Bravestar Selvege Denim Fade Update

While I know that many traditional dress gentlemen are not lovers of denim, I dear readers are not one of them.  I think that a good pair of jeans can look great when combined with tweeds of all sort and they are a staple of my wardrobe.  The ruggedly built selvage denim trousers from BraveStar Selvage made up from Cone Mills 15oz denim cloth in their 'Slim Taper' cut are my favorites.  You'll find an earlier review from a little more than a year ago and in that review, this pair was a bit over 2 years old and had a nice fad going.  I thought it would be useful to do an update on how the fad has progressed.  I think that perhaps these have been washed a couple more times.  I wash them inside out using a short wash in the machine and hang them dry. 

Denin Maintenance and Repair: 

Additionally, I have had some repairs done to the back crotch area a common failure point for my denim for some reason and a minor repair has been done to the front right of the denim due to thining wear through wear my pocket knife sits in my pocket.  One thing to note about denim jeans is that they can over time develop holes in certain wear spots.  I prefer to have these professionally repaired as soon as possible (ideally before a hole fully wears through) with reinforcement and darn-stitched in a way which renders the repair nearly invisible.  Many alteration tailors or denim specialist can do this work for you and thereby substantially extend the service life of your beloved denim. 

Areas of reinforcement and darning repair in the seat: 

Reinforcement and darning repair in the pocket area:

Today's outfit: Harris Tweed - Grey Herringbone

(It is very sunny today, which is why the sunnies;-)

Today's outfit features one of the first Harris Tweed jackets in my collection it's a Blue-Grey Herringbone with red and orange overcheck - this description sounds really loud but as you can see from the photos, it's quite subtle.  This jacket was made-up by Tom Rusborg of Copenhagen a review will be coming quickly on the heels of this post so I won't delve too deeply here.

• Harris Tweed Jacket by Tom Rusborg of Copenhagen
• Harris Tweed green herringbone scarf with orange and blue over-check by Ten10creations
• Blue Chambray Shirt by Charles Tyrwhitt
• Navy pullover by Lochcarron of Scotland
• Chino/jeans Twill Selvage by Bravestar Selvage
• 'Ryan' Boots by Grenson
• Eyewear: Persol PO3007-V 1056 with Clip-on Persol PO3007C-905/55 Light Gold
• Cognac peccary Diving gloves by Hungant 
• Wool Pocket square from Krawatten Hoff Munich (one of my favorite local store run by the lovely Elisabeth Maier - I'll be doing a full write-up on this little treasure of a store soon!

Plus: 

• PAM 288 on Racing Tan Teju Lizard strap from the Dangerous9straps Manufacture Collection.  These straps design specifically for PAM Radiomir looks stunning I think on my PAM288.  Dangerous9straps has these straps in current stock and available for immediate shipping.  

These Ryan boots by Grenson have treated me really well.  I originally bought them a few years ago in a very light brown and over-dyed them myself to the color you see here.  I also had my cobbler add some non-slip rubber pads to the leather soles which have the added benefit of incredible durability.  I think these are one of my favorite boots in my collection and are no doubt the ones that get the most wear and yet with reasonable care given to the uppers, will essentially last forever.

Denim Review: 15 oz. Cone mills Selvage by Bravestar Selvage

This review is of my favorite pair from Bravestar Selvage out of Los Angeles.  I've had this denim for just a little over 2 years now and they've been in my regular rotation.  Now, I know that the thought of wearing Pantaloons de Nimes for some traditional dress guys in 'verboten', but I really like the look and feel of a great pair of denim and so, I'm just going to have to be a bit of a rebel on this issue.

Bravestar is a great little company as I said based out of LA, and run by a Mik, who's real dyed in the cotton denim head.  All their denim as sewn in LA, all the hardware is Kentucky made, even the wonderfully thick vegetable tanned leather label patch is hand stamped in Los Angeles.  My pair is made from Cone Mills 15oz  (may Cone Mills rest in peace - they has since closed down their mill, which is a real heartbreak for denim lovers everywhere).  Brave star builds a stout pair of jeans and always at extremely reasonable prices (often way more than half the price of what you will pay in a denim boutique (I never thought I would use the words 'denim' and 'boutique' in the same sentence).  This pricing is made possible because they're selling directly from manufacturer to the consumer, which for those of us who have more sense the money, is always a great thing.

Starting to show the unique fade that each pair of raw denim develops to the wear of patterns of each owner:

Cool detail on top stud button:

Really Great looking and super thick vegetable tanned leather patch:

Now the thing I like about these jeans is the cut, I purchased the Slim taper in 34inch waste, tapers nicely to the ankle without being what anyone would call 'skinny jeans'.  Yes, they are snug around the waist to start, but they have broken-in nicely and have taken on that perfectly tailored fit that I love.  I typically wear a 36 inch in standard trousers and this size fits me well.  They have just released a new cut they're calling 'Regular Taper' that is more of a roomy fit through the waist and to the knee (Instead of slim) then taper like my pairs to the cuff.   I think for my next pairs I will try those.  Just because, well I'm not getting any younger or skinnier;-)

Keeping is genuine with great selvage ID in the leg and coin pocket:

Care: 
I've given them a couple of rinses and a couple of full washes.  To be honest, I've lost patience for the whole soaking the bathtub/hand wash jazz, so I've taken to just putting them in the washer (inside out) with just a little detergent and fabric softener and giving them a short wash in cold. Then hang them to dry.  I know is heretical to true 'denim heads', and will most likely affect the fade, but the hand wash method is just too big a pain.  Plus, I wanted to move the fade forward a bit and so far, I've been really satisfied with the results.  Please bear in mind that these photos were taken in my workshop in full sunlight, so they look several shades lighter than in real life.

Honeycombing at the backs of the knees (Yes honeycombing is the technical term;-)

'Whiskering' at the crotch, given then that nice broken-in look:

Some wear and fading where my upper thigh rubs my work table and some fade where my pocket knife sits:

Altogether these Bravestar Selvage have been a great pair of denim than I'll enjoy wearing for years to come.  If you could use a sturdy pair of raw denim and you'd like to try some of what the Cone Mills had to offer before they're extinct, I suggest you head over to Bravestar Selvage PDQ!

Bonus write-up:
I built this belt to wear with my denim about a couple of years ago when I was building its twin belt for a local customer and I really like it.  It's a honey-colored 8-10oz vegetable tanned leather that has been the packed with oils and tumbled by the tannery to give it a great hand and a very cool large pebble look.  The buckle is a brushed nickel plate finish and the hand saddle stitching, of course, is done by me using heavy gauge French Ecru linen thread.  It's been the belt I wear most to keep up my more casual chinos and Pantaloons de Nimes: