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.

Day 167 | Dirty and damaged hems

These jeans have picked up quite a bit of dirt in the last 167 days. Most I could remove quite easily with a brush, my nails or a damp cloth. It's the same with the dirt you get on your hems from shoes. Just a couple of light brushes and it's gone. One day however I had these marks on my hems, and when I investigated further, I noticed that my hems have been damaged quite a bit on the fold I used to make. It's not torn through the crease, but if I didn't start wearing a belt when I did, perhaps they would have been. So not too serious.

I spoke to a friend of mine a while ago, who also only washed his one pair of jeans after 6 months. During that whole time he wore them with a big fold up on the hems, because they were too long, and they creases got damaged quite a bit. When he finally washed them, they shrunk about 3-4 cm. The fold-up now sits much higher than what they used to, so he does not need to fold them up any more because the length is now perfect. The problem is that folded down they look silly because the crease is damaged and folded up they're too short.

I hope these turn out really good after the first wash. I can only hope and see. Tomorrow I meet up with the guys from Dr.Denim again, just to say hello, have a cup of coffee and show them the progress. Really looking forward to it.

Day 140 | What makes cotton wrinkle?

Today I decided to find out a little more on cotton itself. This time I found a website called CottonInc.com, and they have all you ever need to know about cotton, including a huge textiles and agriculture research archive.

Here's an answer for everyone who admires their wrinkles and moustaches on their jeans. Here's CottonInc's answer when they were asked, what makes cotton wrinkle? "During wearing and cleaning, fabrics are temporarily distorted to accommodate the stress of use. If the fabric does not recover its original shape, the results are described as wrinkling. Untreated cotton fibers do not have a permanent memory. The cellulose chains in the fiber move by breaking and re-establishing hydrogen bonds. There are no natural forces to promote the cellulose chains to return to their original configuration."

To follow up on what I published yesterday on day 139 about the origins of the name denim, here's their answer to, where does denim come from? "Two of the fabrics most symbolic of American fashion - chambray and denim - are in reality French imports. A soft comfortable fabric with contrasting coloured and white yarns, chambray was first found in Chambrai, France. Denim, originating in Nimes (as in "serge de Nimes"), was introduced to this country via work pants designed for the mining industry by a Mr. Levi Strauss."

There's so many knowledgeable people out there, willing to share their knowledge, and so much information if you're willing to search for it.

Day 122 | The back pockets (3rd comparison)

Here we go with the 3rd set of comparison photographs for the past 122 days. As usual I'll start with the back pockets, followed by the inner seams tomorrow.

The backside is a lot more shiny, which probably means greasy. There's also a lot more creases all over. There's not a lot of light blueish wear marks, but just enough to see that they're not new anymore. I still remember the feel of the raw denim on day 1. That's all gone now. The first photo of the four is from day 14, then day 57, followed by day 90 and then finally today. The denim itself is also very much more stretched. I have started wearing a belt every now and then. You know, just to keep them from falling down to my knees in public.

Day 107 | You know you're addicted

I've been reading a lot lately on other people, and their life with denim. Two days ago I quoted someone who's username was denimdestroyedmylife, and lately I've been reading a thread on Superfuture.com, called "You know you're addicted", started by chicken, about what it's like to be addicted to denim jeans.

He starts off by saying you know you're addicted: "When you're seriously considering buying a new cell phone, just because you don't like the shape of the pocket fade your current phone creates."

Here's some others I thought was good.

keri: "When you pet them. And kiss them good night."

mickawes: "When you drag your legs when hopping fences to create authentic holes. Hell, when you hop fences just so you can get some wear on the jeans."

krisis: "When you rub your butt on benches to help that killer wallet fade come through."

Alvahroe: "I notice that when ever I wash my hand and they drip blue, it gets a bit of a smile out of me."

greentea: "When you spray the inside of your car with starch. to get the new raw denim smell."

Day 98 | Folding up the hems

I started wearing the jeans without folding the bottom hems up. There was no need to in the beginning, because they fitted well. Over the past ninety eight days though, they started stretching more and more. They are now sitting a little bit lower on my hips, which means I need to fold the bottom hems up, otherwise they look too crinkled down at my shoes (See day 27).

