1 Month: Jan 28th - Feb 4th

I can't believe it's already been a month in my jeans.  Time flies man.  Here is my first official monthly recap.  I have already had a couple of things that have happened in these guys that I wish had not but kind of am glad because I feel like it gives it some good "authenticity" as we get more down the road here.  Since my last update last week, these jeans have been through 3 snows, sitting in frosting, and spilling a water bottle on them today.  Oh well.  It doesn't seem to have messed them up at all.  I was a bit worried about too much indigo bleeding out unevenly between the snows and me spilling half a bottle of water on them this morning, but it's not even obvious.  As for the icing, I just wiped it off with a rag and it came off just fine. :)  We spent the evening in West Philly with our friends Erich and Blaine for a super bowl party when we ran into a snow storm on the way back to their apartment.  I'm excited to document both of their Raw jeans.  They each are wearing APC's right now and in August, Erich and I will be making our way down to the shore to do a beach wash on his and I will definitely have every bit of that process documented for you all to enjoy.  So keep an eye out!  Also, because of my blog, I have inspired one of my friends to get into the Raw Denim scene.  My bud, Collin, got a pair of Naked and Famous Super Skinny Left Hand Twills.  I will be putting up shots of him in his new jeans very soon!

Stretch:
As of now, they fit the same.  Which is great.  I may leave this out unless I notice anything significant.

Smell: 
I know most of you don't believe me but they don't really smell any different.  As far as I'm concerned they smell like roses. ;)

Fade:
Some of these fades are getting some nice shape to begin to form.  They are still in the very beginning process of getting going, but I think these guys are going to yield some nice high contrast fades over the next year.  Ahhhh!  I can't wait.  You can see for yourself though.  The only new progress is some "ever so slight" fade in the honeycombs and some interesting butt fades underneath the back pockets.  Oh and in one of the shots, you can see where my iPhone is beginning to wear in my back left pocket.  We will see how these progress.

Until next week,
~austin~

Week 3 Update: January 21st - 28th

Week 3 has arrived and surprisingly, there are a few fades coming in pretty well.  Usually I don't notice any fading until about a month and a half into a new pair.  I guess because these are Left Hand Twill, the softer feel is allowing for faster bleed of the indigo.  This is kindof cool because it is yeilding some pretty quick and satisfying results early on, but I'm curious how these will hold up against the ins and outs of this year.  I'm hoping they get rocked!  Man vs cotton....who will win?

Fade:

The back pocket is fading and coming along.  You can almost make out the shape of my wallet.  Other than that, it's mostly just increased beginnings in the same areas so far.  You can see for yourself in the pictures.

Smell:

Honestly, they still don't really smell.  When they start to though, I'll be sure to document what I do.  (freezer, febreez, dryer sheets...)

Stretch:

There hasn't been any more stretching.  Which is good.  I really like where these landed in this area.  I love the Weird Guy fit from N&F.  Seriously.  It just works for my body type.

Peace and love,
~austin~

Week 2 Update: Jan 14th - 21st

Well it's been two weeks now, and here is the current update.

As far as stretching is concerned, I've gotten around another 1/4" out of the waist.  The thighs and legs feel about the same.  They are completely comfortable to wear now and I think they have stretched as much as they are going to.  I can still get a little more room in the thighs potentially, but other than that I don't see them growing too much more.

They still smell about the same.  (even after some fire pitt fun last night)

The fading has slightly progressed in the same areas that were showing last week.  You will be able to see that the back pocket is fading more from the snap button on my wallet.  As promised, I've included a shot of what my wallet looks like to get an idea of why that fading has started to happen so quickly.

Feel free to share any questions you have about what I'm doing.  I love to talk about denim.

Until next week.....
~austin~

(p.s. Sorry about some of these being out of focus.  I had a setting on my camera messed up)

Week 1 Update: Jan 7th - 14th

Ok so here is the first round of updates on my jeans. They were purchased 2 Saturdays ago on January 5th and I began daily wear on Jan 7th.  Overall, they have stretched about a 1/2" in the waist since last Monday and they have definitely loosened up in the thighs, knees, and butt.  I predict them to continue to stretch about another 1/4" in the waist and a little more in the legs over the next week.  I'm pretty pleased so far with the fit.  I bought them pretty tight since I'm rocking them for an entire year and I think these are going to end up just right.

In terms of fade, there has been some very minimal fading in "typical" areas already.  You can see in the pictures below.  I carry my wallet in my back right pocket and there is some small fading from where the button on it is rubbing.  Also, there is some fading in the crotch and on the back of the jeans in the butt.  You can tell now where my honeycombs will be and in a few areas on the front where they are starting to crease up.  In my next post, I will include a picture of my wallet so you can see what it looks like and begin to compare the fades with its shape.  Lastly, I may be adding a pocket knife to the mix to clip on the inside of my front - right pocket and I will let you know when or if I do and what those fades start to look like.  

The other factor I promised with these updates is the "smelliness" of my jeans.  As of now, they don't really smell at all.  My experience is that there is kindof a plateau in the funk and then it doesn't get too much worse until that 6 month mark.  We will see, but that all depends of what I decide to do in them.  

On a side note, I'm growing a "Chi Gnome" that my wife Brittany gave me for Christmas.  It looked like this when I started and should only take 2 weeks for full growth.  Such an odd gift.

until next week....Cheers!!

~austin~