This has been a work in progress for quite some time now.  My buddy, Matt Perez, was working for RRL, which is the heritage workwear line of Ralph Lauren clothing, when he introduced me to the kind of denim I am wearing now.  That led to the beginning of an obsession and kickstarted my exploration into this world. 

I had already spent a good year and a half wearing a couple pairs of jeans but never documented them really well.  Most denim heads are obsessed with every little detail and process of how the jeans fade and break in. I felt like most of the updates from other blogs were only pictures of about 6 to 12 months in and after they had been washed for the first time.  After a conversation with my wife, Brittany, I decided to do weekly and detailed updates so I could capture every bit of the experience with a few interesting posts on my friends and their denim as well.  So on the way home from visiting my family in Georgia, we stopped at Need Supply Co. in Richmond, VA to pick up a pair and start the following week. 

Denim is one of those products that has withstood time.  From fashion shift to fashion shift we still find it deeply rooted in culture all over the world.  There are very few articles of clothing that can say that.  It’s actually quite fascinating when you think about it.  From the 1800s until now denim has played a pretty major role in our history. That, coupled with my obsession for handmade products, has led me to where I stand with it now. 

Raw denim is what we are talking about here. I mean the kind that feels like cardboard and has never seen or touched water.  It’s in its natural unwashed state and made of 100% cotton. The kind I am wearing, more specifically, are referred to as “Selvedge” or “Self Edge” denim.  A selvedge line is “the edge of woven fabric finished so as to prevent raveling, often in a narrow tape effect, different from the body of the fabric” (dictionary.com).  This denim is hand woven on shuttle looms and dyed with real indigo, which gives it the blue color we are all familiar with.  Then companies buy it, most commonly from Japan, and craft them by hand the way they were originally made back when it first hit the scene. 

If you wear it for a really long time and don’t wash it, then it will mold to your body and produce high contrasting fades that represent your day to day life, and that’s why I love it. 

This is what non-selvedge denim looks like.

This is what selvedge denim looks like.

Well, I tried a couple of different pairs since I started getting into this and so far the “Weird Guy” fit from Naked and Famous Denim feels the best.  So when I stopped at Need Supply Co. and tried on many different brands I wasn’t surprised at all when I landed on the ones I am wearing right now.  What intrigued me about them though is that they were “left hand twill” denim, which refers to how they are woven versus the more common “right hand twill” style.  It would take some time to fully explain that and I would suggest for anyone interested in gaining more knowledge about raw denim should visit Rawr Denim.  In short, it makes them a bit more soft to the touch and creates a different type of contrast as it fades. 

Here are some pictures sourced from Naked and Famous’ website of the pair I got.

Brand: Naked and Famous

Fit: Weird Guy

Type: Left Hand Twill Selvedge

Definitely not. It’s kind of funny how you can fall in love with a pair of jeans. Every time you put them on they have that “perfect” feeling. There are truly few things in clothing better than quality denim that feels like the perfect pair.  This is why you don’t wash them.  The fact that they mold to your body is the whole point. 

Yeah. I have so many people ask me that same question. Honestly it just sounds really gross, but it’s really not that bad. There are many tricks you can use along the way to help you combat the funk though. Most of the smell you get in jeans is caused from a build up of bacteria.  One trick is to put them in the freezer for a few hours or even overnight.  This will kill any odor-causing bacteria and give you a less stinky jean.  I have also heard about spraying Febreeze on them or even rubbing dryer sheets all over the inside. The whole point, though, is to take them on a journey. If they get a little stain here and there or start to get too much build up of dirt, it just adds to the character. However, I do understand that this is not for everybody and it can require quite a bit of determination as well as being a ninja at not getting food on them. 

I think for me it is mostly something that feeds an obsession. So the main thing to accomplish is some killer fades! Even more than that is the fact that I will essentially be living in these things and to think about how many places they will go with me over this next year will be so much fun. Plus, I will get to reminisce about all the shenanigans that will come along with the whole thing. Lastly will be the social side to this experiment. I can’t wait to enjoy all of the goofy conversations or looks I will get when I explain what I am doing (especially from germaphobes).

I would just encourage people initially to educate themselves about it and then go for it. Each person’s experience will be vastly different. I can just forewarn you — once you start, you are guaranteed to get sucked into the world of raw denim and all of its awesomeness.  

Thanks so much, Austin! Be sure to follow along with his adventures in raw denim at Indigo Trails.