Got some on my pants while I was eating a steak last night. Feeling pretty fucked. What’s a good way to get barbecue sauce (or other staining substances) out of a pair of jeans you’re not willing to wash?
I haven’t had any trouble with dust or dirt or even grime (I’m pretty clean), and up until now I haven’t even considered “natural-washing” these jeans by wearing them while I shower. It’s an interesting thought…
As you can probably see, it’s becoming more likely that this thing is going to get updated once or twice a week as opposed to every day. My home blog is getting more love than usual, so you can split time between the two if you actually enjoy my writing. Or you can just wait for me to think of something cool to write about my pants…which is getting harder and harder.
First, status on the physical shape of my Cheap Mondays hasn’t changed too much. Aside from being wrong about that bleeding thing—my new pair of white Creative Recreation high-tops felt the wrath of cuff-bluing in just one day—it’s business as usual. A little fraying on the right outseam that adds little to no character but probably some, at least.
Next, the photo. I’m heading to New York tomorrow morning (standby permitting) and I’m taking both my Cheap Mondays and my Ksubi jeans because fuck you I want to diversify. I’ll be staying at some sort of penthouse in Midtown with a couple of my musician friends, so things will probably get interesting really fast. I’m hoping to catch a Yankees game and some US Open tennis (tickets on the line, fingers crossed), but mostly this trip is about the kind of relaxation that can only come of a walking tour in the world’s best city.
I might even do some of the touristy stuff this time around; but I’m shopping, drinking, eating well and spending time with great friends…and that means there’ll be something legitimately interesting for you to read here next time.
Sorry for making these pants seem so boring…I’m working on it.
(3 months ago)So, I’ve been in Seattle for the past four days shooting a documentary and photo catalog for Native Eyewear, a performance sunglass company. The city was great, as always—and this time it didn’t even rain—but I got into a couple jams wearing the jeans every single day.
First off, days ran exceptionally long (read: 16 hours) and the waist started to stretch after a lot of running and climbing. Also, I started to get a little extra rub on the back of my legs, which made staying focused a little tough. I’m not sure if this is a side effect of the raw denim and its rigidity or what, but it was kind of uncomfortable.
What I will say positively is that the bleeding ink has pretty much tapped out, because while it was beautiful outside it was also pretty hot on set all week and I sweated out whatever was left. The jeans are starting to take on a little more wear and some natural lightening in the knees, which is great; and they’ve stayed clean even through some dusty, dirty shoot locations (like the Colonnade Trials Park and Marginal Way train tracks).
I’ve got photos from the shoot that I wanna share…so I will when I have the chance. It was great to be in another city for a few days, but it’s equally refreshing to be back at home. I’m going to see Halloween II tonight—here’s hoping I don’t wet myself in fear, because I still haven’t washed these and don’t plan to anytime soon.
(3 months ago)
On Versatility
For the longest time I wore jeans that were ‘special’ in some way—the color was pretty unique, the accents were a little loud or directed toward a certain kind of style genre, it was too easy to see my package—and it made me forget how unbelievably versatile a pair of old-school blue jeans can be.
Yesterday I rode to work in a Trovata t-shirt and the oldest, most beat-up pair of Chucks I own and they looked great. Today I drove to work in a slick black buttondown and black laceup oxfords and they looked great. Tomorrow, I might just wear the jeans and nothing else. No matter what I decide to do, no matter how risky or ill-fated, the presence of a bold, unflinching pair of jeans will keep me at least somewhere close to the level. Plus, these Cheap Mondays have just enough attitude in the low yoke and the narrow leg opening that they’ll speak for themselves when they have to.
I did discover yesterday, however, that even though they’re raw they still do a little bit of sweat-induced bleeding: my month-old bike seat was once a pretty stark white, but now it is most certainly a pale blue. I’ll snap a photo of it later.
(3 months ago)
Starlets Turned Harlots
I’ll tell you something I did today while wearing my Cheap Mondays: I looked at pictures of starlets I used to think were hot before they turned into steaming piles of baggy clothes, collagen and sadness. Like the one in the picture above. You may not believe it but in the 90s this chick’s 18th birthday was more important to Americans than the imminent fall of communism was to Russian peasants living under Stalin. Granted, she’s a twin, and her sister looks a little better than she does right now; but once upon a time this was without doubt the most lusted-after piece ass in the celebrity kingdom.
What you’re looking at is the crusty shell of one Mary-Kate Olsen.
Of course, that’s not all I saw. Scroll through to the second photo to see what might appear to be a production still from Lord of the Rings, but is actually an over-tanned and very freshly injected Lindsay Lohan. Unfortunately, it looks as if we have seen the end of this particular actress in regards to sexually-charged fame. She’ll be missed.
You see, I didn’t just look at these pictures. I got to thinking—right after a trip to the bathroom to regurgitate some teriyaki steak I had for lunch—about how hard it is to actually become a celebrity, but how easy life must be after that. I’ve heard things about morale-crushing directors and the difficulties of dealing with paparazzi, but I’m not sure how much of that I buy. Everyone has bad bosses, and many of us have less than enough money to take a weekend retreat in St. Tropez if the pressures get too high. Altogether, I call it a wash…except for the money celebrities have.
I thought about all that, and then I thought about what weak-minded people these must be to be given fame as children (before they probably even understand it) and then proactively throw it away. It’s sad, and it makes my boner go away.
The only reason this has anything to do with my Cheap Mondays is because after looking at these photos, there is no way I’ll be accidentally ejaculating into them today.
(photos courtesy of WWTDD)
(3 months ago)
The Dead Weather
I caught one of the more riveting sets I’ve seen all year from Jack White’s new brainchild The Dead Weather last night. It cost $50 to buy a scalped ticket and get my good friend Andrew in, but his sentiments afterward echoed all along the walls of the Ogden Theater: “If I’d known what I was walking into, I would have paid that crackhead $60 for the ticket.” Well put.
I wish I had a better photo but we walked in a couple minutes into the set and it wasn’t until later that we edged our way to the front. It was worth the potential friends we instantly lost pushing heavy through the crowd. Allison Mosshart surprised me in every way, taking her spastic, sultry Kills persona and ramping it up to gigantically gothic proportions, even going so far as to reach down into a gutteral scream during one of the songs (which one, I can’t quite remember).
This is a band that I’ve been basically disappointed with since its genesis; the record is sharp and crunchy and deep like I like it, but something always seemed to be missing. How I managed to get all the way to this show and not remember how incendiary Jack White is onstage is unclear; but it made for a nice “aha moment” (thanks, Oprah) when I finally did.
Cool side note: Andrew, Justin and I ran into the band at Steuben’s just before the show. Got very uneasy. Couldn’t speak for a second knowing the Edward Scissorhands lookalike with the knife and fork a couple tables away from me was one of the most instrumentally gifted people alive today. It made my linguine taste better.
This has little to do with denim. And because a pair of pants aren’t nearly as exciting as I set out to make them, I’m going to adhere to some less stringent parameters: if I was wearing the jeans when it happened, it’s fair game. I’ll still include plenty of cool stuff about the jeans, like when I spill on them and decide not to treat the stain in an attempt to add character to them.
Cool? Good. Until next time.
(3 months ago)I’m wearing a Modern Amusement print tee with the jeans today. I have this sort of recurring issue with pants—every time I get a new pair I start to rethink the direction in which I’m taking my wardrobe. For a while now I’ve been almost exclusively wearing a pair of black Ksubi Gee Gee jeans, and because of them I started to neutralize my palette to include black, white, and gray with touches of red here and there. I haven’t worn a whole lot of color.
Now I’m back wearing blue denim, and I remember what it feels like to wear a base item that pretty much goes with everything. It makes me think I could potentially get a little more erratic and risky with the other things that I wear (even though that doesn’t really match my personality these days).
I’ll post some new pictures or a video or something soon, but already I feel like I’m running out of things to say. Does anyone have any suggestions on what might keep Denim Diary fresh?
(4 months ago)Nothing too unique or crazy came of last night, which is a little disappointing. Grabbed sushi (in the jeans) with a dear friend on loan from Bedford, walked around Pearl Street and made my way back.
Today, I’m wearing the Cheap Mondays with the Fist of Fury shirt by MHI, plus a pair of loud-as-hell orange Chings. It’s Sunday, so I’m off to the grocery store to grab some food for a barbecue at the house.
More to come.
(4 months ago)
The Unpacking
I bought this pair of Cheap Mondays from Tobi, an online retailer that sells moderately fashion-forward clothing and accessories. They offer free ground shipping, so if an item doesn’t fit the only extra costs incurred are in return shipping. Good deal.
The pair is darker than I expected, but I imagine they’ll lighten up with each wear and eventually accumulate some especially light spots in the knees and the crotch.
When I put them on they were crisp—akin to hard stock paper or even thin cardboard. They smell like any other pair of jeans (smell your next new pair to get the impression). They’re especially rigid without any wash or treatment applied to them…still relatively comfortable but in need of some love, of which they’ll get plenty.
The rigidity lends itself to these jeans being less porous than most I’ve had before, so they’re a little hot in the late summer. Still, after a day of wearing them I can already feel a significant difference. I’m still not sure if that’s a product of me growing more accustomed to them or the actual process of loosening and softening. I’ll try and figure that out as time goes by.
I’m off to Boulder for my first night out in the jeans…I’ll let you know if they get me laid.
(4 months ago)
August 14, 2009
It’s starting. Unpacking to come…but for the time being I just received this at work, and I’m already wearing pants. Hopefully I can get started on an official first entry right when I get home.
(4 months ago)
