Denim Diary

Photo of me in my  A.P.C. Hipsters, size 30, purchase in mid-September 2006

If I started a clothing company, I’d want the hang tags to tell the garment’s story, like a J. Peterman catalogue dangling there for customers to read as they hold my creations.

Inspired by 45rpm’s NYC Denim Diary, I thought I’d provide a diary entry of my own for the pair pictured.

The second pair of jeans I bought from Jean Touitou are my favorite. The Cures cut too close to my calves. Hipsters, with their wider leg, suited me just fine. Purchased to celebrate the opening of a play I’d produced with some friends, I remember someone commented on their “shine” at the after-party. These were straight-up, raw as the law selvedge denim. My boss called them my “tighties” for the first couple months. I wore them to sleep a few times hoping they’d loosen up a bit.  I wore them nearly every day. In December of that year, I had about an inch chopped off the cuffs. I didn’t wash them until March, and by that time, despite leaving them in a freezer for a couple days, they’d knock people out with their smokey smell. Now, I put them in with the regular laundry; I don’t turn them inside out; I wash them once or twice a month. All the fading, whiskers, holes, and stains are of my own doing. They have torn twice. I’ve had them repaired by some folks in Cincinnati who do a bang-up job. Unless I point it out, the repair goes undetected. Over the holidays, they incurred another hole. Like The Pretenders, they’re going back to Ohio.

I’ll have a full write-up on denim repair in a couple weeks.