The ultimative Denim Trouser Thread?

[Pandemic]

A new pair of Cone 16oz Gustin straights and a six year old pair of Japanese 14oz straights. I can’t find a good pick of the 18oz pair I had - it was a loser weave, making it soft and comfortable like an IH.

 

[CatsCan]

I tuck a shirt into my jeans

Found this recently. Crazy, isn't it?

​

 

[CatsCan]

@JustinW: Seriously: Perfect fitting jeans!

It's night here. Will do some pics tomorrow. Have only one pair atm that fits my lock down stature.

 

[Sonero]

Looking good!


Gustin have a 23oz black x black funding now, but their recommendation to size up due to the stiffness and lack of normal stretch is concerning. I’ve work the same size in at least 10 of their jeans, ranging from 9oz to 18oz.

My 936 Wranglers measured exactly 32 using the Iron Heart method but my jeans were sold as a 31.9. When I placed the order IH wrote to tell me my jeans being shipped were a 31.6 ! I died a thousand deaths until they found me another pair at 31.8 !! I can tell you that the 31.8 is basically just a 31". What I ideally needed is a 32 1/4 " but it was either this or a 33 which would have been too large. So in conclusion when you buy 25oz jeans expect a give or take with sizing and be flexible.

BRAVESTAR selvedge currently has a pre order for a pair of 25oz sumo denim jeans in a slim straight for around $128. I jumped on it. As well as a 21oz type 3 jacket. Pounce on it now. They sell out like hotcakes.

 

[Pandemic]

^
Have they stretched at all with wear, yet? If you grab the cuff and tug, can you few the opening stretch just a little?

 

[CatsCan]

What I ideally needed is a 32 1/4 " but it was either this or a 33 which would have been too large.

I have seen too many jeans shrink on me too much with the inevitable first wash one day sooner or later or myself expanding that I made it a rule for me, never to buy too thight fitting to begin with. Hopefully yours will loosen up enough. Or do you plan not to wash them?

 

[CatsCan]

My rule of thumb is: When I have comfortable two fingers of space between the waistband at the back seam and my spine, they will fit quite snug after wash. When I can place four fingers without much force between waistband at back seam and my spine, they will stay comfortable for a long time, considering that I am meandring around 72 kilogramm plus and minus 2 Kilos Spring til Late Summer.
Edit: this refers to jeans I know well..

 

[Sonero]

I have seen too many jeans shrink on me too much with the inevitable first wash one day sooner or later or myself expanding that I made it a rule for me, never to buy too thight fitting to begin with. Hopefully yours will loosen up enough. Or do you plan not to wash them?

I don't wash my jeans I put them in the freezer for a few days. I did that all last season with great success.

 

[Sonero]

^
Have they stretched at all with wear, yet? If you grab the cuff and tug, can you few the opening stretch just a little?

Yes they do stretch but not too much. I have been wearing them non stop for two weeks now. It took me well over a week to loosen up the top button enough to button it. Otherwise I have walked 6 miles a day in these jeans putting some serious sweat into them. They are still a work in progress but I am pleased with the results. The thigh area always felt good but the waist with a 25 oz fabric is incredibly stiff not only due to the fabric but the fact that the top button area is especially thick due to the folded seams and doubled fabric. My thumbs are raw from pushing buttons through.

 

[CatsCan]

I don't wash my jeans I put them in the freezer for a few days.

Although this written so often on the internet, it is also written that this is one of the widest spread myths that had been busted by experiments. Scientists have found, that deterioration of the fabric could be even faster. Here is why:
In experiments with a 15 month unwashed jeans they found the biggest colonies of bacteria in the crotch area. These were normal skin bacteria. The temps of a houshold freezer were slowing down or halting the reproduction rate of these bacteria. They didn't kill 'em. In the moment when the jeans was pulled out of the freezer, the fabric took up more moisture from the warm air as normally at room temp due to condensation physics, it warmed up again, especially when they were put on only minutes later, and the little bugs met the ideal conditions and their population exploded. Now comes some biochemical theory: especially in the crotch area they breed on skin fats, protein from dead skin cells, sweat. Bacterial metabolites can damage the cotton fibres and speed up their decay. So far.

With my first dry selvedges I had done the same. But then I switched to my hair dryer method. I put the hair dryer on a hot setting and blew the hell out of these little bugs. The air coming from the hair dryer can reach a few hundred degrees celsius (500 - 800° F) but with a bit of caution taken you will not burn the denim. Heat the area up slowely and without a constant blow. The fabric will heat up to more than 100 degrees C (212°C) after two or three minutes and this will help reducing the population enormously and make the jeans smell fresh. It is kind of a home made dry cleaning method so to speak. But as I already wrote, I gave up not washing my jeans.

 

[Sonero]

Well my theory about this is for a pair of Wrangler 936 that cost $36 I 'd be willing to throw them away at the end of the season and chalk it up to $36 well spent on great looking jeans for the season.

As far as IronHeart goes at $400 a pair. YES I will eventually rinse them in a bucket but not for awhile. I really want to do the best I can to break them in pre soak. I can see myself waiting a year.

 

[Pandemic]

Personally, I say give them a gentle wash or soak when they are dirty. Leaving dirt and other material in the fabric will lead it to break down faster.

 

[CatsCan]

@Sonero: I would second what JustinW said. The problem is that this 25oz jeans could shrink too much. This is the reason why I don't buy tight fitting anymore since I decided to wash every new jeans at 30° in delicates setting before the first wear (I say to myself, I let my machine warm soak them for me, to get shrinkage out). But I am not going for high contrast fades anyway.

If you are after exiting high contrast fades in one year, you are of course doing the best thing you can in breaking them in and never wash them. Is this the case, then am I curious how they develope!

What about a monthly fade update? I would really appreciate that very much!

 

[Sonero]

What about a monthly fade update? I would really appreciate that very much!

I will let everyone know if I see something develop. I am not a fade guy by any means. Totally the opposite. I like my jeans dark and starched.

 

[Pandemic]

I’ve mostly preferred the look of fresh, dark, crisp indigo but lately I’ve come to appreciate fades as well. Nice to have some ‘good’ jeans for Fridays at work and something with more character for the weekend.

 

[Edward]

I was born in '47, graduated in '65 and wore jeans ever since I was a young lad in the '50s. Never knew anyone back then who had the slightest concern for certain 'fades'. James Dean came to my Grandma's house for many Sunday dinners as he and my Uncle rode motorcycles together in our hometown and later when Dean returned for visits. They wore department store jeans just like all of us did at the time. It is true that my grade school jeans were bought to roll up allowing for the gradual shrinkage and were of a courser denim. However, I think much of this denim detailing is imagined history mainly reconstructed for modern denim aficionados to romance.

Leather jackets are in a different category. Big diff between an off the rack mall jacket and a top tier custom. Leather wise, construction, style and most importantly...fit. I won't go into a long diatribe since IMO it should be quite obvious.

I tend to agree with you on jeans.... it does feel like there's a lot of romantic fiction being sold to justify "designer brand" prices.

I don't care for many of the big brands that are popular with the denim heads because the cuts are too modern (low waist / skinny legs) for my comfort. Wrangler 13MWZs have been a revelation for me, buying on import. (I'm sure there's a different model name they could well be sold under in the UK, though probably at several times the price!). My most expensive jeans are my SJCs, which are very nice indeed. Day to day, I wear the Wranglers. Also fond of some I picked up from Soldier of Fortune, which I think are made by the German company Luctec(? Something like that). Selvedge, fifty quid. Nice wide leg, high waist. MY wife wears jeans from our local supermarket brand, which are both cheap and ethically produced. I'd try 'em myself if they did an 'adult' cut for men (waist band somewhere actually near the waistline, leg wider than a pipecleaner....), but that's the game - the quality looks great, but they keep cost down by playing to fashion for high unit sales. I used to love my Prison Blues, but they are harder to find and so a bit pricier here. Freddies were nice at £50, but imo when the price reached £100 for a pair, there's better value out there.

I like my denim around 12-15oz; not worried about the super-heavy stuff. Selvedge is nice and everything, but aside from that little tick on my cuffs, I don't find it makes any difference whatever in terms of longevity, durability, comfort or fit. Actually, the biggest difference I find from price band to price band is the hardware. I like both studs and zips; on cheaper jeans studs are generally fine, but I have found that zips can vary a lot. Yet to find the solid brass ykk in my 13MWZs bettered. Cheaper jeans also, if not careful, have a tendency to make the fly too short in a higher waist, so you have to drop trew to pee. Hate that.

I do think a lot of the big money jeans don't seem to wear very long, though I suspect often that's down to the "no washing" fetish that keeps bacteria and "unseen" dirt in them too long.

My ultimate denim wishlist is:

A 13mwz in black but traditional denim weave, so the cuffs contrast the leg. Not worn black jeans in over a decade now, but I'd buy a pair if that worked. I don't wear jeans uncuffed - purely aesthically, don't care for the look.

A 'fixer' component I could use on new jeans to stop them fading. I don't care for 'fades' of any sort. I'd much rather they stay uniform dark as long as possible. Have actually redyed some in the past, though it kills the cuffs.

 

[Pandemic]

Something I really appreciate on Ciano Farmer jeans in the heavy canvas pocket bags and back pocket reinforcement. Hate it when jeans pockets start wearing through and you lose confidence in your stuff not disappearing. Tellason and Gustin also do really good pockets, but CF are in a league of their own.

 

[Edward]

Something I really appreciate on Ciano Farmer jeans in the heavy canvas pocket bags and back pocket reinforcement. Hate it when jeans pockets start wearing through and you lose confidence in your stuff not disappearing. Tellason and Gustin also do really good pockets, but CF are in a league of their own.

I got one of those 'keysmart' devices which lets you fold your keys in like a Swiss Army knife. (Doesn't take them all... Yale types only, but still.) Not had a pocket liner wear through since. Agreed, though, it is an area where a lot of stuff lets itself down. The actual denim is only part of the quality issue.

 

[Turnip]

The 666 are truely fantastic pants!

...​

And is there any cooler model number out there?


​

 

[Pandemic]

And is there any cooler model number out there?


​

Ladies fit IH69?