I don't know if it was such a good idea to fold the jeans or not, because now there's a permanent crease about 3cm from the bottom of the jeans. I know it'll be OK to wear the jeans without the fold again after I wash the them, because the raw denim is sure to shrink. I'm just not sure for how long it'll last before they stretch again. Perhaps I should have bought a 33 or 32 leg instead of a 34 leg?

Day 97 | Behind the knees

Yesterday I showed the front of the knees and the way they have stretched so far, because the jeans aren't being washed. Here's what the back of the knees look like today.

I last showed photos of the back of the knees on day 55 and day 81, and it's much worse now. These creases are never coming out. I sit in front of my laptop for about 8-10 hours a day, and my knees are bent most of the time, so I can understand them looking like this after 97 days of daily wear.

Day 90 | The back pockets (2nd comparison)

Here's the start of my second series of comparisons, such as I did on day 57 - day 61. The pictures on the left is from day 14, the middle picture is from day 57 and the right hand picture is from today, day 90. I'm trying to do this at the beginning of each month.

As you can see, the jeans are by far more shiny, not just from the wear, but also from not washing them. Today is basically halfway, with 91 days to go before the first wash, so I have worn them every day for past 90 days. I have noticed a lot more wear during the past month, than any of the two months before that. As if the wear accelerates as it gets past a certain point.

There's a lot more light blue patches on the corners of the pockets where I sit, and a lot more permanent looking creases, that don't look like they're ever going to be smooth again.

Tomorrow I'll be looking at the inner seams, which have shown lots more wear too, from chafing against each other everyday.

Day 81 | 100 days left

Today we were basically out the whole day for a walk in the forest. It snowed here in Gothenburg two days ago, but not a lot, and the snow is still on the ground. It is really cold, and today was the first time that I had my down feather, extra padded, winter jacket on, as well as my thermal underwear, scarf and beanie. So you see what I mean by cold. But it was beautiful, and really nice to be out with the whole family and the dog.

I've written a lot about the weather, and how I think these jeans will hold up for the next one hundred days through the Swedish winter. As long as it doesn't rain along with a strong wind, as on Day 53, it'll be OK. For one thing, they don't keep the cold out, so I will need to wear thermal underwear to keep me warm, and then they might stretch a little more than usual with the extra layer, but I'll have to wait and see what happens. Should help with keeping the sweat away though, seeing that the first wash is still one hundred days away.

The two photos show the knees, front and back, and how they have been stretched in the front and creased in the back, over the past eighty one days of continuous wear. They really have become comfortable though.

Day 71 | Laurence Grey

On the trip to Stockholm this week, I made a stop in at Urban Outfitters, and found a couple of Dr.Denim items in one section of the store. I tried on a shirt called "Laurence Grey", which is the one in the photos, but can also be seen on the Dr.Denim website.

It's one of those really nice and warm winter shirts, which you can usually pick up in second hand stores. The only problem I have with the ones from the second hand stores are that they're older in style, and that when they fit me around my body, the arms are too short, and when they fit the length of my arms, the body is way too big. The new styles from today are usually more fitting for people who are as skinny and tall as I am. That is exactly why I bought this one from Dr.Denim. Perfect fit, really nice cut and some great details.

On another note, I had a closer look at the creases made by folding up the hems of the jeans, so they don't wear at the bottom, and was shocked at how much they've worn in any case in the last seventy one days. But that is what will happen from wearing them everyday I suppose.

Day 60 | The bottom hems (1st comparison)

Today I'm comparing the bottom hems of the jeans, after 60 days. They're definitely the part of the jeans that have shown the most wear so far.

It is not from wearing them outside of the house, because I always have shoes on outside, and the hems never touch the ground. This is from wearing them barefoot at home, because I sometimes forget to fold them up. Lately though, I've been folding them up more and more.

I usually give them a double fold up when I wear them around the house, so that neither the hem, or a single fold-up will touch the ground, and hence wear unnecessarily. But as you can see, the damage is done already. Now I just have to watch it from here.

The comparison photo shows the back of the hems, where the top most photo is from about day 10, and the bottom photo is from today. The bottom most photo is also from about 2 weeks of wear and shows the front of the hems. You can't really see anything other than the creases made from folding the hems up. This will obviously change with time.

