2015/06/01

Break-in of dry jeans

Bored by jeans which cost 90 Euros at the warehouse and still break relatively soon, and which do not really fit anyway - being as tall as 1,97 m high-water pants are an issue -, I stumbled across the company Nudie Jeans in Sweden.

Nudie produces jeans made by organic cotton and keeps an eye on the labor conditions under which these jeans are made, you can read about all this on their web site, while you can be sure that with a 501 or so the manufacturer does not care in any way where the cotton comes from or under which conditions the trousers are sewed. Additionally, they still have jeans for less than 100 euros. Thus it’s a friendly company. But they have a marketing concept which does not only target people with a conscience, but also people who are jeans fanatics.

The first time I read it I had not understood what they say. They have regular jeans, but there is an extra section which deals with “dry jeans”, and being German I had to understand this is not the opposite of wet - it means not washed. So these are jeans which are sold directly after dying them, like all jeans when I was a child. You had to create the correct color by yourself, likewise scratches and holes. As it turns out, we did it the totally wrong way. As is seems, a whole generation of jeans wearers has not got the best possible our of their jeans, because the jeans were washed after wearing them a couple of times or even before the first time. This is fundamentally wrong.

Or so they say in the instructions on the web site of Nudie. According to this, you have to wear such a new, fresh, stiff, uncomfortable pair of jeans half a year every day, before you may wash it for the first time.

I had read this two years ago with some amazement, but I had not got the idea. I think they do not really explain it; the claim is, you get your own, individual and unique pair of jeans. I ordered two black, washed pants.

I was really happy with them - in the first row because of the stability. So I stopped by at the online store this year again, and again I read the wacky story and this time I ordered a pair of indigo blue dry unwashed jeans.

I followed the instructions. When it gets dirty, you are supposed to brush it or, in case of need, rub it with a wet cloth. Smells are to be combated by venting. As it turns out, this works indeed. Meanwhile, I am wearing them for three months on a nearly daily basis. As a result, I have grown fond of them indeed.

Meanwhile they also have some scuffed spots, especially in the crotch, caused by riding a bike. To be frank, there is already a hole in the crotch; discovering this hole was the disappointment of the day before yesterday. This I have written an e-mail to Nudie, asking if this was normal.

They responded today. They can understand that I am frustrated, however I was not alone with this problem. Depending on the stress, the spot and the style of the jeans, after four to six months of daily wear, they may break and you can never know. However, three months seem to be a short period and a replacement pair would be sent to me. They suggest I repair and/or reinforce the jeans, this could happen again.

This is way cool. I am surprised and touched. What a great company.

Tags: Nonsense, Jeans

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