Sidewalk Life

My Jeans 1st Birthday

I took my jeans down to Jean Shop for inspection on their first birthday.  I wanted to know how I was doing on the wearing-in project. 

This is what they looked like a year ago.

And what they look like a year later - after roughly 45-50 wearings.

As I made my way into the shop, I was looking forward to hearing what a great job I had done wearing them in.  It was late in the afternoon and the store was buzzing - literally, I think they had been hitting the tequila they have on display.  I approached the back of the store where the counter is and seemingly interrupted a conversation with what appeared to be a long time and loyal customer.

"Can I answer any questions for you?" the woman behind the counter asked me.  I was startled a bit because I though she'd immediately recognize that I had on their jeans.  And honestly, I was expecting some kind of recognition that I had them on.  I shook off the slight disappointment and took the opportunity to tell her it was jeans' first birthday and I was looking for evaluation on how the break-in was going.

She looked down at my jeans and shook her head from side to side.  Half in disappointment and half in dismissal.  Then pointed to the jeans her friend/customer was wearing:  "Those are only eight months.  You have a long way to go." 

I took a look at his jeans.  They looked nothing like mine.  They were loose, a softer shade of faded blue and he could fit his hands in the pockets quite easily.  It looked like he'd been wearing them for five years. They looked, well, comfortable! 

I had jean envy.  I asked if the jeans he was wearing were raw denim.  "Sure are", he said.  "I've had them for eight months."  "How did you get them to look like that?," I asked.   Turns out he wears jeans every day and rotates between only two pairs.  I did a quick calculation in my head.  He'd worn his around 120 times by my estimate.  He then told me he washed his in the tub a few times.  "Yep, when they get a little bit funky, I put 'em in the tub, let the water run through the legs a few times, then slide my hand down the outside just to brush off any dirt and stuff and them hang them up to dry in bathroom."  This guy is far more expert than me on wearing in jeans, I thought.

The woman behind the counter then called over the other salesperson.  A young guy in his thirties.  He asked me what was up.   By this time I felt like I had done it all wrong.  Like I had failed at wearing them in properly.  So I asked, "What am I doing wrong?  I've had my jeans longer than him and mine aren't nearly as worn in and comfortable."  "Simple, you gotta wear them more.  Wear them everyday.  Wear the heck out of them.  "See these?", he pointed down to the jeans he was wearing, "only six weeks old."  His did look even more worn in than mine. 

The sales lady interjected, "Don't be afraid to just live in them.  Don't treat them so precious, just live in them."  He added "Wear them more.  Wear them a lot.  I Wear mine every day.  Ten hours a day.  There's no substitute for just wearing them."  I thanked them for the advice and turned to leave the store.

I had come down with such high hopes, but I couldn't help leaving a bit ashamed.  Like I hadn't lived up to the store's expectations.  And honestly, like a denim amateur.  A real jeans person, I thought, could have  accomplished so much more. 

On my walk back to my apartment I started to think about how often I wear them, where I wear them and how I treat them.  Obviously 45 wears over a years time isn't nearly enough.  And I guess wearing them just a few hours some days isn't enough to get it done either.  But wearing these jeans 45 days over the course of a year really is a decent amount, considering I have four other pairs of jeans to get into the rotation, I rarely wear pants in the summer, and frankly, they are uncomfortable - still.  The waistband is rigid.  So is the seat and crotch area.  I'm sure if they were more forgiving I'd be more willing to wear them.

They do have a point about being too precious.  I have been precious with these jeans.  Maybe too precious.  I've never gotten them dirty or spilled anything on them or even gotten them wet.  Well, a couple time I did try misting the inside with a spray bottle of water to see if that would loosen them up.  It did for a while but then the next time I tried them on, they went back to being rigid.

The challenge for me is that I'd like to preserve the darkness of the denim, but make them more comfortable to wear. I guess there's still work to do.

These Jeans Are Turning Me Into A Woman (Day 30)

I've worn these pants at least fifteen more times since the last day I wrote about them.  That puts us at about Day 30.  And I've noticed something odd going on.  Not so much in my pants, but in my head. 

Some days these jeans make me feel fat.  Other days they make me feel skinny.  I don't know how my body dimensions can fluctuate that much from day to day, but I've definitely become an emotional prisoner of my pants. 

This really messes with my body image.  On days they fit a little looser, I feel thin and healthy, and everything is good.  But on the days they feel tight, I get self-conscious wearing them.  I look at the people looking back at me and I think "can they see the waistband digging into the fat around my belly?"   Other times I wonder if people notice that I walk funny in them.  I've noticed it myself.  My gait is restricted by the tightness in the seat (that's the professional term for the part that covers my ass) which makes my feet swing out to the side before  coming back around to land in front of me.  When my jeans feel tight it makes me feel guilty, and then I beat myself up for eating more desserts over the holidays. 

I bought these under the assumption, and the promise, that they'd loosen up over time.  That has not happened.  They have definitely molded to my form.  I can see the imprint of my body all over them.  And that seems to be getting deeper everyday.  But this denim, the raw stuff I paid extra for, does not stretch.  I don't know why I believed that they would, they're about as forgiving as a seat belt. 

I like that I can see my body imprint in them.  But it's still a struggle to feel good in them. 

Working on the Levi's account, gave me a front row seat to people's relationship to their jeans.  I know women feel similar things to what I'm talking about with their their jeans.  They have their "skinny jeans."  They are the ones that make them feel skinniest.   They can also have their morning ruined by a pair of jeans.  It's not uncommon for women to try on three or four different pairs of jeans in the morning before settling on the one that makes them feel least fat. 

I empathize with women now and their struggle with their jeans.  I don't know how they do it. 

Day 15: Time For A Beat-Down

No significant changes today.  But I did have a thought;  Why am I being so precious with these jeans? 

Besides the Carhart jacket I bought a couple of years ago that seems as impenetrable as chain-mail, denim is the toughest fabric I have in my closet.  And the raw denim that I bought these in is even more hard core.  Shouldn't I be treating them with disrespect? 

Instead of sliding them off my feet, nicely folding them and hanging them in my closet, I think it's time I try to break their spirit.   What they need is to be stomped on as I take them off and kicked to the corner of the room to wait for their next opportunity.

I need to get these jeans to scream uncle, because right now, I'm the one begging for mercy.

Day 14: Let It Rain

I broke one of the cardinal rules the sales people at Jean Shop were very explicit about.  I got my jeans wet. 

In my defense, it was an accident.  On my ride home it started raining.  I wasn't about to stop and run for cover.  It was dark and I had no lights on my bike.  I chose to keep peddling and risk a smackdown by the denim police.

Can I just say that riding in wet denim is no picnic?  When denim gets wet it acts like a thirsty elephant soaking up all the water in the immediate vicinity.  And wet jeans tend to stick to your legs like a horny puppy.  While it didn't rain too hard, my jeans soaked up enough water to feel cold and damp when I got home.

So I thought I'd take advantage of the mistake and try one of the more traditional appraoches to custom-fitting new jeans. I let them dry on me.  I sat around my apartment in slightly wet denim until they seemed sufficiently dry to hang them back in the closet.  It looks like it may worked, adding deeper and more pronounced creases in all the right places. 

Day 11, 12, 13: Are Those Your Tight Jeans?

I guess my jeans have a name.  My wife asked me on a couple of occasions if the jeans I'm wearing are my 'tight jeans.'  That wasn't really the image I was going for, but maybe that's how she sees them. 

Anyway, I'm happy to have an outsider opinion that can help keep me motivated. Also, because I can't seem to tell if anything is happening from day to day. 

I've been wearing the jeans only periodically and that hasn't given me the instant gratification I'm looking for.  So I tried a new approach.  I wore them three days in a row to see if that would help.  I don't know why, maybe I thought they'd 'warm up' and be more pliable if I wore them on consecutive days.  My wife thinks they look a bit looser.  I can't tell, but I'm happy if my wife sees progress.

Day 7, 8, 9, 10: Still at It

I've been lazy in my posts for the past couple months, but I started wearing my jeans again since it's fall and below 90 degrees outside.   

I was going to do a post in September called "Lose Weight or Lose the Jeans" since that's what it seems to have come down to.  It's amazing how a few extra pounds will punish your self image when trying to fit into your skinny jeans.  The only upside I guess, if this is an upside, is that I now know exactly where I store extra weight: the trunk and spare tire.  Squeezing the two round hams I'm carrying in the trunk into my jeans was tough enough.  But once I did get my pants over the moon, buttoning them was another humiliating adventure.  Let's just say I had extra dough hanging over the cake pan, to mix metaphors.

