Lee Riders - Japan Repros

[bristolherc]

Those are very cool looking jeans.

how the hell do you wear jeans for a year or two with only a couple of washes and not have 'em smellin' like a ballsack after a couple months?

Don't leave them on the "floordrobe" for the missus to scoop up and wash with your stinky gym gear...

Bevan

 

[Grant]

Thanks Allen.
Just wear the hell out of them and every now and them hang em outside to air out. When you do wash, don't use modern petroleum based detergents and NEVER throw them in the dryer - that is unless you want a nice looking pair of mall jeans.

Don't know about others but I've never had a problem with rank smelling denim.

Bevan's advise is also good.

 

[Swing]

Those are very cool looking jeans.

I have no knowledge of the retro jeans thing so I'm assuming they are washed as little as possible to keep the indigo dark and let the high spots fade? Second question is, and again I'm assuming they don't get worn every day, how the hell do you wear jeans for a year or two with only a couple of washes and not have 'em smellin' like a ballsack after a couple months?

Avoiding washing is to increase the contrast between the worn and non worn areas. That's fine, but IMO doesn't create jeans that look like they did 40, 50, 60 years ago, because people back then washed their jeans when they were dirty.

Here's my entry pix for the Full Count contest being held by Blue in Green clothing store. They're model 0105C and I wore them roughly 300 to 320 days between March 3, 2009 and March 1, 2010. They went through the washing machine just over 20 times and through the dryer a dozen or so over the course of the year.

Wear daily, wash as needed, the jeans will fade just fine.

~Swing

 

[Grant]

Swing, glad you're happy with your Full Counts but if you'd waited and not washed them as much they'd have looked much better IMHO. Sorry to disagree with you but modern washing machines and detergents are super efficient and wash out a lot of the character and contrast that selvage denim can get if allowed to fade and wear through time and use. I wouldn't advise anyone who'd go out and spend big bucks on selvage denim from Cone Mills or Japan to wash and dry as needed and then expect to get a true vintage look.

 

[Swing]

Swing, glad you're happy with your Full Counts but if you'd waited and not washed them as much they'd have looked much better IMHO.

I am happy with them, and photos don't begin to capture the beauty I see in them in person (and photobucket has shrunk these photos waaay down and lost a lot of detail). Not to be arguementative at all, because it all comes down to personal taste, but I'm wondering what would have made them look "better"? Higher contrast? Sharp whiskers and combs? I understand the appeal of those features, and with the current pair of contest jeans I'm wearing (LVC 55s) I'm going to drag out the things to the next wash as long as possible to try to encourage combs to really set in. But, I think a lot of the jeans I see at superfuture with insane combs and super contrasty fades wind up looking too extreme or contrived, and not vintage at all. And my friend who was a teen in the 50s thinks my jeans don't look right "they didn't fade like that will those really worn areas, they just really gradually faded to a lighter blue". To him the jeans I've shown him on Superfuture and in the Denim Buyers Guide don't look anything like the jeans he wore in the 50s and 60s.

As for modern soaps and washing machines vs. ones in the 50s.... I don't know about the soap, but I know older machines were much more aggressive with their aggitation and washing process. The front loader we currently have squirts a little water in and tumbles the clothing back and forth, and IMO doesn't get them anywhere near as clean as our old top loaders did. Sometimes I don't like progress!

~Swing

 

[Grant]

A lot of the dudes posting photos on Superfuture are into that exaggerated contrasty fade look which I agree is not realistic at all if you're trying to get a vintage look to your denim. I know I won't win any SF contest's how I choose to wear my denim but I'm not after that look. It does come down to personal preference, but for me it's trying to emulate the look of 30's-60's denim work wear I own and those I've been fortunate to see first hand from other collectors. If you ever get a chance, look at vintage denim in the flesh and you'll see what I mean. It's a subtle look to the fades mixed with some discoloration that gives denim the look I prefer. IMO, the best repro denim I've seen are those worn by guys that avoid the washing machine as much as possible and aren't afraid if the denim gets a little dirty and discolored. I don't mean to boast but the eight year old '44 Edwin Lee's I wear fool a lot of serious work wear collectors who mistake them for original until they look closely. They don't have super exaggerated combs or whiskers but have a time worn look you can't get after less than a years wear and 20 washing and dryings.

This is just my opinion and maybe your photos are too light or whatever, but the extreme light areas look like they've had all the indigo washed out of them from too many washings. They also look too clean and pristine. Again, just my opinion. If you like them that's all that matters.

 

[Swing]

This is just my opinion and maybe your photos are too light or whatever, but the extreme light areas look like they've had all the indigo washed out of them from too many washings. They also look too clean and pristine. Again, just my opinion. If you like them that's all that matters.

The close up gives a better idea of the worn areas, they're not as white as they look in the big photos, but then again, the color of those jeans changes dramatically depending on the light.

I washed 'em two weeks before those photos were taken. Beyond that the worn areas start to look kinda grungy, which isn't a problem, but I wanted 'em nice and neat for the contest photos.

~Swing

 

[Burnsie]

I've never had a pair of jeans (Lee or Levi's) get the exagerrated whiskers, "hega" or "hige" or whatever else - and I'm a strictly cold water wash when necessary and hang dry jeans wearer. They tend to fade pretty evenly. As for the more elaborate methods of getting an "authentic" look I laugh at the idea of a cowboy on the range putting his jeans in the icebox to kill the smell! I imagine jeans were washed and even put in the dryer with greater frequency in the 50's as those appliances were increasingly common. Anyone still using a 50's washer can tell us for sure how they wear! For me - lots of wear, cold water, no dryer!

 

[Burnsie]

1936 with 9 months heavy wear. Even fade - more color loss than I like due to over washing. Cold water wash - several times in the dryer to shrink: