When people buy ripped up jeans, are the recycled or new?

[saltyseadog]

In 1968/9 I was visiting family in London and my sister took me to the Biba shop in Kensington I think it was. Their prices were seriously exorbitant but my sister said if you were lucky you might see a Beatle, a Stone or some other celebrity. While walking round one of the staff approached me and asked if I was willing to sell my Wrangler jeans. I was a deep sea fisherman and all my jeans had become salt "stained" for want of a better word. I can't remember what she offered now but I kitted myself out with a brand name set of their loon pants and a cheesecloth shirt both top fashion items at the time and had enough left to buy my sister some kohl i think it was. I thought it was crazy that one of the glitterati would pay so much for a used pair of my scabby old wranglers. In retrospect I should have bought up all my buddies jeans when I went home to NE Scotland and returned there but at 18/19yrs old I lacked that entrepenuerial spirit.

 

[Wallo Tweed]

In 1976 I went in to Kay Jewelry in the DC area and they refused to pierce my ear because I was a man. Today I’d sue them for discrimination! I went somewhere else and they did it with no problem.

Well, things were different back then.

30 years ago a guy I worked with told me that when he was in high school in the 70s, he came home one night with a pierced ear.

When his dad saw it, he put him against the wall and said, "The next time you come home with an earring, you better be wearing a dress".

 

[Flaneur]

A guy offered me £10, for my tired looking denim jacket, at the height of the first craze for faded stuff, in '73.
I said thank you very much, bought a replacement, for a fiver and went to the pub.

(Beer was about 12 pence a pint.)

If you want my current Wrangler, I'll have to insist on £150-£200, to maintain that margin. How stylish are you feeling?

 

[swarfrat]

I had a pair of actual Acid Wash jeans in highschool(87) I rolled my car. Battery acid was all over the grass. Next wash, from the knees down they looked like they'd been shot with a shotgun

 

[monkeybanana]

lol

 

[loopfinding]

I think they're new

Just like most relic'ed guitars, really worn jeans look different

with mine, the crotch wears out lol

yeah. i never understood the fake ripped jeans wear. or even ripped knee holes, if you're not like a skateboarder or something. that stuff never happens to mine, and i consistently wear them until they fall apart.

usually first thing is the leg openings fray. if i fold them a lot, the bottom cuff just starts detaching. then the front pocket edges fray, and maybe the pocket separates from the outside. then the back pockets fray, and holes develop at the corners. then the crotch breaks.

and this happens over like one or two years. it's not really tough to wear them down if you're not the type of vain weenie who is overly concerned with taking care of their appearance or cycling their giant wardrobe.

 

[Jupiter]

yeah. i never understood the fake ripped jeans wear. or even ripped knee holes, if you're not like a skateboarder or something. that stuff never happens to mine, and i consistently wear them until they fall apart.

usually first thing is the leg openings fray. if i fold them a lot, the bottom cuff just starts detaching. then the front pocket edges fray, and maybe the pocket separates from the outside. then the back pockets fray, and holes develop at the corners. then the crotch breaks.

and this happens over like one or two years. it's not really tough to wear them down if you're not the type of vain weenie who is overly concerned with taking care of their appearance or cycling their giant wardrobe.

when I was thinner and more active the knees might have got holes in em; now that I'm 60 and getting thicker, the thighs rub together

 

[archetype]

As someone who wears jeans until they dissolve into molecules, I can tell you that nothing's such a PITA to wear as ripped out knees in jeans.

 

[chezdeluxe]

I was in the antique game between 2000 and 2015.

Made good money from shabby chic and “French distressed white” furniture.

Fashion doesn’t have to make any sense.

 

[teleplayr]

Years ago I worked for a novelty company and the owner told me about a company that had a display at a trade show.

Their jeans were called "Shotgun Jeans" and that's exactly what they were. They took a new pair of jeans, hung them up & shot them with a shotgun then washed them.

