Everything Jeans!
I thought jeans were just something you wore on your legs to make it through the cold seasons. After reading about the way Nudie Jeans views denim, I’ve decided I don’t even know what jeans are!
Take a look at this fabulous chart from the Nudie Jeans website:
I was left with two questions after seeing this:
Question #1- What the heck is dry denim anyway?
Answer: Dry denim is jeans that haven’t been washed yet.
Question #2- You could literally go 6 months without washing your jeans?
Answer: If you want to save on laundry money…yes! That’s a joke. But in all seriousness, dry denim can wait to be washed to preserve the color and soften the fabric just like a good pair of leather boots. Most jeans are pre-washed so the fabric has been softened and the color has already been treated.
I’ve always felt that out of any piece of clothing that I’ve ever worn, jeans would never fail me. One time in high school, I tripped and skidded across the ground while a stranger watched me get up with giant holes on my knees…classic. Another time I was running around with my friends in bell bottoms, when those were totally the coolest thing to wear, when someone stepped on the ends of my jeans. All of a sudden I could feel a breeze going up the back of my leg.
These are extreme examples, but for the most part we are ok with roughing up jeans, getting them dirty, making holes, cutting, and patching them up. If I ever made a hole in any of my other clothes I would be extremely annoyed and most likely throw it away. With jeans, I just laugh at the story, patch up the mess, and feel like I look “cooler” with the new distressed look.
Jeans feel indestructible compared to all my other clothes. Anyone else feel me on this one? And yet jeans are always getting ripped up. I’m going to get a little philosophical here, but jeans feel like a representation of our lives. We get so many scars along the way and yet we are resilient. Check out this video from Nobody Denim and let me know how you feel by the end of it.
Humanity.
This is the first word that came to mind when I watched this video. Real hands, real people, and real lives making my jeans.
I love how Monkee Genes puts it: No Blood. No Sweat. No Tears. I want jeans with that tell a story. Other companies like Kuyichi or IOU Project are part of making a greater story, connecting our daily lives to the lives of others through simply making jeans.
What stories are your jeans telling?