Wear Metrics:
Days Owned: 83
Wear Count: 47
Total Time Worn: 426.67 hours
Average Time per Wear: 11.53 hours
# of Washes: 0
This post will begin with a bit of housekeeping, and it will wrap up with an up to date progress report.
Housekeeping:
I was a late addition to the denim debate, and as a result I received my denim before having the opportunity to perform much of the due diligence that many of my contemporaries on this site were able to conduct prior to the live launch. I have since been able to track down some more details about the Nom de Guerre jeans that I am representing thanks to the nice folks at Nom de Guerre. As previously promised, here are the product details provided by the folks at NDG:
Cut: Classic Fit, notable fit details high waist and straight leg
Fabric: 14 ounce raw indigo selvedge denim, denim fabric selection was based on durability and texture
Production: Okayama Japan which is considered the capital of Japanese manufacturing with great emphasis and pride in craftsmanship
In addition to providing the product details above, I am including some well overdue photos of me wearing these jeans to give followers a flavor of what they look like when worn.
Finally, I would like to address the weight of these jeans and the extent to which I feel they have stretched. As stated above, these Nom de Guerre jeans are a 14 oz. denim, making them a bit on the heavy side in (based more on the feel and comparing them to some of my other jeans rather than the weight since sometimes that can be a bit misleading and confusing to some folks in my opinion). If I happen to be wearing these on a day that creeps much above 70 degrees they will become a bit warmer than what one would typically desire, especially if I’m out in the sun. With respect to stretching, these jeans haven’t stretched much at all. They have become a bit more pliable over time, but are still plenty rugged.
Progress Report:
When I began participating in this project, the folks at Stel’s warned me that these jeans are “tanks”. And after almost 50 wears, I’d have to agree wholeheartedly. Between the 1st and the 20th wear, I clearly noticed some imprinting and discoloration from my wallet in the right rear pocket. However, from the 20th wear to my most current wear (#47 for those keeping score at home), I haven’t noticed a significant level of wear and tear, although some nice stacking has developed behind the knees. A few minor exceptions include some fraying inside the belt loops and inside the top button hole of the button fly, as well as some additional rivet wear that I mentioned in my previous post. The black/brown coating on the rivets on the 5th pocket has almost worn off completely, which has unveiled a shiny copper coloring. I tried to give the viewer a glimpse of the contrast between the wear on the rivets on the 5th pocket and the rivets on the other pockets through my most recent photo posts to highlight this phenomenon.
Other than these minor signs of wear, there hasn’t been much discoloration or excessive wearing in these jeans. I have tried my best to prevent any excessive wear and tear, making sure to brush the off if any dust, pollen, or dirt that collects on them, and just being more conscientious given my inclination to not wash them anytime soon. Perhaps I am a bit of a contrarian, but I am very happy with this sign of durability. I wear dark denim because I prefer the clean look of a darker jean, and in my opinion, the longer this color holds, the better. And if I’m going to drop some solid coin on a pair of dark selvedge denim, I will certainly hold these to a higher standard and expect a more durable, long lasting product. I’m sure these jeans will still look great after they begin to wear more, but for me as this happens, they will be less of a “go to” for more formal situations such as a nice dinner out, and more appropriate for more casual experiences.
These jeans look great. Do these have a dropped-yoke? The pockets are interesting, too– is it me or do they seem just a tad longer than usual?
The fit is absolutely perfect on you. The fabric seems to have a nice green cast–good entry!
I would say the yoke is a cross between v-shaped and dropped, although they probably appear more dropped because of the high rise. To provide a comparison, when measuring the middle and starting at the bottom of the yoke to the top of the yoke (i.e. top of the middle belt loop), the NDG yoke measures 4 & 3/8″. The same measurement on my APC New Standards (size 30) registers 4″. Obviously New Standards are a low-rise jean, so the extra 3/8″ helps bring the rise on the NDGs up.
With respect to the pockets – yes they are definitely longer than a lot of other denim that I’ve worn. Again, I’ll make a comparison to APC New Standards in order to illustrate this point. My APC’s measure about 5 & 7/8″ long (from the bottom v of the pocket in the middle to the top of the pocket) by about 6 & 1/4 wide (measuring the top of the pocket across). The same measurements on these NDGs are 7 & 5/8″ and 6 & 7/8″ respectively.