Some people will buy anything!

 

[johnny k]

 

[boris bubbanov]

If you're worried about thrift store jeans still having the previous owners' funk on them, run them through the washer on the "clean the machine" cycle a few times. They should come out VERY clean and pretty beat up.

Just. Test wear them a few times around the house. In case the crotch area of the jeans blows out.

 

[flathd]

I have to wonder if that "Mad Max" dude even owns or rides a motorcycle.

 

[telleutelleme]

My grand Niece, a freshman in college wears "distressed" clothes including jeans. She is a remarkably beautiful young lady and I wonder why she doesn't dress accordingly (Get off my lawn thinking I'm sure). When I was letting the immediate family go through my late wife's things, she gravitated to my old shirts; which my wife liked to wear around the house and garden in. The young lady liked that the over-sized look with paint stains, tears, and worn out collars fit her personality. I like really old T-shirts, faded and worn past their prime, so maybe she admired me as she grew up (Hope I didn't cause that).

 

[johnny k]

I have to wonder if that "Mad Max" dude even owns or rides a motorcycle.

I saw a video of an asian guy relicing / distressing a new leather jacket by putting it in the tumbler a few times and so on. I don't think they care about what it means to have a battered down leather jacket. I don't care either, but i don't wear distressed clothes. I usually wear them down myself.

Bikers do tend to do a little distressing themselves, usually when they get into a club and have their clothes stained by other members doing whatever they feel like with it. I might have witnessed it first hand, or saw it on youtube. Pinch of salt needed.

 

[flathd]

I saw a video of an asian guy relicing / distressing a new leather jacket by putting it in the tumbler a few times and so on. I don't think they care about what it means to have a battered down leather jacket. I don't care either, but i don't wear distressed clothes. I usually wear them down myself.

Bikers do tend to do a little distressing themselves, usually when they get into a club and have their clothes stained by other members doing whatever they feel like with it. I might have witnessed it first hand, or saw it on youtube. Pinch of salt needed.

I remember years ago I had an old motorcycle jacket that didn't fit good anymore, so I put it on my table at a flea market for $25. A young couple was looking at it, and the lady picks it up like a dirty diaper and says eeew, its all grungy!! and they walked away. It was naturally distressed, IMO. About an hour later a young man comes along and without hesitation, tries it on and says will ya take $20? And without hesitation, I says SOLD!!

 

[johnny k]

I remember years ago I had an old motorcycle jacket that didn't fit good anymore, so I put it on my table at a flea market for $25. A young couple was looking at it, and the lady picks it up like a dirty diaper and says eeew, its all grungy!! and they walked away. It was naturally distressed, IMO. About an hour later a young man comes along and without hesitation, tries it on and says will ya take $20? And without hesitation, I says SOLD!!

It had a life before, and it will have a life after. The way clothes should go. I often buy work shirts with the name tags on them. Who is josh ? my cow workers ask. I don't know, he might have died in that shirt for all i know.

 

[flathd]

I forgot to mention, the young man that bought the old leather jacket would have passed for a Joey Ramone look a-like.So it was a perfect fit, so to speak.

 

[flathd]

Whenever I see people (mostly young women and teens) wearing ripped jeans, I am compelled to offer them some money so they can get some new clothes. It's the weirdest fashion trend ever. When I was that age, we patched our torn jeans to get more mileage out of them, usually with some colorful fabric. To each their own.

I think Neil started the funky patch trend, that's how I remember it anyways.

 

[Flaneur]

The only clothing I throw in the recycling is socks and underwear. My neighbour's daughter gets to cast an eye over the rest- either to wear/adapt herself, pass on to a friend, or to barter with, at the vintage clothing shop. Even stuff which the charity (Goodwill type) shops can't shift, will often have another life, via street markets in some west African city.
I entirely approve, of using stuff until it self-destructs- and my idea of 'worn out', is clearly not the same, as everyone else's.