Wear Metrics:
Days Owned: 153
Wear Count: 58
Total Time Worn: 555.67 hours
Average Time per Wear: 11.58 hours
# of Washes: 0
5 Months In/Backpack Tested
I recently returned from a backpacking trip through Italia, Côte D’Azur, & Barcelona. Of course I had to bring these jeans along for the trip. So in addition to racking up another month of wear, my denim was rolled up in a 40 liter backpack stuffed to the gills for 3 weeks. They escaped the trip relatively unscathed, although on the flight home the kid next to me managed to knock 1/2 of my beer into my lap. Nonetheless, I have no plans to wash these jeans anytime soon. Surprisingly odor hasn’t been a problem. When I’ve worn these jeans in hotter weather I’ve tried to throw them on a hanger and place them next to an opened window to let them air out. Who knows if that’s the reason they aren’t in desperate need of a wash, but I figure it can’t hurt.
In terms of wear and tear, there isn’t a ton of news to report. These jeans have held up quite nicely, but I also have worn them less over the last month or so as the weather has warmed up. As mentioned in my 4-month post, the dark brown matte paint on the rivets has continued to wear off and reveal a copper shine. This is particularly noticeable on the 5th pocket, most likely from items like keys and my mobile phone rubbing up against them as I move them in and out of my pocket. Other than that, I have noticed some fading developing along the tops of the back pockets, and some additional erosion at the bottom of the yoke from when I sit down. I have noticed that over the last few months these jeans have become a bit more roomy in the crotch and seat areas, but nothing too extreme. Hopefully this month’s photos also reveal that the foundation for some nice whiskering in the thighs has been laid down and is progressing quite well. Overall, I don’t recall these jeans fitting a lot differently 5 months into ownership than they did on the 1st day I wore them, and I’m very happy with the durability that they have shown thus far.
I was considering purchasing some NDG’s. I think I’ll wait to see how these play out for you. Do you ever cuff them? How is the rise?
I go back and forth between cuffing them and leaving them uncuffed. I’m almost 6’3″, so I can’t get away with not cuffing them without any issues. They’re slightly tapered though, so even if you’re not as tall as me I would think you’d be ok without a cuff if you wanted to, you just might get some bunching at the bottom. I tend to only go with a single cuff, but that’s more of a personal preference than anything. I also tend to cuff them more with sneakers for some reason – I guess I just like the look of a cuff with a casual shoe. I’m in the process of working on another post that shows how they look both cuffed and uncuffed and in various other capacities, so stay tuned.
In terms of the rise, it definitely takes some getting used to. Its considerably higher than most other denim I’ve worn. For a comparison, I currently have a pair of APC New Standards and a pair of Nudie Slim Jims in my denim rotation, and the Nom De Guerre jeans have a much higher rise than both of those, bigger pockets, and are a bit more room in the crotch as well. I would say that they are certainly not for everyone, but I like the change of pace from my other jeans.
I’m not sure if this would help as well, but I actually tried on a pair of non-selvedge Nom De Guerre jeans at Stel’s the other day, and the fit is a bit snugger and the rise is not quite as pronounced as it is in the indigo selvedge (which these jeans are). I actually liked the fit of them a lot, and if I were considering purchasing some NDG denim I might actually go with the non-selvedge.
Perhaps this is a shameless plug, but Stel’s carries pretty much all of NDG’s denim and I believe they are all on sale for 50% off right now which is an unbelievable price point.