There's a good explanation for the extra baggage.  I had a triathlon toward the end of September to compete in and needed to gain back the five pounds I had lost during the season.  So I started on a one-month weight gain program to make the Clydesdale weight of 200 pounds.  Gaining weight while training for triathlons is not an easy thing to do.  You basically have to double the amount of calories you take in everyday.   My diet consisted of my food (just more of it), plus any food left over on my wife's plate, plus three beers per night.  All topped off with some ice cream to end the night. 

Getting back to the jeans.  Over the past month, I've ridden my bike in them.  Not the easiest thing to do with tight, inflexible pants.  I've worn them around the house.  They aren't anywhere close to relaxing.  And I've worn them two days in a row, all day, to see if that will loosen them up.  It didn't and they don't get any more comfortable as the day goes on.  They just get more irritating. 

This is me losing faith.  I'm not sure how long I can keep this up.  I want them to soften up - at the very least.

Day 6: Take Me Out To The Ball Game

Wore my jeans to the Mets-Padres baseball game last night.  (No beer was spilled on them).  I figured it was about time they were baptized into the sports world.  It's the first time I wore them with sneakers.  They're still a little too dark and stiff for that casual sneaker and t-shirt look, but I think I got away with it.

The legs and inseam are still tight, but after sitting through a three hour game, interrupted with an occasional march to the concession stand to get refreshments, I kind of felt like they were loosening up a bit.  Maybe it was all the hot dogs and beer putting outward pressure on the waistband, but they got more comfortable as the game went on. 

Another thing I'm trying is to walk around with my hands in my pockets as much as possible.  Just to get that extras stretch.  It's hard because my hands barely fit in the pockets in the first place, and the stiff fabric feels like it's cutting into the outside of my hands with each step.  I'll keep doing it though because I know I like standing with my hands in my pockets, and eventually they'll need to fit in comfortably.

Day 5: I'm Fat

My weight gain program must be working.  Last night I wore my jeans out and man they were tight.  It was a bit of struggle to get them on it felt like my belly was going to explode the wasitband any second.  It's a good thing they're put together with thick sturdy fabric, metal buttons and rivets. 

I did get my first complement on them though.  So maybe they will be worth it after all.  Plus, I think I see the imprint of my wallet starting to form on the back pocket.

Day 4: Back By Popular Demand

I hung up my jeans for the summer back in late May when the weather started getting hot.  I don't find jeans very comfortable in hot weather and the thought of wearing stiff, tight jeans was not at all appealing.  But since you (at least one of you) asked, I thought I'd wear them out last night and see how they felt. 

It was kind of exciting putting my jeans back on.  I've been working out a lot this summer and have lost some weight, so I anticipated a bit more room in them.  I wouldn't say they felt loose, but they definitely felt weird.  They're still a bit stiff and heavy.  The feeling is probably exaggerated since I've been wearing shorts exclusively since I started freelancing again about a month ago.  Nevertheless they felt pretty good.  Bending over to tie my shoes is getting easier.  My thighs seem to fill them out when I'm sitting down.  It's a bit easier to bend at the waste to tie them.  Once I got completely dressed I felt good.  Like I'm wearing something of substance.  My legs feel almost bullet-proof in them.

It's been really hot this week in New York - in the 90's.  And last night was no exception.  It was in the high 80's when I started walking toward the bar three avenues away.  But the jeans felt good.  A little more flexible in the back of the knees than I remember, but still a bit tight up in the hips and button-fly area.  By the second block into my walk I could tell my legs were heating up.  And by the third block the air inside my jeans was so hot and moist it started to feel like walking in two cans of soup.  It's a bit  worrying since the two ladies who sold me the jeans were very clear that I not get the jeans wet for the first year.   Well I'm not even close to that date so the idea of sweaty jeans started to make more uncomfortable than I was walking in them. 

Things started to feel better after I arrived at the air-conditioned bar, had time to cool off and have a couple of drinks.  Sitting in them for long periods of time is still slightly uncomfortable.  I'm hoping that goes away - soon.  Walking back from the bar after the air outside had cooled down was much more pleasant. 

I hung them up again when I got home, but I promise it won't be that long between wearings again.

Day 3: Taking Shape

My jeans are starting to look like me.  I'm starting to see creases at the knee and pockets.  When I hold them up, I can recognize my shape. 

They still have a long way to go in regard to comfort.  But for now, it seems we're making progress.