Denim Blunders, Reflections and General Nonsense.

[Double 0 Soul]

54 minutes ago, Maynard Friedman said:

^ This is proof that you can be both a Winner and a Loser at the same time 😆

Pfft! .. you came second, a looser in both regards

Edited April 3 by Double 0 Soul

[Double 0 Soul]

‘Feet up Fridays’ .. revisited 

 

Going out to all the old heads who remember it.. especially Rivet Head who invented it 

Edited April 4 by Double 0 Soul

[smoothsailor]

Yes rings a bell, mostly engineers and a desktop

[Double 0 Soul]

On 4/3/2025 at 5:10 AM, mlwdp said:

Don’t know exactly what we’re trying to “liberate” from.

A profitable stock market ?

[rodeo bill]

Yesterday I did a slot at my son's elementary school careers day, and talked with a group of third graders (8-9 year olds) about being a fashion designer. They were all great, and one kid was really pleased when he was pulling apart a cutting of denim that I'd passed around and saw that the inside of the yarn was white. "this must be why jeans get white when they get worn out". I swelled with pride on behalf of all of us.

[Cold Summer]

On 4/3/2025 at 1:23 AM, Double 0 Soul said:

It's all about the fades lads.. while you're sat in your air conditioned office playing Candy Crush and sipping single origin, you ain't fading shit.. but once all the  labourious jobs come back with their terrible working conditions your denimz will look fkin dope! .. you'll be dead by 50 but hey, you can't afford medical insurance anyhow so win-win.. 👖💪 🔥

This comment reminds me how a while ago, I gave serious thought to the Best Jobs For Fading Denim. The best one I came up with was "professional moving service," for both jeans and jackets. If you've moving boxes and furniture, you're doing a lot of bending over, squatting, lifting, carrying, and so on, but you're not really getting that dirty or getting weird substances all over your clothes necessitating more frequent washing (hence why something like "working on an oil field" wouldn't be a great suggestion.) It's hard, physical work, but not really all that dangerous, and less destructive/strenuous than other blue-collar professions. There's also not necessarily a ton of going down on your knees, which tends to destroy your jeans faster/be a downside of some blue-collar trades.

These would seem like ideal conditions for getting good fades - though it's possible that holding/carrying stuff right up against your garments could lead to some unexpected/undesirable fading.

Anybody on here ever fade denim working for a moving service? Let us know how it turned out!

[Talan]

^ No need to reinvent the wheel — gold mining is the express lane to maximum fade-out, with none of the pesky originality 🤣.

[Dr_Heech]

3 hours ago, Cold Summer said:

This comment reminds me how a while ago, I gave serious thought to the Best Jobs For Fading Denim. The best one I came up with was "professional moving service," for both jeans and jackets. If you've moving boxes and furniture, you're doing a lot of bending over, squatting, lifting, carrying, and so on, but you're not really getting that dirty or getting weird substances all over your clothes necessitating more frequent washing (hence why something like "working on an oil field" wouldn't be a great suggestion.) It's hard, physical work, but not really all that dangerous, and less destructive/strenuous than other blue-collar professions. There's also not necessarily a ton of going down on your knees, which tends to destroy your jeans faster/be a downside of some blue-collar trades.

These would seem like ideal conditions for getting good fades - though it's possible that holding/carrying stuff right up against your garments could lead to some unexpected/undesirable fading.

Anybody on here ever fade denim working for a moving service? Let us know how it turned out!

When l worked for a removal company back in around 2000, l was so hot when doing the job (as were all my colleagues) that it necessitated shorts and t-shirt, even in the cooler months. Obviously my shorts were cut off vintage 501XX 😁

In 2006 l qualified as a drystone waller which l thought would be perfect as l combine my passion for old denim with my passion for being out in nature with my other passion for making things with my hands (l spent 6 years studying sculpture/being a sculptor). Definitely one of the best jobs to enjoy a faded denim tux, unless it's constantly pouring it down with rain of course. The only problem was that my denim wore out too quickly so it wasn't cost effective in the end.

Edited Monday at 05:03 PM by Dr_Heech
To edit obvs

[julian-wolf]

52 minutes ago, Cold Summer said:

you're not really getting that dirty or getting weird substances all over your clothes necessitating more frequent washing

I think you’ve got this part completely backwards. All the best fades come from folks who get their jeans dirty as hell and wash as needed. I’d bet that drywall dust, wood shavings, or just plain dirt do more to fade jeans than any comparable amount of walking up and down stairs all nice and clean.

[Double 0 Soul]

Yep, I’m with JW on this one, it’s the dust and grime held within the fibres of the denim which acts as an abrasive as you move around.. if that dust is coal dust or sulphur dust for instance then you need to wash more often but if that dust be inert, wood dust or fine particles of sand then you can go for long periods without washing away the cause of the abrasion.

