Day 61 Travelling again

This weekend I'm embarking on another trip up to the middle of Sweden. Now saying the middle of Sweden doesn't sound that far, but take in to account that Sweden is 1,574 km in length and it usually takes anything from 9 to 17 hours to travel from Gothenburg to halfway, depending on the mode of transport. I usually choose the train via Norway, as it's such a beautiful trip and I get to work on the train.

The place I'm heading to is called Funäsfjällen and I usually stay in a small town called Funäsdalen. No snow left in the towns anymore, but still quite a bit on the mountains. This for me was a business trip, which will include an After Ski Festival in Ramundberget and a roadtrip to Trondheim in Norway.

I've been writing a lot about the good warm weather we've been having, but right in the middle of that I'm going back to the snow. Let's hope the jeans hold up and don't get too wet.

Day 60 Finally a wine stain

It had to happen at least once during this test. Spilling half a glass of white wine on my jeans. Lucky it's summer and I prefer white wine otherwise it would have been a different story with a stain of red wine. I am always on the lookout for tips and tricks for how to get rid of stains without washing, but there's not a lot. Washing raw denim defeats the whole object of testing them in the way that I do.

However, if you think saving the jeans is more important than wearing them in, then have a look at Do it yourself, for tips on how to remove wine stains.

Day 59 Smoke

Was out in the Gothenburg Archipelago this past Easter weekend on an island called Brännö, and there we had a huge bonfire one night. It was a warm evening with a lot of people. The only thing I realised a little too late, was that my jeans will smell like smoke. A problem if you're not going to wash them any time soon. But so we learn. I did hang them up over night and the smoke smell is nearly gone now 3 days later, which is good. A tip for anyone planning to do a denim test and play with fire.

Day 58 Wear and tear

I thought I'd publish a series of picks over time as these jeans get some wear and tear. Above are the knees. Besides all stretched and ceased, they are by far the lightest part of the jeans at the moment. Since a kid, my knees where the first to show faded blue to white.

Day 57 Naked & Famous Reverse Fade Denim

There's always someone in the fashion industry wanting to not only do something different, but also stand out in a crowd. With that, in comes Naked & Famous with their revelation, jeans that instead of fading from blue to white, fade from white to blue. Nice looking jeans, and a good idea, if you want to stand out in a crowded market place. You can read more about them over here.

Day 56 The Official Dr.Denim Blog

Don't know if I've mentioned it before, but the guys from Dr.Denim have started their own blog a while ago. They blog on everything from fashion to release valves. Always informative, never boring. You can find it here.

Day 55 Silly Cat

Try not to get the jeans dirty, that's the general rule. The reason, as always, is simple; They won't be washed in water for another 110 odd days. That was until I decided to say hi to a cat and pick it up onto my lap, forgetting that the cat has just walked through a building site which consist 80% of dust and 20% of rocks.

Now I have to brush the jeans very well, to get rid of all that dust. Quite funny really. But if you're doing a similar test like this, be prepared for the unexpected. During my last test, I had baby food on my jeans, mud & snow and beer. All obviously not my fault, but still my problem. All part of making life a little more exciting.

Day 54 Summer

On day 49 I wrote about how tough I think it's going to be to keep this test up during summer, because I'm more active during summer. The sweat is one thing, but because of the heat and open windows, I can hang them up and inside out at night and get them dry. What's going to be tough is keeping them clean. In Sweden we lie in parks a lot enjoying the sun, and that means grass stains. We're more active, which means more wear and dirt, so it'll be tough to keep them clean. We walk a lot more, which means a lot more ear on the inner thighs. Only time will tell.

Day 53 Sailing

Was lucky to be out for my first sailing trip of the season on Wednesday night. It was beautiful weather, warm-ish and not a breath of wind. This was good, because on a normal sailing trip you do get some spray, which would not have been good for my jeans, as the goal is not to get them wet, so they shrink.

Day 52 Donk Shorts

Dr.Denim is by no means as well known as Nudie Jeans, not to mention Levis. I have however been seeing them more and more in town, and not their blue jeans, but a lot of Donk, which is their Chinos, and a lot of black jeans. A couple of times I've seen their shirts and only once a jersey, which I also have. I will take some pictures when I see them again.

Barry, from Singapore, has asked me where to buy other Dr.Denim products, because apparently they can only find the jeans. Anyone else interested in finding other products?

Day 51 Hanging up your jeans

Every now and then I hang my jeans up inside out and in an open window, to help them dry properly over night. With the sun setting so late here in Gothenburg in summer, as late as 22h30, it's perfect to dr them in my kitchen window.

Day 50

Finally made it to fifty days. So far so good. Not running into any unusual issues with the jeans and wearing them every day, with perhaps the exception that I notice them wearing much faster than my pair of Harris jeans I used in the first test. But it's only day 50 with 114 days left.

Day 49 Sun

It's summer time, and I'm not really sure how this test will hold up during the whole summer. Not because of the sweat, but because I'm just more active during summer. A lot more walking, working in the garden, active holidays and so on. Time will tell.

Day 48 Knee wear

Had a another look at my knees today in the sun and you can see for yourself that there's already a lot of wear showing on the fold of my knees. The three folds in the photo on the left, and then the folds flattened in the photo on the right. Looking forward to the end of six months when I wash these jeans to see what the knees look like then, if this is only day 48.

Day 47 Back pockets

I posted a photo of the inside of the jeans, the part of the backpocket. There's always a lot of wear there on my jeans. And I don't mean colour change, I mean the denim is worn out. The photos above are of 4 of my raw denim jeans. Top Left is my original Harris jeans, more than 2 years old and two washes. Top right is Ormonds, just over 18 months and one wash. Bottom right is Terence, also over 18 months and still to have it's first wash. Bottom right is Raymond, the ones I have on now, 2 months old and still to be washed.

You can see the wear pattern is similar on all of my jeans, but then all four of them are different denim weights, so react in a different way. Harris is in serious need of a fix, because at the moment they are worn out.

Day 46 Knees again

Posted a pic of my knees yesterday, and will follow that up with a pic of both knees and more of the legs. Already a lot of difference between the faded knees and the part of the leg below the knee. And this is day 46, with 137 days to go.

Day 45 Knees

Since I was a kid, my knees were always the first place my jeans wore out. Yeah I can hear the jokes already, but it's true. So far after 45 days, it still seems to be the place that fades first.

Day 44 Bright Now

I bought a magazine from Zinio yesterday called "Nylon guys", which has a tagline that says "not for girls". Pretty straight forward I think. It's not often you find guys magazines that don't feature naked women in them. Mens' Journal and Nylon guys are the two I found that fits that profile so far. Above is a double page spread in the magazine that features denim jeans, but not blue denim. Coloured denim. Very nice.

Day 43 A rainy day

Even though today is a grey and rainy day here in Gothenburg, I have my new colourful Dr.Denim Laurence Turquoise Check shirt on. Very nice fit and colourful for Spring. I really love the cut, fits me like a glove.

Day 42 Moustaches

Moustaches are the marks that form in the crotch area of your jeans. If you take a photo from the front they look like the moustache from a cat. Above are the moustaches from my jeans, with fold on the left, and with the folds flattened on the right. Nice markings so far.

Day 41 Back pockets

41 days in and there's already a lot of permanent wear on these jeans. Not sure why, but all my jeans have this weird crease right under both back pockets. I'll publish some pic of all the others to show you what I mean. Must be from sitting.

Day 40 Hem creases

When the jeans are new, they fit well, or usually anyway. Once you start wearing them in, they stretch more and more, and this has problems all of its own. It usually means you have to get a belt on, but it also means that you have to fold the hems up a little bit more than usual. Because I'm still wearing some winter boots, they look sloppy if I don't fold them up enough. With my Dr.Martins I have to fold the hem over 4 times, but with my low All Stars it's only once. On average I'd say I'm folding them over twice, which you can see in the picture. It does damage the jeans, as the folds become permanent very quickly, which means at night it's always good to unfold them, but there's not a lot you can do to prevent the damage.

Day 39 Dust-free

On day 31 and 32 I wrote about dust buildup and how I clean mine, but when I looked back on Day 39 during my first test, I also wrote about dust. That time the dust was because we had our apartment renovated. The two pictures above is before and after I brushed my jeans. You can clearly see the dust buildup on the left.

Day 38 A spring in my step

I'm really loving that Winter is finally behind us. What is happening at the moment, because of Facebook, is that one half of my friends in the Southern Hemisphere is complaining of how cold it is getting, while the other half of my friends in the Northern Hemisphere is happy that the sun has come back. As for me, I have my sneakers on.

Day 37 Barry

One of the people doing the test too, is a Barry from Singapore. Here's a note he sent me, along with his pictures.

"Here's just a couple of shots of my dr denims. First few is my mauser, which has been in about 3 washes in one and a half years. Probably what i noticed the most is the lightening on the butt area due to all the sitting and the knees are stretched out. I find the washes have really worn out the DrDenimJeansmakers label at the back, which i believe the my mauser is having a different one from the ormand red selvage. Ormond has been through 1 wash (by accident cos i dumped it in with my other clothes) and its about 5 months old. So the past 4 months, haven't washed it. However i did notice it has gotten slightly lighter than before."

Day 36 All Stars

As I wrote before, this 6 month test is happening for the most part during summer. More sweat. More grass stains. More rain. More care needed. During winter it's easier, as they do not get wet so much, and we're not sweating that much, as it's cold. Obviously.

What I am liking though is that I can wear my All Stars again. And soon my Havaianas.

Day 35 My Swedish mother

I spent the weekend with my Swedish parents in a little town north of Gothenburg called Trollhättan. During the weekend I noticed my "mother" had on a pair of Dr.Denims black. Apparently she bought them in a small store in another small town. Be that as it may, I was surprised to see her in a pair. Not sure what I mean by that, but she said they fitted really well, and is her favourite pair. I was impressed.

Day 34 Shine before and after

Yesterday I wrote about the shine that builds up because of "dirt" and oils. Now remember if you clean your jeans regurlary, without washing, which is possible, the "dirt" is nothing to worry about. Even the daily sweat, can dry over night, if you hang your jeans up at night in a cool dry place. Don't fold them up, as that is when they will start to smell. And believe me, that's gross.

The jeans above are my first pair of Harris jeans before and after its first wash. You can clearly see the difference between.

Day 33 Shine

It is true that over time there is a build up of "dirt" and oils on the surface of the jeans. It comes with the territory. You'll notice the difference if you take a photograph before and after your first wash.

But as I said, it's hard work to keep them clean for a long period as six months without a wash. But denim is also a very special material. It originated as a work garment, so it's hard wearing, and in a way made not to be washed after every wear. Raw denim isn't for everyone, but if you like it, give a six month test a try. Quite a lot of fun.

Day 32 Dust free

Yesterday I published photos of how dust builds up along the seams. This morning I've given the jeans a good brush, to get rid of the dust. Now they're "clean" again, or as clean as they're going to get without a wash using water.