Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2011 Ad Campaign
The Fall 2011 ad campaign for Dolce & Gabbana was shot by Steven Klein and features the usual set of buff young dudes, including what looks like Tom Cruise circa 1983 (above left).
ManVsDenim.com - Arturo 1st Update
An update since my last post - The Natural Selection 14oz Smith Straight K Raw Jeans feel much smoother in the 2 months since I started wearing them. They now slip on without any struggle compared to the first couples of time, when they were still stiff and it was difficult to do-up the fly buttons. The jean's waist line also appears to have got a little bigger. I don't know whether the jeans are stretching or whether I have lost weight. The constant wear (I have them on every day, rain or shine) is starting to have an effect on the colour also, the initial deep deep indigo blue is gradually becoming lighter blue in the spots seeing the most action (around the pockets and button-fly, see photos below). This is perfect for me as it means I can still get away wearing them in a business meetings with a white shirt and black blazer without looking too informal.
ManVsDenim.com - Tom 1st Update
The indigo wears out, and the jeans wear in. Over the last month or so, the Natural Selection 14oz Smith Straight K Raw Jeans I am wearing in as part of the ManVsDenim Contest have softened up a lot. The fit of the jeans still makes them slightly restrictive, which is possibly due to the little bit of extra post-Christmas weight which I put on.
The denim itself is beautiful. Some exciting (annoying) staining of my white boat shoes, and awkward moments when getting frisky (I wish) on pale sofa's has evidenced the colour change in the denim as it starts to pale a little and the indigo gets deposited around my world. The denim is now lovely and soft, and they are very comfortable.
The main hardship over the last month or so has been the fact they are 14oz denim, which does indeed get quite 'sweaty thigh' at times. They're not a pair to be caught running for a bus in. True commitment will be required to grin and bear the daily wear over the summer, a task which I look forward to. Indigo stained thighs are a small price to pay for comfy trousers. There have been no issues with any of the buttons (which were super tough to close at first), and all the rivets are well and truly in the places they began. The jeans look great, and minus a few paled patches due to phone in the pocket, and a drink spilt in Ocean, they are maintaining their unwashed selvedge denim deep blue indigo glory very well. Cheers Natural Selection, great pair of jeans.
ManVsDenim.com - MattM 1st Update
Here is my first update on the Natural Selection 14oz Smith Straight K Raw Jeans jeans that I have been wearing in as part og the ManVsDenim.com contest. Well what can I say? The first month of wearing in denim is always the hardest I think. Cardboard like stiff legs that make it an effort to move, let alone walk. I've been treating it like a day job wearing them Monday to Friday and having the weekend off so my legs can breathe.
The first thing I did with the jeans was to take them to a tailor to get adjusted. I tend to opt for a slimmer straight leg or one with a slight taper so I requested them to be taken in 2"from the ankle up to the knee thus slimming the leg. If you check out the side on pictures you can see how much slimmer they really are, they now fit like a dream. I had to make sure the adjustment was taken from the inside seam as I wanted to keep the selvedge detailing on the outside seam. They tend to opt for the outside seams as it's easier to take in then remove and re-stitch the inside leg seam with a matching thread.
After a week or so they started to loosen up and I could actually attempt to run for the train I take each morning. I can't say that I'm surprised by anything the jeans have turned into yet, as the only fading seems to have occurred on the piped belt loops and the lowest point of the rise, obviously because of the friction of sitting and standing throughout the day. I'm surprised that there's not been much stretching around the waist as of yet. There's only been one pair of raw denim jeans I've owned that stayed true to the original waist measurement. I'm pleasantly surprised.
I've noticed that the whiskers along the thigh and behind the ankles have already formed as expected, however there's very little fading across them yet. I always turn up my jeans too and around the ankle is now nice and soft from slipping them on and off each day....I don't go as far as to sleep in them. It also means that less creases are created from the jeans gathering up on your footwear which I tend to like the look when the fades start to come in.
So unfortunately folks the first update isn't the most exciting. The jeans have been worn religiously, from art exhibitions to cow tipping, they've seen it all. Let's see what the months ahead will bring.
ManVsDenim.com - Patrick First Impressions
Upon opening the package containing my NS Denim Kurabo Raw Straight leg jeans I was pleased to see they even came with their own branded material bag. What a way to start my relationship off with these cheeky things. Not only does it allow me to pretentiously carry an awesome pair of jeans around (if I wanted to), but it doubles as a middle man between me and light-coloured couches, chairs etc. that people think I'm going to rub indigo dye all over. However this has not happened and I haven't had one problem with dye. This was the first thing to surprise me. Most raw denim turns everything blue. NS have done well to keep the colour of the denim on the owner's jeans alone.
The stiffness was exciting for me. It felt so new and fresh, with a year of wear-and-tear on the books. But when it came to buttoning them up, calluses were beginning to form at the end of it. This is not contesting the jeans though. Oh no. This made me so happy that these buttons wouldn't be popping open while I was trying to chat a lovely lady up or make a public speech.
Attention to detail has put this patch of denim a cut above the rest. Fine stitching and no threading is what makes me feel like I can do whatever I want for a year and they'll still be as strong as ever, like a carefully stitched up heart surgery wound.
There hasn't been any wear and tear as of yet. The only thing I've noticed is the stiffness of the raw denim has begun to loosen. That was one thing I was worried about to be honest. All I could think about was wicked chaffing every day. Thankfully, that's not the case and I've been more than comfortable in them.
All I can say is bring on the year to come and we'll see what these jeans can really do!
ManVsDenim.com - MattMcM First Impressions
I have never entered anything like this before and upon receiving my brand new crisp pair of NS Denim Kurabo Raw Straight leg jeans I was pretty excited at the prospect of being part of something cool and experimental. Unwrapping the postal package was like christmas day all over again and I couldn't wait to see what I had become part of - Or, had gotten myself into!
As soon as I laid my eyes on these bad boys I knew why they don't come cheap. Brilliantly put together and genuinely looking like they have had some serious love put into the creation process, I knew that I had received something of quality here.
OK so onto the first try on and honestly, I felt like I just put on a suit of armour. Wow. I had never owned anything so crisp before, so my only instinct was to try and loosen them even a tiny bit and thus came to the conclusion is was time for me to run about my flat like a crazy man probably confusing my flatmates in the process - thrusts and squats included. It didn't really work that well, the jeans are holding strong - yet another sign of the quality of these things. I guess its going to take some serious daily wear to truly tame this beast of a pair of jeans but why not, this is the best pair of jeans I have ever owned so why not make the most of them!
