Raw denim jeans for a year, washing (drying?!) and fit tips for women

I wore these 14oz (sanforized, one washed) men's Iron Heart 888 selvedge jeans almost every day for the year long Indigo Invitational fading competition. It was a great test in minimalism, reducing daily choices/consumerism and turned out to be one of the most delightful, motivating and community building experiences of my adult life.
Worn 340-ish days of 365, machine washed and dried (15 minute quick cycle, hot wash, inside out with a splash of bleach. Machine dried inside out with towels shoved down the legs to prevent marbling) 19 times - roughly every 2 weeks.
More photos and videos of this pair and others can be found on my instagram: @wear_til_dead
N&F livestream discussing a splash of bleach in your raw denim wash: • Naked & Famous Denim L...
Timestamps:
00:00 - intro
00:43 - 888's cut/size/ fit experience
1:43 - women's fit considerations / waist alteration at Williamsburg Garment Co
2:55 - jeans footage
3:20 - washing/drying
4:05 - repairs
5:09 - 51st place and competition takeaways
6:10 - plans for next competition year
6:27 - photos, day 1 vs day 365 and month 3 vs month 12 on the flat lays

[@aberdeendeltaforce]

I’ve currently bought 2 pairs of identical RGT SK jeans, I’m going to wear them on rotation every day for two years, one pair I am never washing, the other I will wash every two weeks. I will video and photo record them at monthly intervals and upload the results at the end of my experiment. Thanks for the upload, love that little laugh of yours 👍👌❤️

[@dannygonzalez6548]

LOVE IT. The 1st woman I've come across on KZbin talking about raw denim. What a breath of fresh air. Lol'd a few times, thanks for the much needed laughs! Great job! Jeans, content , personality all 10's 🙌🏾

[@sebastianaltmann7988]

Nice! Would love to see more girl with iron heart and similar here 💜

[@Summ3rhays]

Great synopsis. The denim community is pretty great and supportive. Can’t wait for the next competition.

[@35mmlove_eric]

Love your different approach! Many washes, dryer, bleach etc. all the no no stuff and yet they look fantastic!

[@weartildead]

Thank you! Super happy with how they turned out, and thankfully they look good enough I don't have to take people's 'washing ruins your fades bro' stuff anymore 😂

[@liljuanito123]

They look amazing! I love soaking/hot washing/hot drying my jeans. They make em fit better for me. I'm with you on the washing every month at least. They will last longer also. Yes please more vids about denim. We will watch. Also ironhearts are some of the toughest jeans I've ever had. Williamsburg are also amazing. I've sent em a lot of my jeans and they do a great job always. Maurice is his name. Congrats on the placement.

[@danielvalles9554]

I've seen your posts on reddit and your fades were always really cool to see! Glad I got to hear nore about them!

[@weartildead]

Ah that's great, thanks for watching!

[@sirselvedge5427]

Great 1st post, lots of good insight! And for the record, you're now of those really cool people in the denim community 😁

[@weartildead]

Hey thanks haha!

[@esculape1452]

Washing and drying hot, you are hardcore lol (no joke inside) ! BTW , nice look at the end :)

[@d05wtt]

Idk how you showed up on my YT recommended list. Probably because I watch a ton of denim videos. But I’ve seen your posts on Reddit. I said it there too…these look really good on ya. I agree with ya on the washing aspect. Wash when you want.

[@weartildead]

Agreed! Thanks for watching

[@ronaldbrashears9866]

Awesome video can’t wait for another

[@rangerscoach]

Pure blue Japan had some products drop on corlection a few years back. I think there’s a chance the boncoura 66 could be a great option to try out. I think the silhouette of that pair of jeans could look pretty flattering on a woman. The bleaching is great for keeping the white core of the denim threads very white which can look really good even if you lose some contrast. Vintage fading used to be lower contrast and there was more of a focus on roping on the jeans and even the repairs.

[@theblackbudda]

These look amazing! Great job

[@weartildead]

Thanks so much!

[@davidg2521]

Great new channel, I just subscribed. I didn’t realize until I saw the pictures at the end that I have seen your posts on Reddit.

[@weartildead]

Nice! Thanks for the subscribe 🙏

[@ronaldbrashears9866]

Congratulations btw they look awesome!!!

[@weartildead]

Thank you!

[@jorgerivera688]

They look awesome! Nice job!

[@weartildead]

Thank you!

[@ThePolishedGent]

HEY that ring on the belt loop looks familiar, pretty sure ive seen you on reddit! Very beautiful fades and a lovely personality as well. The sunshine bit was particularly endearing.

[@weartildead]

That's me! I've started making my stamped copper cuffs if you ever want one, thanks for watching!

[@sjackaa]

Still waiting for that post on washing and drying techniques! I've always kinda felt like you can get away with a lot more rough care than the purists would lead you to believe, I mean denim is workwear after all. Also amazing sewing and drafting content! My dream is to one day make my own pair of jeans just like you did, can't say enough how inspiring it is to see such amazing work coming from someone so close to home!

[@weartildead]

Still need to do the full video, but did put up a short. As far as making your own, the learning curve was definitely something but there's almost nothing that feels better than a pair you've made yourself, take your time and you'll get there! kzbin.infoQsCRp03CDZY

[@kwfown]

Down the road, please consider making a vid about your journey to learn how to sewn and repair your jeans? I’m of the camp that wants wash my jeans as little as possible, so it’s somewhat annoying/though totally reasonable that I have to wash mine when paying for store to repair it for me 😅 So I’d like to learn how to DIY that. 🙏

[@weartildead]

Will definitely do a video when I do more repairs down the line!

[@circa54]

Subscribed! 👏

[@weartildead]

Thanks man!

[@j.minerco.5533]

Good to know. I hate dirty feeling jeans..

[@fiercekid84]

damn. that jeans fade nicely there

[@theway3058]

So looking back on it. Was the size 29 the right size or could the 28 wear in and have fit better in the end. Thanks. About to drop a size in the IH 555 this year.

[@cowboy4187]

What did you do with bleaching them? Just a tiny bit in the wash? They look great 👍

[@weartildead]

Mine's a front loader, so put a splash in the bleach holder which is evenly dispensed into the wash water. More info in the video I linked to in the description if you want to dig deeper!

[@skullcrusher567]

Naked and famous sell alot of women's jeans if your looking and in the 14 ounce that your looking for I love them but I can't speak for the women's selection but they look pretty good from the selections they have hope this helps but great fades really impressive thanks

[@weartildead]

Familiar with N&F (and virtually all brands in the scene that make raw cuts for women) but I'm out-inseamed by women's jeans unless I go custom - no one makes longer than 34" which is already too short for me. It's all good tho, taking the time to learn how to make my own and won't need to buy ready-made anymore when I get there 👍

[@ronaldbrashears9866]

Your fucking awesome!!! Pls excuse my language

[@abep.3110]

You should start a podcast

[@LocaliLLocano]

Starting from raw when did the shades of blue lighten ? 5 washes ?

[@weartildead]

It took quite a while, more than 5 I'd say. Nothing much seemed to happen til month 5-6

[@sf2explus184]

washing denim once in a while not only gets rid of bad smell, it also makes the denim last much longer. don't know what started this never wash your jeans rubbish. I would say wash raw denims need less washes than most pants but not to the point a person goes a full 6 moths without a single wash that is plain dirty.

[@weartildead]

People can do whatever they want with their jeans, but definitely true that clean fibers will always outlast dirty counterparts. There's a cool video (very long, and climbing focused but similar outcomes would be likely with friction/wear in jeans) that tests the difference in damage between clean rope and dirty rope and it's crazy to see how much of an impact it has on longevity kzbin.info/www/bejne/p6alXn57qNZ9hLc

[@djpatron100]

How did they not shrink?

[@weartildead]

This pair is sanforized and one washed, so they effectively went through all shrinkage that would occur before I got them. Don't get me wrong, they're much tighter putting them on after a wash and dry then they were before it, but stretch back to normal within a few hours of wear.

[@wutthinanchatnithikul2888]

its look more refined when faded & worn out

[@gregholden8812]

You filled them out real nice!!

[@2adamast]

KZbin outthinking me by showing this. I was asking two days ago why are people living way more south than me wearing a total pain that is a jeans.

[@Ashton-mx2bg]

I will never buy another pair of raw denim after picking up my 888's, we going ham and no wash for 365 days. My the gods be in my favor and then need to pickup an IH526L. Killer fades on your 888's

[@weartildead]

They're such a great cut!

[@shoeengine1161]

i know you from raw denim reddit

[@anastasio8588]

Great Jeans and colour!!!!!! Do you wash the jeans inside out or not???

[@weartildead]

Inside out - but after maybe month 6-7 it's not so important (with so much indigo loss already) and I've washed them rightside out a handful of times since then.

[@anastasio8588]

@@weartildead Thank you!!!!:-)) Do you choose a delicate or normal cycle on the washing machine?? How long takes a wash cycle in the washing machine??

[@weartildead]

@@anastasio8588 Normal cycle, 15 min quick wash. Put my basic wash/dry steps in the description if that helps!

[@anastasio8588]

@@weartildead I have some last questions:-)). How hot do you wash the jeans?? How much degrees?? How much bleach do you use for one wash?? Do you use additionally a normal detergent to the bleach??