At the start of the school year that just ended I received a pair of heavy weight Brave Star Selvedge denim jeans.
When I say heavy weight , I mean really heavy. For comparison, the unwashed, “shrink to fit” denim jeans I have from Levi’s are about a 12.5 ounce denim.
The Brave Star heavy weights that I got last fall are 21.5 ounce denim. Just about, but not quite twice as heavy as my Levi’s.
And the whole “weight” thing? That has something to do with the weight of a square yard of the denim fabric before it is cut.
Anyway, after I received my 21.5 ounce jeans from Brave Star, I decided to do the “365 Challenge”. That means to wear them every day for 365 days. Without washing or rinsing them.
I wore them from the start of September 2019 until the end of spring break of 2020 – around the end of March 2020.
I wore them every day during that period for most of each day or if I had to go an event where jeans were not appropriate, I wore them for at least a portion of each day.
As you may remember, everything kind of went for a shit around mid-March as the world realized there was a global pandemic taking place. Basically everything was cancelled. Including school.
So I stopped getting dressed in the morning. Well, not exactly. I didn’t just walk around naked, I just didn’t have the drive to get out of my pyjamas.
Why bother when everything is cancelled?
And then I realized I needed to stop wallowing in self-pity. I needed to get up, get dressed, and get engaged. As one might say, I needed to put my “big boy pants back on”. So I did.
On Monday April 6th I got up in the morning and pulled on my Brave Star 21.5 ounce jeans and pulled myself out of my funk and started moving again.
Now here it is Canada Day – July 1st 2020 and everyday since April 6th I have continued to wear my Brave Star selvedge denim jeans. In fact, I have added a Brave Star face mask to my outfit for when I leave the house.
As you can see in the photo above, the jeans have been developing some incredible fade lines.
Truth be told, I thought my dad was such a nerd because he carried his wallet in his front pocket. “Dontcha know Dad, all the cool kids keep their wallet in their back pocket…”
Notice the fade lines on my Brave Stars? Yep, just like my Dad, I now carry my wallet in my left front pocket. Beautiful fade lines.
And look at those fade lines going at an angle across the legs. I’m getting excited about the first rinse I’m going to give these jeans! I can just imagine how the lines are going to pop out!
Did I say “first rinse”? Yes because although I have worn the Brave Star denims nearly every day (except for those few days in March and early April, I have not yet washed nor even rinsed them.
That’s part of the 365 Challenge. You wear the jeans every day and you do not wash them. One thing that this has taught me is how to move my legs lightning fast – if I see something falling from the table, I am getting my legs out of the way – fast! I don’t want any ketchup or coffee drops or drips on my Brave Star jeans!
Probably when (or if?) the weather gets too hot to wear jeans I will set them aside for the summer. I may even take them outside and hose them off. When I do, I’ll be sure to share a photo of them.