seat areas as they say.

You'll notice, as always, the shiny-ness of the before photos on the left, and the matt colour of the after photos on the right. Then the standard colouration that happens because of the wash. The other thing is that the folds which is clearly shown on the left are now just marks on the right. Tomorrow I'll show photos of the knees fron and back, where you can see it more clearly.

NY Daily News.com

I always scour the web for information about jeans and denim, especially Raw Denim. Every now and again though I stumble upon articles about my blog, which is always an honour to be mentioned. Here's one I found on NY Daily News called Working stiffs: Raw denim lovers wear their jeans for years without washing them.

Music made with 1000 pairs of jeans

There's always something new and interesting once you start searching for the word denim or jeans on the internet. The above video isn't necessarily the best video, but it's an interesting idea and looked like a lot of fun.

360 degree before and after wash

I've managed to build a 360 degree view of the Ormond Selvage jeans, before and after the wash. I'm going to compare more closer areas this week, but for now you can see them on me in 360 degrees. I tried to get the light the same on both days, cloudy and so on, but there was rain on day one, and not on day two, which always affects colour in photography.

You'll notice the hems are rolled up smaller after the wash. This is because the jeans have shrunk. It's usually 5%, or 2cm, but this may differ wash to wash. I try to not use the spin cycle after the wash, as this removes more indigo ink than I am happy with. I still like the dark colour, however you can see the colour is lighter on day two.

Treeger. A new favourite from Dr.Denim

I was ambling through my favourite store Red Devil, and stumbled upon a pair of Dr.Denims that I haven't seen before. A wash I liked and a cut that fitted me as well as Terence and Ormond does. The style is called Treeger and this particular wash is called Old Used. A straight-ish leg that's a little loose, but not too much. Very comfortable indeed. I'm really keen to get hold of a pair of Blue Black Raw's, cause I think it'll look fantastic after wearing them unwashed for 6 months. For now I have a washed pair that feels great and fits me really well.

In case you're wondering, the boots are Red Wings. Probably the best buy I've made shoe-wise. So far I've had them nearly one year and looking forward to the first snow. They're comfortable to walk in and really warm too matched with my woolen Happy Socks.

Day 188 Winner

Here's blog post by Dr.Denim about my jeans. They came out really good.

Day 187 Washing tips

Here's a post I found on 'How to wash denim'. Some good advice. As there are a hundred ways to get from point A to point B, so it is with washing denim. Everyone has their own way. I wash mine in the same way i wash all my other clothing, with the exception of the first two washes. The reason is simple. Have a look at the pics above, where I washed a white T-shirt along with my pair of Dr.Denim Terence Raw. With the first two washes, no matter what you do, you want to be careful, as there's a lot of blue ink washing out.

Day 185 How I washed my jeans

What I think is important when washing your jeans, is to fold them inside out. This keeps a lot of the indigo dye in the denim, which prevents fading, as well as protect the exposed outer seams.


On day 161 I crashed my bike and got a big grease stain on my knee. I always use vanish when washing, and this means my denim too, if they ever get washed. I wasn't sure it would work so well, because the stain has had 20 odd days to settle into the fabric. I am glad to report that the stain is completely gone.


The washing machine I use has a lot of settings, so I choose the one that seems most appropriate, called 'Denim'. The only problem I have is that the program ends with a spin cycle, which I try to avoid. The reason for this is that the spin cycle, no matter how slow, sucks out all the water. This means dye, which means more fading than is absolutely necessary. So I always set my alarm to 5 minutes before the cycle ends, so I can pull the plug and hang them up wet, to dry naturally.

Tomorrow I will publish some photos after the wash, stretching the seams and hanging them up.

Day 184 After the wash

I spent last night washing the jeans after 180 days. I'll post some photos in the following week on the wash and what I did, but I thought I'd just publish the photos of what they look like today. One thing you can immediately see is the shrinking. I have had the hems rolled up twice with a rather large fold, but as you can see this morning, they're rolled up much less and thinner. They are fitting extremely well and feel great. Much softer and I think the colour and markings came out great.

More photos to come.

Day 183 Time for a wash

It's finally that time. Time for a wash. 6 months have come and gone and they're looking good, but like I said smelling a bit. The two photos above is what they look like today. I will wash them tonight, then publish some photos of them as well as compare them before and after.

Day 182 Dirty

Here's two pictures to show the dirt on the inside hem that I roll up. I wear a 34 leg, but because the jeans stretch so much from wearing them every day, plus the fact that they haven't shrunk yet, makes them sit a little lower than usual. This means that in the end I needed to fold them hem up twice instead of the usual once. You can clearly see how dirty they became from just and every day wear. A little gross really, but all in the name of fashion.

Day 181 Express.be

My blog was featured on the Belgium website Express.be in October 2010 under the tag Joker. Maybe so, but also maybe misunderstood. It's very interesting reading the articles, because if you're not a denim lover, or more specific a raw denim lover, you always focus on the fact that the jeans are unwashed or dirty, where a denim lover will focus on the fact that the wear is great or the colour is fading nicely. All to their own I suppose.

It was featured again this last month, again under joker, but this time because I threw my jeans in the freezer for a couple of days.

Day 169 After the freezer

On day 155 I chucked these jeans into a plastic bag and shoved them into my freezer. The reason you do this isn't very complicated. It's to kill the bacteria that causes them to smell, be that from sweat, or being wet from rain and not drying properly. This is the first time I have done this 6 month test during summer, so there's a lot of sweat, but also a lot of rain, especially during a normal Swedish summer.