So that means the NDGs are about 1 & 3/4″ longer and 5/8″ wider than APC New Standards.
These are great Kyle!
Not stupid skinny, not baggy as hell…
Glad we got them in the debate.
Great fit, really like it. Not the biggest fan of the huge pockets. Oh, and your stacking is definitely coming along well, but the stuff behind the knees isn’t called stacking, stacking is at the bottom of the leg. They’re called honeycombs behind the knees. Either way, your combs and stacks look real nice. Can’t wait to see these in a year.
ahhh shit…. more Honeycombs! Nom nom nom….
I like those pockets… they’d be ideal for small notepads and such. Thanks for sharing– these would certainly make a great “dress-up” pair with regard to maintaining color.
Good-looking pair of jeans. As previously stated, they fit you well. I have a couple of questions though: after doing a bit of research on this company (they are new to me), it seems as though selvage denim is a new market for them. Is part of your role to review the jeans, being a relatively new entry into the denim world? Also, why keep such good care of them? 14oz denim will stand up to a lot; perhaps you could consider being less careful with them, and let them gain some real wear
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Hi Robert,
Thanks for your feedback; it’s great to see that there is interest in these jeans. So far I’m very happy with them. I’ll try to answer some of your questions now, and Ryan will be posting a 1 page entry describing the establishment of the Nom de Guerre brand that I received directly from NDG that you might find interesting and insightful. In the meantime, to wet your palate, I do know that Nom de Guerre has been around since October of 2003, and denim has been part of its product line from the outset. Although I will admit that I have only known about the brand for about 1 & ½ years or so as a result of it being carried by Stel’s in Boston.
The Nom de Guerre entry is a classic case of word of mouth. Andy Ray (who is representing Gilded Age) introduced me to the concept behind the denim debate, and I thought it was a really cool idea. The both of us are big fans of a small boutique in Boston called “Stel’s”, and over time Andy has formed a good relationship with the owners of Stel’s. When he told Jon at Stel’s about the D.D., Jon was intrigued, and he thought that Nom de Guerre would make a great addition to the lineup of brands being represented. Since Andy had already signed on to represent Gilded Age, Jon asked if I would be interested in representing the brand, and the rest is history.
The way the Denim Debate was described to me is that each entry is being represented in whatever way the wearer chooses to, and that extends from how the brand is introduced, to what audience the blogger is reaching out to and how the blogger wears and treats the denim, etc.
I have no particular agenda in documenting these jeans. Nom de Guerre did not seek me out, nor did I seek Nom de Guerre out. These jeans were simply a recommendation from someone who thought that I would like them, and who also thought the D.D. audience would be interested in learning more about them.
My goal is to simply treat this experience the way that I would treat any other higher end piece added to my wardrobe. I’m a pretty regular guy who happens to like clothes and will make an occasional high end purchase every couple of months, so I suppose I’m primarily trying to speak to other people who fit a similar description. When I make a high end purchase, I tend to make an effort to take good care of that item, as I’m sure many other folks out there do as well. I guess that’s the rationale behind the strategy of how I’m taking care of these jeans. That’s not to say I don’t enjoy a little character and uniqueness when I break a pair of jeans in, I’m just not in a hurry to see immediate results like some others may be anxious to see. So, I’m not going over them with a fine toothed comb every day and avoiding, say, walking through a field or wearing them in the rain out of fear that they’ll get too worn out or dirty, but at the same time I’m not going to go outside and shovel 2 feet of snow or go on a weeklong camping trip in them. Perhaps that will disappoint some folks out there, but I’m not trying to be all things to all people. I would think that after wearing these for a year on a more accelerated schedule than normal, the results that other audiences might be looking to see will eventually materialize anyway.
I do welcome the feedback though, and I encourage any other responses people are willing to toss out there. My hope is that this response is not received as defensive or a knee-jerk response, but rather some additional insight into how Nom de Guerre made its way into the denim debate, and how I am choosing to go about representing these jeans.