Day 59 | The front pockets (1st comparison)

Here we go with the front pockets, or actually the whole front of the jeans, 59 days later. The photos on the left hand side are from about 2 weeks in, and the photos of the right hand side are from today. A lot more creases just below the pockets, and a lot more permanent looking.

The raw denim has also become a lot more shiny, or smooth from the daily wear. The jeans also have a more fitted look about them now. In the beginning they were more straight all over, where you can now see that someone has worn them often. You still can't clearly see the marks my front pocket wallet has made that I wrote about on day 33. Maybe in a couple of months or so.

Tomorrow I'll compare the hems.

Day 55 | Comparing the creases

Been having a look at the changes in the creases behind the knees. The first photo was taken after 2 weeks of wear, where the second and third one was taken after 6 weeks of wear.

For me the creases in the white photo don't look so permanent yet. The creases are a bit rounded and looks like it'll be easy to iron them out. Not that I'm going to bring an iron close to my jeans. The creases on the jeans on the wooden floor, however, look a bit more permanent, with sharper edges, and they don't seem so easy to remove.

It's interesting to see the changes in the jeans when you compare photos one month apart. I think I'll do that at the beginning of each month, by comparing the knees, front and back, the hems, the button holes, the pockets, front and back, the creases below the front pockets, as well as any other permanent marks that may have started to appear. Just to see if there will perhaps be a really big change in the denim after six months of daily wear.

Day 29 | More creases in the denim

As I said I would on Day 27 about the progress of my Dr.Denim Harris Blue Black Raw jeans so far, here are more photos.

The creases below the front pockets look very permanent already. Must be from sitting in front of my laptop all day. No colour change as yet, or maybe just a little, but I didn't expect much after only 29 days. The denim is much softer now and is still really nice on, and the feel is great.

We had some rain today, but fortunately got nothing on me. The weather forecast have predicted the first snow up north in Sweden, and it made me think of how the denim will handle lots of snow, all the wetness, and the cold. We'll see in two months time, when we expect our first snow here in Gothenburg.

Day 28 | The moustache wash

Twenty eight days in, and the back of the knees are really creased. It hangs, or rests at night for about 8-9 hours before being worn again, so the daily wear is really taking its toll. There's not a lot of colouration on the the denim yet, because if you flatten the creases, the colour is still all blue black. Look at Day 13 for a comparison so far.

Apparently there's a specific way to wash and treat denim, which I included below, called the moustache wash. It's when you use sandpaper on creases like those on my jeans, and then wash the jeans to give them a more worn effect. Don't really know if it's my kind of style, or if I am just too tired to also now get the sandpaper out and start sanding.

Obviously there are thousands of different ways to treat denim, but Dr.Denim only has nine different washes on their website. We have the final three here today. I'll look into getting others from other manufacturers, including different types of raw denim.

Tint - "The jeans are toned in the wash, often yellow, brown or green to give them a vintage character or a dirty feel."


Sandblasting - "Before being washed, the jeans are sandblasted. This makes them look naturally worn."


Moustache - "Before being washed the jeans are treated with sandpaper, or something similar, to give a worn, creased look to the knees and crotch."

Day 27 | Harris Blue Black Raw so far

Now that it is twenty seven days into the test I've had a real good look at the jeans and have only noticed minor changes to the denim.

As mentioned before, the button holes look a bit more worn. The back hem is more worn, from when I where them at home, barefoot, and let them hang down without folding them up. The crease made by the fold up is more visible when the hem is folded down. The knees are much more stretched in front, and creased a lot behind the knees. Then there are more creases below the pockets where the jeans fold in front, when I sit. Other than that, I have not seen a major colour change. That will take time and a lot more wear. I'll publish some photos of the next couple of days of all the areas I've mentioned. It looks like a bit more rain will fall here over the next couple of days, so it'll be interesting to see how the jeans hold up with all that water. We have two more washes from Dr.Denim for today.

Cellulose Enzyme Wash - "The jeans are washed with enzymes and organic substances that break down the cellulose in the fabric. The result is a washed-out effect."

Acid Wash - "A type of stone wash that was launched in the 1980s. Pumice is soaked in chlorine and washed with the fabric. Also called iced, frosted or snow wash."