I have written before about my buddy Kiya’s high end denim store Self Edge, here in the Mission.
On the weekends I ocassionally hang out in Self Edge to yo-yo with Kiya and listen to him talk to customers about the characteristics of really expensive raw denim pants from Japan. One of the things that really struck a chord with me, was the notion of wearing in the pants to fit the owner.
Off the shelf, raw denim pants are often characterized by thick/starchy feel. Denim freaks wear the pants for weeks before the pants start to break in. I guess each pair could be seen as a constant work in progress, never quite broken in, just better with each wear.
Last weekend I started to think about my upcoming tour in March and the thought popped up that a week and a half of touring would be a great way to get intimate with a pair of jeans. More thoughts appeared like “one pair of jeans would really make packing easier” and “every time I wear them I’d remember the tour that I broke them in on”.
The following monday I couldn’t take it anymore, so I went down to Self Edge with Shannon and we bought a pair of $290 selvage jeans. We picked out a pair of Samurai Jeans. I guess the idea of wearing some really stiff tight jeans on a tour didn’t sound as good after a bit, so I’m starting the process now.
Like I said it’s probably going to take a while before the pants get comfy, but as you wear them the pants really shape to your body. After wearing them for a full day, the pants were still really crunchy. In fact, when I took them off my hot bod they totally retained my body’s shape. So much so that they could stand upright completely by themselves!
After a few days I tried to get them to stand upright again, but they would keep crumbling at the knee. It was glorious! They were breaking in.
After breaking in the pants for a week, I will soak the pants in water (Evian? Just kidding.) for a half hour which will make them shrink a whole bunch. Then I’ll wear them in another week before bringing them back to Kiya’s place to get hemmed. The pants are really long right now, so I expect that even after soaking them I’ll have a bunch of material to remove… hopefully enough to make something really really cool. A wallet. Or perhaps another denim hat?
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