It’s a bit like your car mats, you can hoover the shit out of them so they look clean but bash them with a stick (like your granny did with the rug on the washing line before the invention of the vacuum cleaner) and dust still plooms out.. because the fibres are holding it in.

Edited Monday at 04:36 PM by Double 0 Soul

[Cold Summer]

3 hours ago, Double 0 Soul said:

if that dust is coal dust or sulphur dust for instance then you need to wash more often but if that dust be inert, wood dust or fine particles of sand then you can go for long periods without washing away the cause of the abrasion.

I can see that, based on the actual cool faded vintage jeans I've seen, the best-looking ones (e.g., Goldenstatevintage on Instagram, who's always finding stuff in abandoned farmhouses and that sort of thing) seem to have been worn by farmers or ranchers. Lots of dust, dirt, sand, etc. doing that kind of work, but relatively little wear to the seat and knees. I tend to think that the nature of the work gets the nice fading at the creases, while the dirt and dust has more of an impact on the overall color and texture of the jeans. I've never been convinced that commonly suggested environmental factors (SE Asia heat and humidity, snow, etc.) has any impact at all on contrast.

On the other hand I'm just a boring suburban dad who works in front of a computer, and I'm still quite pleased with how my jeans turn out most of the time.

[Double 0 Soul]

I can't imagine snow having any effect on contrast.. i'd give heat and humidity the benefit of the doubt, you will sweat more in this type of environment, the sweat will dry overnight resulting in more salt content within the denim fibres resulting in more abrasion.. or i assume that's the theory?

[mlwdp]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DIOzTrCgZlO/?img_index=4&igsh=cWU5Ynd1aXdqa2Yz

[ATWM]

32 minutes ago, mlwdp said:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DIOzTrCgZlO/?img_index=4&igsh=cWU5Ynd1aXdqa2Yz

Talk about nonsense. Yep. Currently have a parcel en route, we’ll see what happens to that. 

[Maynard Friedman]

Unless it’s from China, it may just be 10% now…

[Double 0 Soul]

One of my customers makes product in the UK for the European market, product in Brazil for the SA market, Vietman for the SEA market and TX for the US market.. but all the chemicals needed to produce these products comes from China.. so the US arm of the business is now going to be mothballed with the loss of 100s of jobs because the raw materials from China will now cost more than the finished product. Tragic really..

You need to get some good old poison chemical factories opened up.. pronto like!

Edited Wednesday at 07:53 PM by Double 0 Soul

[reubensangwich]

27 minutes ago, ATWM said:

Talk about nonsense. Yep. Currently have a parcel en route, we’ll see what happens to that. 

It's not until May 2nd that the tariffs on packages under $800 kick in, and that will only be on packages from China. It seems like we still have some time before he hits Japan too.

[ATWM]

24 minutes ago, reubensangwich said:

It's not until May 2nd that the tariffs on packages under $800 kick in, and that will only be on packages from China. It seems like we still have some time before he hits Japan too.

Good reminder. 

Seems like, but ... this is a wild ride. 

[Thekhan]

On 4/4/2025 at 8:52 PM, rodeo bill said:

Yesterday I did a slot at my son's elementary school careers day, and talked with a group of third graders (8-9 year olds) about being a fashion designer. They were all great, and one kid was really pleased when he was pulling apart a cutting of denim that I'd passed around and saw that the inside of the yarn was white. "this must be why jeans get white when they get worn out". I swelled with pride on behalf of all of us.

What a wonderful experience to gain on both ends 🥹

[Thekhan]

I have been on an extraneous journey to find the perfect jeans that fit my many personalities and styles. I remember have a pair dark blue tapered denim Levi’s and black slim fit true religion jeans that fit me perfect. Life took them away from and I have yet to find a pair like either, and it doesn’t help that I don’t remember the exact style of either now I’m back on the hunt. This journey has brought me me to Benzak’s B-01s and 02s and Momotaro’s wide straight. I have even venture back into time and found a pair of light washed Robin jeans. 

[Talan]

^ Cool pics, man — that last one’s especially dope.

[julian-wolf]

@Thekhan Welcome—what are the sewing machines for?

[reallypeacedoff]

Too scared to look at the price...at least a whole roll of denim in this pair.

 

[shredwin_206]

@Cold Summer @Double 0 Soul @julian-wolf truly the best fades come from hard work and frequent washing. I wear my stuff for work as a plumbing apprentice. Kneeling, crawling, crouching, climbing you name it. And it really is cool to push some of the higher end denim to the limits. Not cost effective at all. Wrangler 13MWZ last just as long and look great faded and only cost about $30 vs Freewheelers and Warehouse that are closer to $280 haha 

[aho]

@shredwin_206 have you ever broken in Eternals or SDA? Some famously stubborn denim, I'd be curious to see what you could do to them 😆