Did it work? Well more or less. It didn't do as much as what I thought it would, but it was much better once they dried completely after I had hung them up. Just happy actually that I'm nearing the end and they're getting washed soon.

Day 167 Wallet wear

Here's the wallet I bought two and a half months ago. The photos are at 1 month intervals. The leather is lamb skin and exceptionally soft. I got one of these for a friend of mine a year ago and his wallet is looking absolutely fantastic, hence me getting one too.

The company m0851 makes some really great products with good build quality. If you live in Gothenburg you can get them from Krypton.

Day 164 Donk Denim

Nearing the end of the 6 months, I decided to give the jeans a break on rainy days, especially when it's hot. Summer, the sweating and the constant rain has not been kind to them. They do smell a bit more than usual. a few days in the freezer did help some, but I decided to give them a rest for today and wear something else.

These are called Donk, and are the denim version of Dr.Denim's popular Donk Chinos. I love them, because of the feel, large front pockets and fold-ups.

Day 163 Puma Evisu

After living in Sweden for the past 4 years, my denim wardrobe has not only expanded, but I most definitely have more Skinny jeans than ever before. I actually prefer baggy jeans if I may be honest, but it doesn't really matter. This last week, while my jeans have been in the freezer, I've worn some jeans that I haven't had the opportunity to wear for a long time. This pair is one of my favourites. It's a pair of Evisu jeans that they did in collaboration with Puma. This pair was a pair of stiff jeans, but at the moment they are worn in. Very worn in and exceptionally comfortable.

Here's an article on Highsnobiety.com about the jeans.

Day 162 Fight Acne

Here's a campaign done by Dragster on behalf of Dr.Denim. Dragster is the agency for Dr.Denim and with this advert won a broze medal in the monthly best adverts from a magazine called Resumé. Some people say it's a bit cheesy, but if you know the guys from Dr.Denim, then this is perfect, and suits their style and brand perfectly.

Day 161 Grease stain

These jeans are getting washed at the end of the month, and I'd really like to see how this stain on the knee comes out. Probably there forever. I got it when I crashed over the handlebars of my mountain bike going down some stairs in town. Like my mom always used to say, "That'll learn ya".

I'll post a photo after the wash. Maybe I'm lucky and there's no permanent damage.

Day 160 Harris fixed again

My first pair of Raw denim jeans, called Harris, has now had its second fix. The first fix was the back pocket, but now I fix the wear under the right back pocket. The holes appeared just because of the wear and tear. They have been worn more than 250 days and washed only twice so far.

As you can see the thread appears more blue in the photo than it really is in real life. Picking the correct thread colour is always a challenge. These jeans a blue/black, and fade in a sort of greyish tone. Truly tough to match the colour, but in real life the fix is much closer than it appears in the photo.

Day 159 Alexander Graah in Copenhagen

Here we are at the Copenhagen Clothing Fair 2011, and Alexander Graah explaining their collection. I'm looking forward to some new Donk chinos, especially a new green they have, then also they have some great new shirts styles. I'll see if I can get hold of some pics to post later on.

I'm looking to do a new interview with Alex and Johannes in the coming month. If there's anything you'd like to know, please send me your questions and I'll ask them.

Day 158 Dr.Denim in Copenhagen

Two days ago I was in Copenhagen for the Clothing Fair, and as I wrote yesterday, I visited the Kids Fair and a client called I dig Denim, but we also said hi to the guys from Dr.Denim. They had a fantastic stand, a great collection, ice cold beer, and some Danish sausages on offer.

Day 157 I dig Denim

Yesterday I was in Copenhagen for the Clothing fair, and to visit a client, I dig Denim, and at the same time say hi to the guys from Dr.Denim.

I dig Denim is a kids clothing brand specializing in denim. Some great styles and cuts, and the kids who own a pair love them. A bit over priced for my liking at 600kr a pair, but then again there's always H&M for a cheaper version. Kids in my view just grow out of clothing too fast to justify 600kr for less than a year. Perhaps if you have 4 boys like my brother has, then they would really be worth it.

But as every pot has a lid, every brand has a buyer. The same with I dig Denim. There's a huge gap in the market for kids jeans, so they can look like mom and dad.

Day 156 Copenhagen

Off to Copenhagen to visit the Clothing Fair today. Will make a turn at Dr.Denim's stand as well as a new client called I Dig Denim. They make fantastic kids denim clothing.

Oh yes, and while my current pair of test jeans are still freezing away, I decided to wear my original pair of Harris jeans. The ones I used for my first denim test. I did have to fix the hole in the back last night though. Love these jeans. So comfortable. I'll post some proper pics of the fix later on.

Day 155 Feezer time

Some advise for those wanting to attempt a six month test like this, where you wear your jeans every day: Do it during winter. Summer is way to hot, and in my case, my jeans don't get enough time over night to dry out. They have started to smell a bit, especially when they get wet, as in when it rains. Yesterday I decided to throw them in the freezer to see if that will work. 48 hoursI think will be sufficient.

What the freezer apparently does is it freezes the germs that causes the smell. After freezing them you have to hang the jeans up to dry properly, and then the smell should be OK. Or so I've heard. Tomorrow I'll see if that has worked.

Day 153 Crash

It was inevitable. A crash on my mountain bike. Luckily there's no holes in the jeans, just scrapes on my hands and arms. There is this big clump of grease on my knee. Will have to check how to get rid of it. Any tips!

Besides that, I got 30 days left in these jeans before the big wash.

Day 136 Dr.Denim Fall Winter 2011

Model: Male || Jeans: TREEGER Red Selvage Raw || Shirt: PETE Rusty Red || Bow Tie: DERRIC Navy