Levi’s Oldest Jeans               Fade February Fact #17: Denim has been around for a long time, which can lead you to wondering how old the oldest jeans in the world might be. The oldest pair of blue jeans in the world are Levi’s from the year 1879 making them 133 years old, and they’re still in pretty good shape (featured picture). The jeans are a classic blue and worn at the knees.  They’re said to be valued at approximately $150,000.

Hip/Waist Whiskering                       Fade February Fact #16: A lot of jeans out there have already been broken in for the denim consumer, and one of the most common effects is whiskering. Whiskering fades develop from denim rubbing against itself when the wearer is sitting, or bending at the hips and waist, and have gotten their name due to the resemblance to whiskers on an animal.

Naked & Famous Green Cast Denim                       Fade February Fact #15: Jeans can be found in a wide variety of washes and colours, but you may have noticed different tones and shades of your indigo jeans as well. The term ‘cast’ is used to describe the undertone of your blue jeans. Depending on the type of dye used, indigo denim can have a black, brown, green, red, or even yellow cast to it. The jeans we have featured here are Naked & Famous Green Cast Denim.

Indigo Rope Dyeing                 Fade February Fact #14: The process of rope dyeing consists of threads being twisted into a rope that is fed through multiple sequences of indigo dip dyeing, followed by exposure to air. The amount of dips determines the intensity of the colour. Rope dyeing is considered to be the best way to get denim yarns to their truest blue. With this process of dyeing, the yarns stay light to white in the centre, which creates higher contrast fades with wear.

Hidden Rivets Fade February Fact #13: As we learned yesterday, rivets are essential to our jeans staying in one piece, but they do have their draw backs in terms of functionality. In 1937 Levi’s began to cover their rivets due to customer complaints about damaging goods they came into contact with; such as furniture and saddles. These days you might notice that the rivets holding on your back pockets are covered by the construction of the pockets so you don’t go ripping up your chairs and couches.

Front Pocket Rivet Fade February Fact #12: You may have noticed small copper or silver colour metal stamps around the pocket corners of your jeans. At first glance they can look as though they are just there for decoration, or even customization, but they do actually have a function. They are used to reinforce parts of higher stress levels on our jeans. These bad boys keeps our jeans intact. Thanks, rivets!

Atari – Stacking Fade February Fact #11: Japanese denim is among the most sought after by many denim connoisseur’s, and for good reason. The Japanese word referring to the most prevalent fades on jeans is ”Atari”. It doesn’t refer to one specific spot on the jeans, rather just to the most visible. In this image we can see ”stacking” which comes from having a tapered jean’s extra length stack up around the ankle, as opposed to being hemmed or cuffed.

Shrink-to-Fit Levi’s Fade February Fact #10: Yesterday we talked about sanforization, and how it prevents your jeans from shrinking. Most jeans out there today have undergone that process, but you can still get jeans that are unsanforized. A common term for these jeans is ‘shrink to fit’. This is because they will shrink down about 10%. This equals out to about 1-2 inches throughout the waist, and up to 4 inches in the length. This is actually how all jeans were made up until about the 50’s. The hard core denim enthusiasts will sit in a tub with the unsanforized jeans on, and wear them as they dry in order to get the most customized fit possible.

Washing Instruction Symbols Fade February Fact #9: A myth with the care of jeans is that they will shrink when washed, but that isn’t usually the case. The majority of  jeans available in the marketplace today have undergone a process called sanforization. Sanforization is the process of stretching and manipulating the yarns of the fabric prior to any washing so that any shrinking during future washes will be minimized. If jeans are not sanforized they can shrink approximately 10% when they get wet, but after sanforization jeans will only shrink up 1-2%, and that’s typically only in the length.

Wrangler Jeans, Lee Jeans, Levi Strauss & Co. Fade February Fact #8: There are so many denim brands in the marketplace today that it’s hard to keep track of what’s even available to us, but that hasn’t always been the case. Before denim was fashion, and work-wear was just a style, there were 3 brands that helped start it all. The brands were Lee Jeans, Levi Strauss & Co. and Wrangler. Lee Jeans were first manufactured in 1889 in Kansas, Levi’s were first manufactured in 1873, and Wrangler came on to the scene in the year 1940. Hats of to ‘The Big Three’ for helping get us where we are today.